Break out your Waze app or load a few movies onto your iPad—after a record summer for travel, AAA is predicting domestic travel over the Labor Day weekend will be up 9% over 2023 numbers. So, plan for lots of friends on the roadways and security lines to be a little longer.
The good news is that the cost to travel is actually down by 2%, according to AAA booking data with Seattle and Alaska cruises trending due to a desire for cooler temperatures. Other top Labor Day destinations include Orlando, New York, Boston, Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Holiday Travel Tips
Whether you are traveling for a conference or staying local over the holiday, the following tips could help make the experience more pleasant.
Palm Pilots – Travel apps can make Labor Day travel easier and more cost-effective. The aforementioned Waze helps navigate or even avoid traffic jams. GasBuddy saves you cash at the pump. Hotels.com can help you find discounted or even free rooms (if you’ve used the service enough to earn a freebie). Trippie: The Airport App on apple can help you navigate dozens of major U.S. airports, inside and out.
Keep it Local – Most American cities have great things to see and do within a drive of an hour or two. State or national parks, small roadside attractions, quaint, small-town downtown districts, fishing lakes and more may be easy to reach from home. The shorter trip means you take local roads instead of log-jammed freeways. Daily deal websites such as TodayTix and Wowcher (in Britain) can show you what’s nearby, and often offer deals to help keep costs down.
Airport Expert – There are a ton of ways to ease the airport experience on busy holidays like Labor Day. Start with joining the TSA’s PreCheck program. It’s $85 for five years, and you get to skip the long security lines, leave your shoes and laptop undisturbed and more. Clear can streamline at some airports in some instances as well. Personal and business accounts are available with membership billed at $199 per year without discounts available to students, government and credit-card holders.
Pack Like a Pro – Pack light. Like a single backpack light. It’s a weekend trip, you don’t need your entire closet. Online check in (up to 24 hours ahead of departure) saves you from the kiosk and agent lines, and if you packed light, you can go straight from passenger drop-off to security. Use that extra time to grab a pre-flight cocktail near the gate—your airline app will alert you when it’s time to board.
Stay Put – Make others do the traveling by hosting a good ol’ backyard barbecue for Labor Day. Burgers, hot dogs and kebabs are simple and inexpensive—or draw more people by cooking up some barbecue chicken or ribs. Even a last-minute invitation over Facebook or text message will get people over, and a quick trip to the supermarket will be your only pain point. Task others with bringing sides and drinks to make it even easier on your wallet.
