Thinking of hitting the road? Be warned. AAA is predicting increased travel this Labor Day weekend.
Americans are expected to take advantage of the long weekend, more so than last year, as AAA is projecting domestic travel to be up nine percent this year compared to last year.
In a press release, Vice President of Travel for AAA — The Auto Club Group, Debbie Haas, said Americans are viewing the extended weekend as an “opportunity to say farewell to summer with one final trip.”
“Since many kids are already back in school, regional road trips tend to be the most popular option for families. Because of that, others see this as an opportunity to travel the world, with the expectation of smaller crowds at popular sites,” she added.
AAA listed some of the top travel destinations, identifying Seattle as a top place “up nearly 30% from last year when it also topped the list.”
“Anchorage and Juneau are also on the top ten list of Labor Day destinations,” AAA reported, noting “Alaska cruises are sold out for the weekend.”
In addition to Seattle and Alaska, top destinations this weekend include Orlando, Florida; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; and San Francisco, California, per AAA.
The nine percent increase in domestic travel coincides with the reality of inflation, which is costing Americans more at the gas pump yet again. As Breitbart News reported, the cost of gasoline has risen 50 percent since January 2021, when President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris first stepped into office.
This is a stark reality Americans are all too familiar with. During the Biden-Harris administration, gas prices actually broke the all-time record high several times in the second year of their leadership.
As it stands, the highest recorded average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $5.016, recorded on June 14, 2022. Diesel reached an all-time high dive days later, reaching $5.816 on June 19, 2022, according to data from AAA.
A January 19, 2021 AAA press release identified the day’s average price of gasoline as $2.38. Now, over three and a half years later, the average gas price stands at $3.350 at the time of this Friday writing. While it is not the record high Americans experienced in the summer of 2022, it is still nearly $1.00 more than when Trump left office.
