Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While summer is rapidly coming to a close, there is still one last chance for people and families to get away for an extended weekend.
Labor Day weekend kicks off Friday across the nation, as AAA is anticipating a large number of people traveling near-and-far to enjoy one last weekend of summer. In addition, more people will be out-and-about this weekend compared to the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Based on the travel reservations, domestic travel is up 22% over last year, and international travel is up a whopping 104%. That means there's a lot of people on the roads, a lot of people going everywhere," said AAA Senior Travel Sales Advisor, Renee Pilley.
When it comes to local road trips, AAA Western and Central New York has seen an increase in regional and northeastern travel. Cross-country summer road trips out West are being replaced with shorter drives to wine country in the Finger Lakes, activities near places like Chautauqua Lake, and camping in the Adirondack Mountains.
Some folks are even taking their road trips further East with more people traveling to the New England area with Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and Vermont being the leading destinations.
When it comes to air travel, AAA anticipates airports to be a bit more busier than the past few years given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. That's why they are recommending that anyone traveling cross-country this weekend should get to the airport well in advance of their scheduled flights.
"There are so many disruptions with travel right now in the airline industry," said Director of Public Relations at AAA Western and Central New York, Elizabeth Carey. "Sometimes there's a ripple effect, if there's bad weather in one area that goes right through the travel industry, right through the airline industry and your flight could be disrupted, delayed, cancelled. So you don't want to have it be your fault. You want to make sure you're there extra early, you're through security and you're at the gate. If something goes wrong, you're going to want to make sure you talk to the airline about what your other options are. But you don't want to be able to blame yourself."
Some of the top travel destinations this Labor Day weekend in the United State are expected to be cities like Seattle, Orlando and Las Vegas. Internationally, the top cities people are heading to are Vancouver, Canada, London, England, and Dublin, Ireland.
When it comes to Seattle and Vancouver being top destinations for travel this upcoming weekend, Pilley says it's because Alaskan cruise vacations have opened back up after being paused for so long due to the pandemic.
When you arrive early to the airport, Carey has some other tips to help make your experience on the go that much easier.
"Consider taking a carry on bag and avoiding checking your luggage. That way, if your flight does get moved or you get put on a different flight, you'll have your luggage right there with you," she said. "And if you're going for a specific event, like the Bills game is coming up in L.A., you want to go a couple of days early just to make sure you get there safely, on time, and you have a couple days of leeway just in case you're delayed."
In addition, with more people in the airports, there's always the opportunity for flight delays and cancellations to happen, especially with staffing shortages for different airlines and airports.
"You just want to make sure you get there early and do your best. Stay in touch with your airline, make sure they have your contact information, and use the airline's app to track your flight. That's going to give you the most up-to-date information on what the status is with your plane."
While it is nice for many to be able to go back on vacation during Labor Day weekend without any restrictions due to COVID-19, the average price for travelers to go on vacation has increased quite drastically since 2020.
"Travelers are paying paying more for their Labor Day travel than ever before," Pilley said. "The average airfare is $179 a ticket, which is almost up 20% over last year, and 30% over 2020. Hotels increased prices up over 50%. Car rentals, the average car rental price right now is about $89 a day, a whopping 32% over 2020 averages."
For those traveling by vehicle this Labor Day weekend, an additional cost people will need to consider is how much it will take to fill up the gas tank. According to AAA, as of Thursday, the average tank of gas in New York State costs $3.83 per-gallon, with Erie County averaging higher at $4.18 per-gallon.
However, there is expected to be relief on its way for New York and the Buffalo-Niagara region, especially once Labor Day weekend comes to a close.
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"The prices have been dropping, because oil prices have been coming down," Carey explained. "There's still high demand with Labor Day travel ready to take place and summer travel still taking place. Some other states, where kids are back to school and summer travels over, they've seen a bigger decrease in prices. So hopefully prices will come down, barring any situations like a hurricane that could possibly take out a refinery. That's something that would push up gas prices, otherwise, hopefully we'll start to see them taper off even more."
Road trippers are also encouraged to plan ahead for their Labor Day trips and make sure their vehicles are road trip ready. AAA expects to rescue more than 545,000 motorists across the U.S. during the travel period from Thursday, Sept. 1 through Tuesday, Sept. 6. That is an increase of 10% compared to last year.
In New York State alone, AAA anticipates to rescue 18,770 motorists.