ATLANTA — It's time to take advantage of the last gasp of summer, but if you're planning a little Labor Day vacation, you may want to strategize a time to hit the road or airport when you won't bombarded by other travelers.
According to AAA booking data, domestic travel over Labor Day weekend is up 9% compared to last year, while the cost to travel domestically is down 2%.
Best time to travel by car in Georgia (According to GDOT)
- Friday, Aug. 30 - Before noon or after 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 31 - After noon
- Sunday, Sep. 1 - Before noon
- Monday, Sep. 2 - Before 10 a.m.
Worst time to travel by car in Georgia (According to GDOT)
- Friday, Aug. 30 - Between 2-6 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 31 - Between 8-11 a.m.
- Sunday, Sep. 1 - Between 2-8 p.m.
- Monday, Sep. 2 - Between 11- 8 a.m.
What are gas prices like?
Motorists are getting a break on gasoline compared with last year. The nationwide average was recently $3.44 per gallon, compared to $3.86 a year ago, according to AAA.
For electric vehicles, the average price for a kilowatt of power at an L2 commercial charging station is about 34 cents. The average is under 25 cents in Kansas and Missouri but tops 40 cents in several states, including New Hampshire, Tennessee and Kentucky. Hawaii is the costliest, at 56 cents.
Average airfares in July were down 7.1% from June and 2.8% from July 2023, according to the government's consumer price index. The trend appears to be accelerating as the peak summer vacation season comes to an end.
“Now we're falling into that traditional fall season when demand slumps, and you’re also seeing that in airfares,” CEO of the travel metasearch site Kayak Steve Hafner said. “Airfares are down from the summer about 26% already, and they’re down even from the previous fall, about 4%.”
When will airports be busiest?
Friday, according to the TSA. The agency expects to screen 2.86 million people that day. While an impressive number, it would not even rank in the top 15 days in TSA's history. The single-day record of 3.01 million was set on July 7, the Sunday after Independence Day.
TSA says it has enough screeners to keep the time it takes to get through regular lines to 30 minutes or less and no more than 10 minutes for PreCheck lines.
American Airlines says Thursday and Friday will be its busiest days, with 6,400 flights per day, followed by Labor Day itself, when the carrier has 6,300 scheduled flights.
