If you’re planning to hit the road for Labor Day weekend, brace your wallet and prepare for company.<\/p>\n
AAA predicts heavy traffic and higher costs for flights, hotels, and fuel across the board.<\/p>\n
While Thursday’s peak commute congestion is behind us, the holiday rush is far from over. More than 40 million people are expected to travel over the next several days, and AAA warns Friday will bring another massive traffic crunch.<\/p>\n
For millions of Americans, the unofficial end to summer means one final getaway, even if plans remain completely up in the air.<\/p>\n
“Honestly, might be going to Philly, but might be staying put, too, because we don’t really have anything to do,” Lehigh Valley resident Andre says.<\/p>\n
AAA warns that higher crude oil trends are pushing gas prices above last year’s average. The current national average for a gallon of gas is up to about $4.12.<\/p>\n
To ease the pinch, chains like Sheetz are offering app fuel discounts through Labor Day. Drivers can get 20 cents off per gallon through September 8th.<\/p>\n
But some people tell us no matter the price at the pump, they won’t be changing their holiday weekend plans.<\/p>\n
“It is what it is,” Andre says. “When it was $5 before, that was kind of an issue, but now it’s like, I don’t even know. I don’t really care. I don’t notice the gas that much.”<\/p>\n
For others, staying local isn’t about avoiding the holiday traffic; it’s a matter of scheduling.<\/p>\n
“What are you doing this Labor Day weekend?”<\/p>\n
“Probably working,” Lehigh Valley resident Matt says.<\/p>\n
AAA booking data shows domestic roundtrip airfare is up, with flights to top destinations averaging nearly $800, a 20% jump from last year.<\/p>\n
Officials expect road travel to stay busy all weekend, with additional traffic surges predicted Saturday from 1-5 p.m. and again Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
For many, family plans take priority, despite higher prices and congestion.<\/p>\n
“I drive far for work, so I’m used to it,” Lehigh Valley resident Holly says. “We’re taking a road trip on Saturday to visit my nephew at college and then are staying put for a family picnic on Sunday.”<\/p>\n
If you are driving Friday, experts say your best bet is leaving before noon or waiting until after 8 p.m. to avoid sitting in gridlock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’re planning to hit the road for Labor Day weekend, brace your wallet and prepare for company.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[214,119,121,120,279,60,805,28,7445,7446,835],"class_list":["post-278658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-berks","tag-business","tag-lehighvalley","tag-pennsylvania","tag-poconos-coal","tag-southeastern-pa","tag-western-newjersey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}