Why gas prices are lower this Labor Day compared to last year

RICHMOND, Va. -- The travel experts at AAA predict Friday will be the peak travel day of the 2024 Labor Day Weekend.

They also offered some good news as travel costs have ticked down this year compared to 2023.

The cost of domestic flights is down two percent, compared to last year.

Also, the cost of rental cars is down about 16 percent.

Hotels, on the other hand, are seven percent more expensive this holiday weekend compared to last year.

The TSA predicted 17 million people would fly between the Thursday before Labor Day and the Wednesday after, with Friday being the expected busiest day with 2.86 million people flying to their destinations.

Airports have been extremely busy so far this summer. AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Morgan Dean suggested you arrive to the airport at least two hours early for domestic flights and at least three hours early for international travel.

He also noted the TSA has seen the 10 busiest days in its history over the past four months.

"There are so many people traveling, if there are some delays and some problems along the way, there may not be many seats for them to get onto another flight," explained Dean. "We always recommend that folks travel as early in the day as possible. That gives you as many options as possible to get on another flight that day, but you could have some challenges finding another seat out there."

AAA expected 85 and 90% of all trips for the long holiday weekend to be road trips.

This could be in part because gas prices are actually lower than they were this time in 2022 and 2023.

Virginia's current gas price average of $3.22 per gallon is $0.40 cheaper than Labor Day last year.

"Heading into Labor Day, the year-on-year gap has grown substantially thanks to few refinery outages or heatwaves impacting refineries this month," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. "Hurricane season has also been quiet so far. With no threats to major gasoline and diesel producing refineries, it’s looking more and more likely that we may avoid a late summer price spike. While many Americans may wish summer could last forever, the good news is we’re seeing perhaps the best opportunity in years for the national average to fall below $3 per gallon. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, we should see tens of thousands of stations ultimately fall back below that level, all thanks to falling seasonal demand and cheaper winter gasoline, which is right around the corner.”

Watch: Gas prices rise in Richmond from 1994

If you are planning to hit the roads Friday, AAA suggests avoiding driving between 2 and 6 p.m.

If you can leave before noon or after 7 p.m., you may avoid some traffic jams.

But before you head out the door, especially with the heat we’ve been experiencing this week, be sure to check your car's air conditioning, battery and tire pressure.

Remember, if you have low tire pressure that can actually equate to you paying more money per gallon on gas.

If you're traveling to a coastal destination, AAA suggests you map out your route ahead of time and consider alternative routes.

"Interstate 95 likely to be very, very busy," said Dean. "Interstate 64 heading to the Virginia coast, down to the Carolina coast as well, could be very, very busy, so planning with some of those things in mind. Are there alternate routes I can take? I know a lot of people have started going 460 down to the Outer Banks, down to the Virginia Beach area, because they know it's a little bit less crowded than what you'll see on Interstate 64, so making some of those plans along the way, checking those routes before you leave, too, can make a big difference."

While AAA expects a busy holiday weekend at airports and on the roadways, the agency wants you to keep in mind not everyone is able to travel for Labor Day because kids in Central Virginia have already gone back to school.

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