Travel News

Labor Day Travel Up, But So Are Prices

Adriana Padilla

Despite mixed reports on the state of the U.S. economy, 2010 continues to be a growth year for travel. On Wednesday, travel and motor club AAA announced that the number of Americans planning to travel during Labor Day will rise 9.9 percent over last year.

The auto group estimated that around 34.4 million travelers will take advantage of the last holiday of the summer to take a trip at least 50 miles away from home.

Last year, only 31.3 million Americans traveled during Labor Day.

This year will also see an increase in road trips with 91 percent of all travelers choosing to travel by car. That means around 31.4 million people will be reaching their destination via automobile this year, AAA predicted. That’s about a 10.3 percent rise over 2009 figures, when only 28.5 million travelers traveled by car over the holiday weekend.

Air travel also got a boost this year, rising up around 4.6 percent.  AAA predicts that the number of leisure air travelers will rise from 1.54 million passengers in 2009 to 1.62 passengers in 2010. Trips by plane will account for 5 percent of overall travel.

Other forms of travel like boat, train and bus make up 4 percent of overall travel.

Road trip - Labor Day Travel UpAmericans are also expected to spend more during the Labor Day holiday, and at least some of the spending can be attributed to rising costs. Median spending this year is expected to be $697, an increase of $47 over 2009.

Meanwhile, according to AAA’s Leisure Travel Index, airfares are expected to increase by 9 percent over the Labor Day weekend. The lowest price for a round-trip ticket is an estimated to be $179 for the top 40 U.S. air routes.

Car rental rates will also be increasing this year.  The average rental will cost $46, a 7 percent increase over last year.

Hotel rates, which usually are an area to find savings, are expected to increase 6 percent compared to 2009. Americans vacationers can expect to pay an average of $139 per night compared to $132 last year.

The one thing that will go down this year is the average distance traveled by Americans during Labor Day weekend. According to AAA, Americans will travel 635 miles away from home, which is around 10 miles less than last year.

This trend could be attributed to more Americans wanting to spend time with people they know this Labor Day. Around 58 percent of Americans told AAA they would travel to spend time with friends and relatives over the holiday.

The rise in travel during this year’s Labor Day holiday not only can be attributed to a thawing economy, but also to the date of the holiday this year. The earlier Labor Day falls in September, the more travel tends to occur.

This year the Labor Day holiday travel period falls between Thursday, September 2 and Monday, September 6. AAA states that if the holiday had fallen earlier in the month, the forecasted travel increase would have been even higher.

By Adriana Padilla for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related Links: Reuters, AAA

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