It seems you can use just about any metric to decide when summer is over, ranging from the official arrival of autumn (on September 22nd this year) to the start of football season to the day you see the first orange or yellow leaf on a tree. For much of the country, however, Labor Day weekend is the unofficial “official” end to summer, and that also means a lot more extra traffic to contend with on the roads and at the airports as people try to squeeze one last summer getaway or day at the beach out of the calendar. This year, the FAA is bracing for 52,000 flights on Thursday, August 28th alone, while AAA is expecting gas prices to average $3.21 a gallon. In other words, if you’re heading out of town this weekend, you’re not the only one. ABC News Transportation reporter Clara McMichael appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to provide travelers with some useful pointers so their Labor Day vacation doesn’t feel like a job.
If you haven’t picked out a place to go yet, there are ways to find a surprisingly good price, as McMichael told host Larry Mendte. “The biggest advice there is to think outside of the box. Everybody is going to be traveling Friday to Monday, or maybe Thursday to Monday. Maybe you can find a good deal Saturday or Sunday, and check destinations that might be, you know, not the first thing that comes to mind when [people] think about Labor Day travel. Expedia says you might want to look at Oklahoma City or Greenville, South Carolina; they’re affordable and walkable, so give everything a shot, and you can’t go wrong when you have good company.”
If you decide to go someplace by car, McMichael says a little planning will smooth out the bumps in the road: “The moral of the story is be prepared before you leave. Check your vehicle before hitting the road. Make sure you have a spare tire and some tools in the trunk for a worst-case scenario. Most importantly, pack some snacks, but anything can happen, so be prepared and leave early.”
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