More people will be traveling in the U.S. this year for Labor Day weekend, AAA says

Welcome back on this Monday morning. Your time. Now, 555 the Labor Day Long Weekend is a popular time for Americans to take one more vacation before the summer season is officially over ABC. Sm Wynn takes a look at what to expect. If you are heading out of town. We're nearing the end of summer travel season and Americans are planning to take advantage of Labor Day weekend to get away before the fall with most staying stateside. According to triple A's travel forecast, there is a spike in domestic Labor Day travel. It's up 9% compared to last year and the cost to travel domestically is down 2%. So that's an incentive for people to maybe travel within the US TS A expects to screen more than 17 million people from Thursday to Wednesday. An over 8% increase from last year. If you're going to the airports, airports have been packed all summer. If you've flown, you know, there are very few flights with empty seats, get to the airport at least two hours early. Opting for a carry on instead of checked luggage can make adjusting easier if flights are delayed or canceled those driving to their destination should avoid leaving in the afternoon hours on Thursday and Friday. A lot of people are still working Thursday and Friday before Labor Day. So you have commuters on the roads, mixing with travelers. So you want to hit the road before 11 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. And for Saturday departures, the roads will likely be most congested in the morning. A lot of people might want to leave first thing on Saturday to maximize their weekend. Saturday afternoon should be ok. Heading home on Sunday or Monday the morning will be the best time to drive. People can also expect to lower gas prices compared to last year. The trend for gas prices is they're coming down and barring any major tropical storm or hurricane hitting the Gulf coast and hitting, uh, regional refineries. We should still see that downward trend. Em, W ABC News, Washington.