How travelers can avoid the Labor Day Travel rush

>> Welcome back. Labor Day >> Welcome back. Labor Day weekend is coming up at a lot of people are looking forward to taking one last summer Tripp. Oh, yeah. Get ready to see busier roads, airports and even cruise ship terminals. This morning, we’re joined by AAA, Texas spokesperson Daniel Armbruster to tell us about Armbruster to tell us about the travel numbers. Good morning. Hey, good morning. Hey, thanks so much for joining us this morning. So how many people are traveling this holiday? I feel like school is started, but it’s sort of a the last summer Tripp. >> Of the 3 Summer Holidays, Labor Day is actually the least traveled yet. We still see a lot of people take a last-minute road trip and domestic travel is up about 9% compared to a year ago with costs down about 4%. So not only will road trips, the popular but air travel, of course, will be busy this Labor Day weekend. And so certainly if you have a trip planned, you want to be prepared and start thinking about what those last minute things that you need to do right now. >> Amy and I were just talking about this. We like we feel like Labor Day is more a road trip, a type a holiday. But you say the air travel is also expected to be busy where people going one of the top destinations. >> So one of the top destinations is Anchorage, Alaska. A Alaskan cruises are popular this time of year. We see an increase in the number of people taking Alaskan cruises to Tripoli bookings. So that’s one of the popular destination. Seattle is the most popular destination in the lower. 48, it’s up 30% compared to a year ago. Maybe it’s just a lot of folks want to escape the heat. But top destinations, Orlando, Florida, another top destination because of Disney, Anaheim, California, as well because it does. >> Yeah, Haley talked me out of going to a state park I said, hey, we’ll go to. It’s like she was like that has got is says you got. But for those people flying to Alaska in Seattle and other places, any advice for people who are flying? >> Well, you’ve course want to get to the airport at least 2 hours early. I was at the airport yesterday. It’s still busy. It’s one of the busiest summers we’ve seen in a while. So make sure that you get their reserve a parking spot ahead of time. And of course, if you can make sure that you take your luggage on board carrying on, don’t check if you don’t have to. That’ll save you some headache. If your baggage get lost and also just make sure that, of course, you pack your patients. It’s going to be a very busy holiday, even though not as many people travel over Labor Day says they do Memorial Day or 4th of July it’s still gets busy over the weekend. So you want to be mindful of that as well. >> Well, still just a short weekend. So what tips do you have for people making a road trip? >> Well, go ahead and make sure your vehicle is is ready to go. Roadtrip ready. But you had your your belts and hoses checked under the hood. Your batteries in good condition. If it’s over 3 years old, you want to trusted mechanic to take a look at that battery battery life is usually 3 to 5 years and then make sure your tires are in good shape. You want to have good tires, not only for safety, but also for fuel efficiency as well. If your tires are underinflated, it takes away from your fuel efficiency. It also increases your risk for a blowout. >> And we know you guys at AAA are always really good about telling us the best time to hit the road because it can get really. It’s basically like a highest traffic and then lowest traffic. When is the best time to get out there for the Labor Day weekend. >> So Thursday and Friday. You want to avoid those afternoon evening commute hours. You’re going to have holiday travelers mixed with regular commuters if you really can. Saturday mornings a good time to leave. But it’s going to be busy on the roadways, especially as the day throughout the day as as time passes, whether it’s Thursday Friday or even the weekend. The afternoon, the evenings are going to be busier. So you want to try to avoid those times. If you care. >> All right. And how are gas prices looking right now? >> Well, the good news is gas prices are about $0.50 cheaper on average than they were a year ago. So gas prices are down below $3 a gallon in Texas now for the most part are at least the averages. So certainly you’re going to see some savings. Houston sitting at 2.93 this morning and certainly we could see gas prices go down a little bit, but don’t be surprised if you see some fluctuation just because you have pressure on demand over a holiday weekend. So sometimes we do see a little bit of fluctuation on those holiday weekend. >> Yeah, hey, I have a question for you not to put you on the spot. A we wonder if this is a think is Hala. Now we’re talking. Remember when you used to like just wait until the last a flight, if you have the ability to fly out with your family, I mean, is it still thing that like okay, my way to the night before and see if seats left? Are they really inexpensive? Yeah. >> Sometimes you can find a good deal that way. All the we don’t recommend it just because you might not be able because you might not be able to get enough seats for your entire party. And so I make sure that if you’re all sitting together on the same flight plan that out well ahead of time to talk with a travel advisor, but sometimes you can find last minute deals. It’s always a little bit of a crapshoot, though. >> Yeah, I was wondering about that. I know. And it works tell. Sometimes you better way to the last minute and you can get a good deal on a hotel.