Labor Day weekend is just around the corner, and many Americans are expected to say goodbye to summer with their final vacation.
According to AAA, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel over the three-day weekend, with a significant number of them heading to San Francisco and the Bay Area, one of the most popular travel destinations.
According to AAA, domestic travel is up 9 percent compared to last year, while travel costs are down 2 percent. Other popular U.S. destinations are New York, Boston, Denver and Chicago.
Europe is a popular destination for international travelers, with Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Dublin, Ireland, topping the list, according to AAA, but international travel over Labor Day weekend was down 4% compared to last year.
“Labor Day is not as popular as the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving in terms of travel, but it is still an opportunity for people to get away, especially if it’s scheduled as a three-day weekend,” said AAA spokeswoman Aisha Diaz.
The TSA says it plans to screen a record 17 million passengers over the weekend.
Bay Area airports are preparing for a surge in passengers, with Oakland expecting 200,000 passengers to arrive at the airport from Thursday through Tuesday, with the airport saying its busiest days will be Friday and Monday.
Thursday and Friday will be the busiest days for people planning to drive to their destinations, according to AAA, with the agency advising drivers to leave before 11 a.m. to avoid traffic that gets even more congested as the day progresses.
