More Clinton Travelers Enjoy Low Gas Prices Labor Day Weekend

By Lanning Taliaferro (Patch Staff)

CHART: AAA

This is the latest possible day that a Labor Day can be.

And when it’s this late in the calendar—The Labor Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, Sept. 3 to Monday, Sept. 7—travel is usually a little lighter. After all, school has started pretty much everywhere.

Still, AAA Travel projects 35.5 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend, the highest travel volume for the holiday since 2008 and a 1 percent increase over 2014.

Other highlights from the AAA 2015 Labor Day Travel Forecast:

• Rising wages and falling gas prices have helped boost disposable income, which has risen 3.5 percent over last year, but some consumers are using that money to save and pay debts.
• While most travelers (30.4 million, 86 percent of all travelers) will celebrate the holiday with a final road trip before summer comes to a close, air travel is also projected to grow 1.5 percent this holiday.
• Over 2.6 million travelers are expected to travel by air, making this the largest volume of air travel since 2007 for this holiday period.

And it’s a cheap time to travel—even in high-tax states like New York/Connecticut, gas prices are down.

AAA spokesman Michael Green says “most drivers should pay the lowest gas prices for Labor Day weekend since 2004. The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has fallen for 14 consecutive days for a total of 20 cents per gallon. Drivers nationwide continue to benefit from the relatively low price of crude oil with today’s average about 96 cents per gallon less than a year ago.”

Find the lowest gas prices near you; in fact, use our Mapquest gas tool to find the best price wherever you are.

Here’s how you can search for local gas prices:

Click the magnifying glass icon at the top right corner of the graphic, type in your ZIP code or town and state, then press return.