Airports, highways, beaches and theme parks are expected to be packed across the U.S. this Labor Day weekend as a lot Americans mark the unofficial end of summer the same way they celebrated the season’s unofficial start: by traveling. After what’s already been a record-breaking summer for air travel, the Transportation Security Administration predicted its agents would screen more than 17 million people during a holiday period that started Thursday and runs through next Wednesday, about 8% more than last year. The TSA anticipates Friday to be the busiest day. In a sign the summer travel season really is winding down, however, the agency said that fewer than 2 million passengers passed through airport security checkpoints one day this week — the first time that has happened since early March. If you plan to be part of the crowds heading out of town to enjoy one last blast of summer, here is a rundown of what you need to know. How is holiday travel going so far? Busy, as expected. TSA screened 2.75 million travelers at the nation’s airports on Thursday, nearly 130,000 more people than it screened on the same day last year. Airlines canceled more than 500 U.S. flights Thursday, with nearly 300 of those at Dulles and Reagan National airports near Washington, D.C. Since June 1, airlines have canceled 1.8% of all U.S. flights and another 25% have been delayed — identical to the rates last summer — according to figures from FlightAware. Where are the potential trouble spots? Weather is the leading cause of flight delays. Forecasts call for rain and maybe scattered thunderstorms from Texas to New England plus parts of Florida over the weekend, and showering more of the Southeast on Monday. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was still working to restore all services after what airport officials described as a possible cyberattack last weekend. Flights have been running normally all week, but airport told passengers to arrive extra early for flights and to avoid checking bags, especially if they are on a smaller airline, because of problems with the bag-sorting system. What are prices like? Motorists are getting a break on gasoline. The nationwide average Friday was $3.35 per gallon, compared to $3.83 a year ago, according to AAA. For electric vehicles, the average price for a kilowatt of power at an L2 commercial charging station is about 34 cents. The average is under 25 cents in Kansas and Missouri but tops 40 cents in several states, including New Hampshire, Tennessee and Kentucky. Hawaii is the costliest, at 56 cents. Average airfares in July were down 7.1% from June and 2.8% from July 2023, according to the government’s consumer price index. The trend appeared to be accelerating as the peak summer-vacation season comes to an end. “Now we’re falling into that traditional fall season when demand slumps, and you’re also seeing that in airfares,” said Steve Hafner, CEO of the travel metasearch site Kayak. “Airfares are down from the summer about 26% already, and they’re down even from the previous fall, about 4%.” When is the best time to hit the road? Transportation-data provider INRIX says the worst time to travel by car on Friday will be between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. That flips on Saturday, when you’ll want to avoid driving between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. For the return trip, pretty much all day Monday […]  | Read More The Yeshiva World