This Labor Day weekend, 42.9 million Americans are expected to take a road trip. While that’s a big number, it’s down a percentage point from last year and down 10 points from 2019 (the last Labor Day before COVID-19).
However, the numbers are uncertain because of an increase in last minute bookings.
Mel Dohmen, senior brand manager at Orbitz, says, “The last-minute booking trend really emerged last year as a response to COVID-19 and travelers taking their time to make decisions on where and when to go, if at all.”
Additionally, Orbitz notes an increase in demand for travel insurance compared to past years.
Given Hurricane Ida caused many major Gulf Shore pipelines to pause production and an increase in demand is typical during holiday weekends, most experts believe gas prices will be about five cents per gallon higher than last week.
TripAdvisor data confirms the desire for flexibility, showing an increase in searches for terms like “free cancellation,” “pay at stay,” and “travel safe.”
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Get Your Natural Vitamins A & D from the Sea!
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Clever Journeys 
That would be the wife and me via Honda CRV. We were in Ruidoso last week, then to Marfa TX for a night and half a day, then home to Granbury, and tomorrow to Corpus to do some surfing and fishing with my son and his family. My butt is dragging, but I must trudge on because at my age every trip is a bucket list thang.
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Happy Traveling to those wonderful locations.
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Thanks. Marfa was a let down, and I hope the waves are good at Padre.
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Always thought Marfa was overrated too. Austin Artists and Ghostlights is about all it has going for it. I like Ft Davis (McDonald Observatory) & Alpine better.
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Yep, Alpine was a nice town even though they roll up the sidewalks at 6 PM. It reminded me of a stop along Route 66.
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