SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Many people are either calling it a night after arriving or waking up early on Saturday to get to their Labor Day destinations.
AAA said people are looking for ways to make travel work despite higher gas prices.
“We know just historically what we've seen, even with the travel being more expensive or gas being more expensive, most people still prioritize travel,” Annllyen Venagas, AAA Southern California
Here’s where gas prices stand right now in our region. It’s tipping about $5.92 a gallon for regular gas here in San Diego. That’s 16 cents more than a week ago and essentially a month ago.
But regular gas was below $5 a gallon this time last year.
AAA said you’re still encouraged to hit the road early, before 10 a.m. on Saturday and before noon on Monday, despite this time period not being the busiest of all holiday travel time periods.
If you are driving, you’ll clearly be spending more getting to your holiday destination.
AAA Southern California said Labor Day travelers can anticipate spending roughly $18 to $24 more to fill up their gas tank compared to last year’s holiday.
“They're finding ways to make it work. They're modifying their trips so that they can still prioritize travel but still save money on gas and travel, even though, like you said, gas prices are higher than a year ago,” Venagas said.
AAA said that’s still not stopping people from traveling, just maybe shorter distances if they are driving.
Still, some are opting to stay home for Labor Day rather than make a trip out of the weekend.
“Well, gas is $6 a gallon, which is crazy. Like I can't afford that. I really can’t,” Julia Campbell said. “If this is how much I have to spend on gas, I can't really spend anything else on anything else, you know.”
“For me right now, no, because I got like 4 kids, so it's just really expensive right now here in California,” Melissa Diaz said.
