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A14 SCIENCE
Tuesday 27 augusT 2024

Traveling over Labor Day weekend? Have a back-up plan for

cancellations and delays, and be patient

By DAVID KOENIG Airlines are required to pro-
AP Business Writer vide refunds including for
Many children have gone extra fees paid to passen-
back to school in the U.S., gers whose flights are can-
and the days are getting celed for any reason. How-
shorter, but there is still one ever, they are not required
more excuse to use the to pay cash compensation,
swimsuits and beach tow- and no major U.S. airlines
els before packing them do. Only Alaska, Southwest
up: Labor Day. and JetBlue even promise
Airports, highways, beach- travel vouchers if the can-
es and theme parks are cellation is their fault.
expected to be packed for If you’re stuck overnight,
the long holiday weekend ask the airline about cov-
as a lot Americans mark ering the costs of a hotel,
the unofficial end of sum- meals and ground trans-
mer the same way they portation. All major U.S. air-
celebrated the season’s lines except Frontier prom-
unofficial start: by traveling. ise to help with all three for
The Transportation Security “controllable” disruptions,
Administration anticipates according to the Transpor-
screening more than 17 mil- tation Department’s airline-
lion people between Thurs- policy dashboard. How-
day and next Wednesday Vehicles move slowly in south-bound lanes, left, of Interstate Route 93, in Boston, on July 3, 2024. ever, those commitments
a record for the Labor Day Associated Press don’t apply to cancella-
period. tions caused by weather.
AAA says bookings for do- cents. The average is un- urday, when you’ll want to flights. Keep receipts for all out-of-
mestic travel are running der 25 cents in Kansas and avoid driving between 8 What should I do if my flight pocket expenses in case
9% higher than last year for Missouri but tops 40 cents a.m. and 11 a.m. is delayed or canceled? you can file a claim later.
the holiday weekend, while in several states, including For the return trip, pretty First, check your itinerary A few final tips
international trips are down New Hampshire, Tennessee much all day Monday from before leaving for the air- Leave early. Everything
4%. and Kentucky. Hawaii is the 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. will be a port. It’s better to be stuck will take longer than you
American Airlines plans costliest, at 56 cents. slog, according to INRIX. at home than stranded at expect, including getting
to have its largest Labor Average airfares in July And watch out for risky driv- the airport. through airport security. If
Day weekend operation were down 7.1% from June ers. New data from Arity, If your flight is canceled, the you plan to park at the air-
ever and expects a 14% in- and 2.8% from July 2023, part of insurance giant All- airline might automatically port, make sure there will
crease in passengers com- according to the govern- state, indicates that speed- rebook you. That might not be spaces available when
pared to last year. ment’s consumer price ing over 80 mph is up 83% be the best option. you arrive many airports

If you are traveling to get a index. The trend appears and “very high speeding” “Get on the phone (to the now post that information
last blast of summer, here to be accelerating as the faster than 100 mph is up airline’s help center), get in online.
is a rundown of what you peak summer-vacation more than 50%. front of an agent, reach out Watch the weather. Even
need to know. season comes to an end. In a surprising twist, how- to the airline via social me- if skies are clear at home,
Why Labor Day? “Now we’re falling into ever, Arity says distracted dia if you have to, but find there could be storms at
“Not everyone travels for that traditional fall season driving has dropped on the out what the other options your flight’s destination
Labor Day, not compared when demand slumps, and last three Labor Days. are,” says Julian Kheel, the or along your road route.
to July 4th or Thanksgiving you’re also seeing that in When will airports be busi- founder and CEO of Points Have a backup route.
those are the most popu- airfares,” said Steve Hafner, est? Path, a browser extension Be nice. Flight cancella-
lar ones,” says Aixa Diaz, CEO of the travel metase- Friday, according to the that lets users compare tions and bumper-to-bum-
a spokesperson for AAA. arch site Kayak. “Airfares TSA. The agency expects to fares with deals available per traffic are frustrating,
“But certainly Labor Day are down from the summer screen 2.86 million people using frequent-flyer points. but you won’t be the only
offers people a way to get about 26% already, and that day. While an impres- “You can almost always one who is stuck. Custom-
away for a final weekend they’re down even from sive number, it would not find another option that er-service agents are busy
of the summer. You’ve got the previous fall, about 4%.” even rank in the top 15 may work better than the during peak travel periods,
people who are either tak- When is the best time to hit days in TSA’s history. The one offered by the airline.” so it’s important to be pa-
ing the three-day weekend the road? single-day record of 3.01 Kheel said agents at the tient and respectful while
or perhaps taking off the If you plan to start your million was set on July 7, airport have more leeway they try to help you.q
whole week before Labor drive on the Thursday or the Sunday after Indepen- to help, but they might
Day.” Friday before Labor Day, dence Day. be inundated if there are
What are prices like? you will be sharing the road TSA says it has enough many canceled flights. DIY
Motorists are getting a with commuters. You might screeners to keep the time rebooking on the airline
break on gasoline com- want to leave before morn- it takes to get through reg- website or app might be
pared with last year. The ing rush hour or even in the ular lines to 30 minutes or faster, he said.
nationwide average was evening to avoid jams. less and to no more than 10 Phone tip: Some experts
recently $3.44 per gallon, Transportation-data pro- minutes for PreCheck lines. say if the airline has inter-
compared to $3.86 a year vider INRIX says the worst American Airlines says national help numbers, call
ago, according to AAA. time to travel by car on Thursday and Friday will be one of those to get through
For electric vehicles, the av- Thursday will be between its busiest days, with 6,400 more quickly than on the
erage price for a kilowatt of 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and flights per day, followed by U.S. line.
power at an L2 commercial on Friday between 2 p.m. Labor Day itself, when the What about refunds and
charging station is about 34 and 6 p.m. That flips on Sat- carrier has 6,300 scheduled reimbursement? facebook.com/arubatoday/