These are this year's Labor Day travel hot spots, according to AAA
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Labor Day weekend travel is expected to surpass last year's record levels, with the Transportation Security Administration preparing to screen hundreds of thousands more passengers than during the 2024 holiday.
The big picture: Domestic flight, hotel and car rental costs have dropped compared to the weekend last year.
By the numbers: The TSA said it expects to screen nearly 17.4 million people between Thursday and Sept. 3.
- With 2.91 million passengers, Friday is projected to be the busiest travel day over Labor Day weekend.
Flashback: The TSA told Axios it screened 17.1 million people during the same time period last year, with a peak of 2.91 million on the busiest day.
Zoom in: American Airlines is expecting its largest-ever Labor Day weekend operation with 3.9 million customers across 36,500 flights.
- United is expecting about 3.1 million passengers from Thursday to Sept. 2 — also marking a record for the airline.
Between the lines: Labor Day weekend will be the first holiday weekend since TSA lifted the shoe removal policy during security checks in July.
- The new rule, though, does not apply to passengers without a REAL ID.
State of play: Domestic roundtrip flights are 6% less expensive than the Labor Day last year, according to an August AAA report.
- Hotel rates are 11% lower and car rental costs have dropped 3%.
- Seattle; Orlando, Florida; New York; Boston; Anchorage, Alaska; Chicago; Atlanta; Denver; Miami; and Las Vegas are the top domestic travel destinations for Labor Day weekend this year, per AAA.
Zoom out: Friday departures and Monday returns are the most dangerous windows for driving on Labor Day weekend, according to Arity, a mobility data company.
- Last year, there was a 76% increase in traffic at noon on Labor Day, per Arity's analysis of 45 million drivers' data from 2024.
- There was a 10% increase in high-speed driving on the Friday of Labor Day weekend last year and a 74% increase on the Monday.
Go deeper: Detour destinations and noctourism top 2025 travel trends
