Memorial Day Weekend is expected to be both busy and expensive this year with inflation driving up travel costs.
It’s not great timing for the unofficial start of summer, which kicks off this coming weekend. Nearly 40 million people are expected to travel ahead of the long weekend, which is up 4% from last year. Add that on top of the skyrocketing prices for gas, airfare car rentals, and you have yourself a pretty big headache.
Average domestic flight prices are up 46% from 2019. Some flights are already sold out for weeks and, unfortunately, things are not much better on the ground.
It’s hard not to notice the skyrocketing cost of fuel with people thinking about driving during the upcoming summer vacation — or even driving to the corner store. A gallon of regular gas in Massachusetts is now $4.47, according to AAA — up 17 cents from last week. A year ago, it was $2.89.
Gas prices are expected to average close to $4.65 by next weekend, which is a 51% increase over last year. So how do you make the best of it and try to avoid all the stress if you’re driving? The worst roads in the region to travel are the Expressway south and Purchase Street from Route 24, according to AAA Northeast.
The times that you want to avoid driving are Thursday and Friday between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. The best time to drive is early in the morning before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.
For those who are heading home Monday, the best time to drive is after 11 a.m. because the traffic will be worse in the afternoon. For those who are flying, experts suggest booking midweek and early morning flights as well.
