Why You Should Skip Labor Day and Vacation the Weekend After

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Labor Day can be a nightmare. Expectations are high since everyone is traveling with the hopes of having as much fun before the grind begins again. Factor in the crowds and high-prices and having a stay-cation might sound like the best choice for the holiday.

But, thanks to a longer summer season Labor Day lands nearly a week later than usual prices for domestic airfare are down 14 percent, at around $310 round-trip, according to Hopper, a trip planning engine that uses data to help travelers make smart vacation decisions. Americans have shown a higher tendency to travel when Labor Day weekend begins in August, according to historical data from AAA, which means that this year there might not be as many people slurping sno cones on the boardwalk.

This great beach destination that rhymes with Lamptons is much better after Labor Day. Photo credit: Alexandra Talty.

If you are set on flying, the busiest airports, and therefore the ones to avoid, are New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to Kayak. The online travel agency also estimates that the most popular Labor Day destinations are New York, Las Vegas and Chicago. The top international destinations are London, Paris and Cancun.

Last year, only 8 percent of Labor Day travel was by air, which means that the trains, buses and interstates will be clogged that weekend. One good tactic for your last summer hurrah is to travel the weekend before or after, avoiding the high-prices, crowds and traffic that come with the public holiday. Hopper estimates that if you travel the weekend before or after the holiday, you can save about 10 percent on airfare. Factor in the reduced crowds and lower-hotel rates, and a mid-September vacation is a pretty sweet deal.

After growing up in a summer-town, my recommendation would be to travel the weekend after. All along the Eastern seaboard September is a great month as the crowds die down, the temperatures are a bit more moderate and the ocean is still warm, thanks to the Gulf Stream.

Alexandra Talty is a freelance journalist living in Southampton, New York.After leaving New York City in 2013, she used her personal finance (and journalism) skills to travel the world, before settling back where it all started: her hometown. The founding Editor-in-Chief of StepFeed, her work has appeared in Techonomy, Publishers Weekly and The Southampton Press, among others.She is also onTwitter.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandratalty/2015/07/29/why-you-should-skip-labor-day-and-vacation-the-weekend-after/