Drivers taking road trips this Labor Day weekend will likely see slightly higher gas prices compared to last year, according to AAA.

The national average for a gallon of regular was $3.78 on Labor Day 2022, but has been above $3.80 for the past couple of weeks, AAA said in its announcement on Labor Day travel issued Monday.

AAA reported the national average Monday at about $3.82, and Pennsylvania’s average at about $3.88.

“Gas prices have spiked this summer because of tight supply and the high cost of oil,” AAA said.

While price tracking service GasBuddy reported Monday that area averages had come down over the past week, by 4 cents per gallon nationally and 1.2 cents around Pittsburgh, it said the drop might be short-lived because of a partial shutdown of one of the nation’s largest refineries after a fire at a storage tank and increased tropical storm activity.

“As Labor Day approaches, gas demand and volatile oil prices, particularly during an active hurricane season, could impact prices,” AAA said in its trend analysis.

Idalia is expected to make make landfall as a major hurricane around 7 a.m. Wednesday somewhere north of Tampa and southeast of Tallahassee, according to the National Weather Service.

GasBuddy announced Monday that its fuel availability tracker was active for motorists in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as Idalia, now a tropical and storm and expected to become a hurricane, heads toward the state’s Gulf coast. The tracker helps motorists in affected areas find fuel should stations run out.

Despite that, AAA said booking data for flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises show Labor Day weekend travel is up over last year — domestic bookings are up 4% and international bookings are up 44%.

“As summer ends and school begins, many families are taking advantage of Labor Day weekend to head out of town for a few days,” said Bevi Powell, senior vice president of AAA East Central. “The long holiday weekend provides another opportunity to travel, whether planning a road trip to visit family and friends or deciding to take that dream trip to Canada or even Europe.”

AAA booking data shows Vancouver, Rome, London, Dublin and Paris are the five most popular international destinations over Labor Day weekend. The top five domestic destinations are Seattle, Orlando, Anchorage, New York and Las Vegas.

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