Busy Labor Day weekend for Bay Area travelers

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The last big holiday weekend of the summer is upon us. People are flying more, and gas prices have dropped this year, which means thousands of people have come to or left the Bay Area this weekend.

This Labor Day weekend was expected to be one of the busiest travel periods of the year, and, so far, it seems travel has been pretty calm at local airports.

According to AAA, domestic holiday travel increased 9% this year compared to Labor Day last year. Travelers we spoke to at San Jose Mineta International Airport say their flight plans went as well as they expected. 

“It was pretty good. Actually, coming out here and down to Orange County and back, was pretty good. We went to Disneyland for the weekend. Actually, it was not as crowded as we thought it would be,” said Jennie Tran, of San Jose.

“So, no issues for us. We’re happy, we’re lucky. We saw some of our teammates who were trying to make their way home earlier. They were delayed,” said Bertrand Mollinier Toublet, of Santa Clara.

With about 17 million travelers expected to be screened by TSA nationwide, some travelers say they expected some delays. In San Jose, no flight cancelations were reported on Monday and one passenger says he appreciates how airport staff handled the crowds this weekend.

“There was a line from the door all the way to security, and I thought they got things going quickly. So, I think a small airport like SJC has done a really good job of getting people moving,” said Harish Jaysankar, of Palo Alto.

Although airport officials highly recommend people to get to the airport about two hours before a domestic flight, Jaysankar says he didn’t follow that advice and it cost him.

“Now, I did miss my flight, because I showed up an hour early. I should have shown up two hours early for a holiday weekend, but that’s more of a ‘me’ thing, really,” said Jaysankar. 

Lower gas prices also led more people to hit the roads this weekend. California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division says as of Monday afternoon, it has made 176 DUI arrests since Friday.