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American Morning
Summer Travel
Aired May 23, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You may not be ready for summer quite yet, but we want to remind you it is here. Memorial Day means the unofficial start of summer and the peak summer travel season. In fact, 35 million people are expected to hit the road this holiday weekend, according to AAA: 29.4 million by car -- that's slightly more than last year -- and 3.9 million will fly. It's down about 2.5 percent from 2002.
And joining us now with more on summer travel and any last-minute deals for weekend travelers, "Travel & Leisure" editor Nilou Motamed.
Thanks so much for being here with us, Nilou.
NILOU MOTAMED, "TRAVEL & LEISURE" EDITOR: Thank you.
COLLINS: So, what's the scoop here? We know that fuel prices or gas prices are down after the war in Iraq.
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: But airline prices, no.
MOTAMED: No. Airline prices are not down, and the reason is the airlines are really trying to recoup what they've lost in the last couple of years. And they're seeing this as a boon. They're seeing this as a way to get some money.
In fact, American Airlines, which is our largest airline, is actually even trying to put some seats back into their planes. You know, they went through that whole thing where they said...
COLLINS: More room.
MOTAMED: ... more room, more leg room in coach. Well, forget that. Now, they're putting seats back, so they can get as much money as possible from each flight.
COLLINS: So, if you do decide to travel somewhere by the airlines...
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: ... should you buy that ticket now? Because it sounds like there might be some great deals coming up.
MOTAMED: Well, it's interesting, because the statistics for this weekend are that people are traveling a little bit less. But for the whole summer overall, it's actually 2.5 percent up, which means that, in fact, if you're not flexible with your schedule, if you need to go to your cousin's wedding, you should book it. It's not something that you can be flexible with.
But if you are flexible, then I would say you can wait and see what comes up. And I think the places we will see the deals are in the three C's, is what I like to call them, which are the Caribbean, cruises and consolidators. So, when you go online and you go to Smarter Living or you go to Travel Zoo, that's where you're going to find -- they're going to try to get rid of last-minute seats or they're going to try to get rid of last-minutes packages, and that's where you're going to find some of your deals.
COLLINS: It all sounds so great right now on this very day, doesn't it?
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: In fact, let's go ahead and talk about some of the hottest destinations now for this summer.
MOTAMED: Yes. Well, it seems like the hottest destination that we're seeing are Nevada, California, Florida, Texas and New York. And I think -- the only reason I can think of for New York, besides the fact that it's my favorite city in the world, is people have to come visit you guys.
COLLINS: Well, there you go.
MOTAMED: They have to come to your studio.
COLLINS: They have to come out in front of the studio and wave to us.
MOTAMED: Exactly, exactly.
COLLINS: That's right. Thats right. Well, let's go ahead and talk about these other places. They're the Florida beaches, the California theme parks and, of course, Las Vegas because of what Las Vegas is.
MOTAMED: You have to go to the slots. You have to go see "O." You have to have some great meals. Right now, Las Vegas is one of the hottest places for food. Pretty much every star chef has a restaurant there. So...
COLLINS: You are talking my language. All right, and we want to make sure that everybody knows that there are some deals out there for this particular weekend. You mentioned New York City. Let's talk in particular about what people could find.
MOTAMED: There is a great deal for New York from Chicago coming to New York, staying at "W" hotels. And it is, I think, one of the greatest deals, because it's amazing to me that you can stay three nights at a "W" hotel and get your airfare all for the price of pretty much of what it would just normally cost to get your airfare. So, I think it's pretty outrageous (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to you.
COLLINS: Yes, it sounds really good.
MOTAMED: And you can still book it right now.
COLLINS: You can still book it.
MOTAMED: Right.
COLLINS: All right, it sounds great. Long-term deals, though, for the summer?
MOTAMED: One thing that's great is Florida. The Outpost (ph) people, their hotel, the Tides, they're offering a great deal, where not only are they giving you a $100 off what they normally would charge you for a room, but they're giving you a $75 credit for their restaurants. That's called 1220. They're giving you Bickroom (ph) yoga passes. They're giving you beach service. They're giving you a lot of attention, because especially in the places where they're not necessarily considered high season in the summertime, they're really trying to draw the visitors in.
COLLINS: All right, they've drawn me in as we speak this morning. A little yoga never hurt anybody, right?
MOTAMED: Never.
COLLINS: All right, Nilou Motamed from "Travel & Leisure" magazine, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired May 23, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You may not be ready for summer quite yet, but we want to remind you it is here. Memorial Day means the unofficial start of summer and the peak summer travel season. In fact, 35 million people are expected to hit the road this holiday weekend, according to AAA: 29.4 million by car -- that's slightly more than last year -- and 3.9 million will fly. It's down about 2.5 percent from 2002.
And joining us now with more on summer travel and any last-minute deals for weekend travelers, "Travel & Leisure" editor Nilou Motamed.
Thanks so much for being here with us, Nilou.
NILOU MOTAMED, "TRAVEL & LEISURE" EDITOR: Thank you.
COLLINS: So, what's the scoop here? We know that fuel prices or gas prices are down after the war in Iraq.
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: But airline prices, no.
MOTAMED: No. Airline prices are not down, and the reason is the airlines are really trying to recoup what they've lost in the last couple of years. And they're seeing this as a boon. They're seeing this as a way to get some money.
In fact, American Airlines, which is our largest airline, is actually even trying to put some seats back into their planes. You know, they went through that whole thing where they said...
COLLINS: More room.
MOTAMED: ... more room, more leg room in coach. Well, forget that. Now, they're putting seats back, so they can get as much money as possible from each flight.
COLLINS: So, if you do decide to travel somewhere by the airlines...
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: ... should you buy that ticket now? Because it sounds like there might be some great deals coming up.
MOTAMED: Well, it's interesting, because the statistics for this weekend are that people are traveling a little bit less. But for the whole summer overall, it's actually 2.5 percent up, which means that, in fact, if you're not flexible with your schedule, if you need to go to your cousin's wedding, you should book it. It's not something that you can be flexible with.
But if you are flexible, then I would say you can wait and see what comes up. And I think the places we will see the deals are in the three C's, is what I like to call them, which are the Caribbean, cruises and consolidators. So, when you go online and you go to Smarter Living or you go to Travel Zoo, that's where you're going to find -- they're going to try to get rid of last-minute seats or they're going to try to get rid of last-minutes packages, and that's where you're going to find some of your deals.
COLLINS: It all sounds so great right now on this very day, doesn't it?
MOTAMED: Yes.
COLLINS: In fact, let's go ahead and talk about some of the hottest destinations now for this summer.
MOTAMED: Yes. Well, it seems like the hottest destination that we're seeing are Nevada, California, Florida, Texas and New York. And I think -- the only reason I can think of for New York, besides the fact that it's my favorite city in the world, is people have to come visit you guys.
COLLINS: Well, there you go.
MOTAMED: They have to come to your studio.
COLLINS: They have to come out in front of the studio and wave to us.
MOTAMED: Exactly, exactly.
COLLINS: That's right. Thats right. Well, let's go ahead and talk about these other places. They're the Florida beaches, the California theme parks and, of course, Las Vegas because of what Las Vegas is.
MOTAMED: You have to go to the slots. You have to go see "O." You have to have some great meals. Right now, Las Vegas is one of the hottest places for food. Pretty much every star chef has a restaurant there. So...
COLLINS: You are talking my language. All right, and we want to make sure that everybody knows that there are some deals out there for this particular weekend. You mentioned New York City. Let's talk in particular about what people could find.
MOTAMED: There is a great deal for New York from Chicago coming to New York, staying at "W" hotels. And it is, I think, one of the greatest deals, because it's amazing to me that you can stay three nights at a "W" hotel and get your airfare all for the price of pretty much of what it would just normally cost to get your airfare. So, I think it's pretty outrageous (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to you.
COLLINS: Yes, it sounds really good.
MOTAMED: And you can still book it right now.
COLLINS: You can still book it.
MOTAMED: Right.
COLLINS: All right, it sounds great. Long-term deals, though, for the summer?
MOTAMED: One thing that's great is Florida. The Outpost (ph) people, their hotel, the Tides, they're offering a great deal, where not only are they giving you a $100 off what they normally would charge you for a room, but they're giving you a $75 credit for their restaurants. That's called 1220. They're giving you Bickroom (ph) yoga passes. They're giving you beach service. They're giving you a lot of attention, because especially in the places where they're not necessarily considered high season in the summertime, they're really trying to draw the visitors in.
COLLINS: All right, they've drawn me in as we speak this morning. A little yoga never hurt anybody, right?
MOTAMED: Never.
COLLINS: All right, Nilou Motamed from "Travel & Leisure" magazine, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
