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American Morning

Interview With Mark Orwoll

Aired August 29, 2003 - 09:45   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well the countdown is on. The start of Labor Day weekend is just hours away. The AAA estimates that more than 30 million Americans have travel plans for the three-day weekend. I'm still trying to figure out mine. That would be the highest number in eight years.
And even though gasoline prices have skyrocketed, nearly 85 percent of them will be on the road. Here with advice for all road warriors as well as tips for off-season vacations is Mark Orwoll, managing editor of "Travel + Leisure" magazine. Thanks for being with us.

MARK ORWOLL, "TRAVEL + LEISURE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. How are you?

COOPER: Good. So the outlook for the weekend?

ORWOLL: The weekend is going to be crowded. As you said, people are eager to get on the road. They're going to be doing it. The drivers, most people are going to be driving out of those 33.4 million people. And they're going to be a little bit upset because they're going find that gas prices are about 35 cents per gallon higher this weekend than they were a year ago. That hurts.

COOPER: So the roads are going to be crowded. Is the airways or air travel the best way to go?

ORWOLL: Well it's going to be crowded there, too. You know the airlines have taken a lot of their planes out of service because of a decreased number of air travelers. So the flights are still crowded. Also, the TSA screeners are looking even with greater scrutiny at electronic devices. So expect those security lines to be long as well.

COOPER: But you know I just flew last week in Chicago, and I mean the -- you know you can't change your ticket. There are all of these -- these restrictions, and so -- this weekend, does that change?

ORWOLL: Well you know you think the airlines are shooting themselves in the foot by making it harder to travel.

COOPER: Right, you just get angry.

ORWOLL: Well this week most of the major airlines have relaxed their strict cancellation policies. I'm going to tell you though, Anderson, make sure that you check with your airline exactly how they relaxed cancellation policies before you change your plans because not every airline has done it the same way. But it is a little easier to change your ticket now.

COOPER: I know you have some travel bargains for this weekend in particular.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Where should we go?

ORWOLL: Well, first let's go to Las Vegas so you can lose all your hard-earned money. No, you can have a great time in Vegas. Used to be they were aiming at the family market, what was that all about? Now they're back to their slightly salacious...

COOPER: Oh, really? They've gone away from that?

ORWOLL: Oh, yes. They're back to their slightly salacious adults only.

COOPER: Oh, I didn't know that.

ORWOLL: "What happens here stays here" is their new marketing ploy.

COOPER: Oh I've seen that. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

ORWOLL: Let me give you a couple of examples for this weekend. We checked with Vegas.com to make sure that we could get places that still had availability. At the Sahara Hotel you can get a room there for $79.95 a night this weekend. You want to go slightly more upscale, the Luxor Hotel, $149.95, there's still availability. And package deal from L.A., round trip airfare from L.A. to Vegas plus three nights at the Excalibur Hotel, $501.

Great way to get away this weekend. And you'll been see prices like this in the coming weeks as well.

COOPER: And Caribbean is always a good place to go in the off season. Everybody goes for Christmas and stuff and you know if they can afford to. But it's cheaper rates now.

ORWOLL: There are some fantastic rates. They're going on -- in fact, you want to book these ones by the end of the day today for Puerto Rico. A couple quick examples. El Convento Hotel, as you know..,

COOPER: Yes, it's a beautiful hotel.

ORWOLL: It's a great hotel.

COOPER: It's an old convent.

ORWOLL: Upscale, former convent. That's exactly right. You can get round-trip from New York, three nights at the El Convento for $540. COOPER: Including airfare?

ORWOLL: Including your airfare. Go on to PuertoRicoIsFun.com to find this deal.

Another very quick one in Puerto Rico is at the San Juan Beach Hotel, $474, three nights plus round-trip airfare from New York...

COOPER: Four seventy-four?

ORWOLL: It's amazing. Now check from your own hometown to see about different airfares, different prices...

(CROSSTALK)

ORWOLL: That's right.

COOPER: All right, Mark Orwoll, thanks very much for being with us.

ORWOLL: Delighted to be here.

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 August 29, 2003 - 09:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well the countdown is on. The start of Labor Day weekend is just hours away. The AAA estimates that more than 30 million Americans have travel plans for the three-day weekend. I'm still trying to figure out mine. That would be the highest number in eight years.
And even though gasoline prices have skyrocketed, nearly 85 percent of them will be on the road. Here with advice for all road warriors as well as tips for off-season vacations is Mark Orwoll, managing editor of "Travel + Leisure" magazine. Thanks for being with us.

MARK ORWOLL, "TRAVEL + LEISURE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. How are you?

COOPER: Good. So the outlook for the weekend?

ORWOLL: The weekend is going to be crowded. As you said, people are eager to get on the road. They're going to be doing it. The drivers, most people are going to be driving out of those 33.4 million people. And they're going to be a little bit upset because they're going find that gas prices are about 35 cents per gallon higher this weekend than they were a year ago. That hurts.

COOPER: So the roads are going to be crowded. Is the airways or air travel the best way to go?

ORWOLL: Well it's going to be crowded there, too. You know the airlines have taken a lot of their planes out of service because of a decreased number of air travelers. So the flights are still crowded. Also, the TSA screeners are looking even with greater scrutiny at electronic devices. So expect those security lines to be long as well.

COOPER: But you know I just flew last week in Chicago, and I mean the -- you know you can't change your ticket. There are all of these -- these restrictions, and so -- this weekend, does that change?

ORWOLL: Well you know you think the airlines are shooting themselves in the foot by making it harder to travel.

COOPER: Right, you just get angry.

ORWOLL: Well this week most of the major airlines have relaxed their strict cancellation policies. I'm going to tell you though, Anderson, make sure that you check with your airline exactly how they relaxed cancellation policies before you change your plans because not every airline has done it the same way. But it is a little easier to change your ticket now.

COOPER: I know you have some travel bargains for this weekend in particular.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Where should we go?

ORWOLL: Well, first let's go to Las Vegas so you can lose all your hard-earned money. No, you can have a great time in Vegas. Used to be they were aiming at the family market, what was that all about? Now they're back to their slightly salacious...

COOPER: Oh, really? They've gone away from that?

ORWOLL: Oh, yes. They're back to their slightly salacious adults only.

COOPER: Oh, I didn't know that.

ORWOLL: "What happens here stays here" is their new marketing ploy.

COOPER: Oh I've seen that. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

ORWOLL: Let me give you a couple of examples for this weekend. We checked with Vegas.com to make sure that we could get places that still had availability. At the Sahara Hotel you can get a room there for $79.95 a night this weekend. You want to go slightly more upscale, the Luxor Hotel, $149.95, there's still availability. And package deal from L.A., round trip airfare from L.A. to Vegas plus three nights at the Excalibur Hotel, $501.

Great way to get away this weekend. And you'll been see prices like this in the coming weeks as well.

COOPER: And Caribbean is always a good place to go in the off season. Everybody goes for Christmas and stuff and you know if they can afford to. But it's cheaper rates now.

ORWOLL: There are some fantastic rates. They're going on -- in fact, you want to book these ones by the end of the day today for Puerto Rico. A couple quick examples. El Convento Hotel, as you know..,

COOPER: Yes, it's a beautiful hotel.

ORWOLL: It's a great hotel.

COOPER: It's an old convent.

ORWOLL: Upscale, former convent. That's exactly right. You can get round-trip from New York, three nights at the El Convento for $540. COOPER: Including airfare?

ORWOLL: Including your airfare. Go on to PuertoRicoIsFun.com to find this deal.

Another very quick one in Puerto Rico is at the San Juan Beach Hotel, $474, three nights plus round-trip airfare from New York...

COOPER: Four seventy-four?

ORWOLL: It's amazing. Now check from your own hometown to see about different airfares, different prices...

(CROSSTALK)

ORWOLL: That's right.

COOPER: All right, Mark Orwoll, thanks very much for being with us.

ORWOLL: Delighted to be here.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com