The leaves will start to change soon, and many travelers are excited to get out to see the foliage. Expedia travel expert Melanie Fish shares popular fall travel destinations.
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00:00 and folks, here it is.
00:01 The leaves are gonna start to change soon,
00:03 and so many people, understandably so,
00:06 and including Bernie and myself,
00:07 wanna get out and about and see all the foliage.
00:09 Yeah, fall is here, and travelers are excited
00:12 about the cooler weather,
00:13 and changing leaf colors are in luck.
00:16 Joining us live from Austin to talk about
00:18 popular traditional fall destinations
00:20 is our Expedia travel expert, Melanie Fish.
00:23 Melanie, good morning.
00:23 Always lovely to have you on.
00:26 Happy fall.
00:27 It's like 97 degrees in Texas today.
00:30 Don't worry, it's coming.
00:31 Yeah, one step at a time, but you know what?
00:34 Maybe that's some inspiration for people
00:36 who are dealing with the heat to do some traveling,
00:38 get out of the heat and go experience some fall.
00:40 So what are those traditional destinations
00:42 that you hear about so often?
00:45 I love that we're talking about traditional fall travel.
00:48 Leaf peeping, going to see the trees
00:50 in all their autumnal glory,
00:52 and of course, when we think about that,
00:54 we think about New England,
00:56 and I think about private vacation homes
01:00 nestled in the mountains.
01:01 It's peak season, though, in New England,
01:03 so let's think about some other destinations.
01:05 Gatlinburg, Tennessee, hugely popular destination
01:09 on the Vrbo app, lots and lots of places to stay.
01:12 I just looked up a five-bedroom cabin
01:15 where you're looking out at the leaves,
01:17 and what I really like about these big mountain cabins
01:20 is that if you split the cost
01:23 between the people that you're going with,
01:25 you can really get some value there.
01:26 So even though some of these destinations,
01:29 leaf peeping is peak season,
01:32 you can get easily a place for the weekend
01:35 for $100 a night, but if you haven't planned yet,
01:38 I'm gonna go ahead and recommend you
01:41 maybe skip some of those more popular
01:44 leaf peeping destinations like New England
01:47 and go someplace like Colorado,
01:49 where the leaves are starting to peak now,
01:51 and there's a ton of places to stay.
01:54 A lot of those private vacation rentals,
01:57 and this is truly the off-season there,
01:59 and so you can really get some value
02:02 in choosing a place to stay.
02:04 - And of course, many would like to travel
02:05 with their pets, it's very popular.
02:08 Are there some pet-friendly destinations for drivers?
02:11 - Look, there is a filter in the Vrbo app
02:16 so you can see where you wanna go
02:19 and only see pet-friendly properties.
02:21 I just used it.
02:22 I just actually booked a week in Arkansas,
02:25 great fall colors in Arkansas,
02:27 and I needed a pet-friendly property.
02:29 Here's the tip there, is that each homeowner
02:33 sets their own rules, and so there might be
02:36 an additional pet fee or a weight limit,
02:38 there was a weight limit for the pets
02:41 in the house that I booked.
02:42 So just make sure you're following the homeowner rules
02:45 and plenty of options for your four-legged family members.
02:49 - Okay, maybe for the people who can't drive
02:51 but are looking to fly, are there any affordable times
02:55 people need to know about when it comes to booking flights?
02:58 - Yeah, great time to fly.
03:00 We crunched the data though and found that actually
03:03 the cheapest time to fly this fall
03:06 is going to be around October 24th.
03:09 I mean, that's a general rule.
03:10 Go ahead and set your flight price tracker
03:12 to make sure that you know when the best time to book is
03:16 for your destination.
03:17 - And really quick, Melanie, we have about 30 seconds here.
03:20 What are some of the ways travelers
03:22 can score the best deals?
03:24 - Oh yeah, I'm gonna say bundle your trip
03:27 if you are flying, book your accommodations
03:30 and your flight at the same time.
03:33 And a little self-promotion here,
03:36 but you really should take advantage
03:37 of the new rewards program, OneKey,
03:40 that allows you to earn and spend cash, OneKey cash,
03:44 whether you're renting a private vacation rental on Vrbo,
03:47 a hotel on hotels.com or anything on Expedia.
03:52 So that's a good tip for the fall and beyond.
03:55 - Love it, you love to hear it.
03:56 Melanie Fish, always lovely to have you on the Talk Travel
03:59 and you know what, especially looking forward
04:01 to traveling this fall.
04:02 Melanie, thank you so much for the expertise.