Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now on Colorado's Morning News. Well, Labor Day is fast approaching,
and Triple A puts Denver as a top ten state
side destination for the upcoming weekends.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And it's going to be a busy weekend here in
other parts of the country. We're also seeing us like
dipping prices when it comes to flights, hotels, stays in
car Reynolds and joining us now in the ka comments
Breed Health Hotline. Skyler McKinley, Regional director of Public Affairs
for Triple A, Skyler, glad to have you back. Specifically,
what are the numbers when it comes to domestic flights
this Labor Day, this weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We know that it's been a robust summer, and well,
there's anecdotal data that some color and businesses have seen
some softening and tourist data over the summer. Our data
shows very robust. We're seeing record numbers of Americans travel.
We're seeing airfare prices decline and that motivates some last
minute travel. So all told, the travel economy was predicted
to be wobbly this year as a function of tariffs
(00:49):
and some of the international conversations, and well that was
maybe a little softer than usual, it was still robust
and one for the record book, so also pretty good
news as we head into Labor Day and the end
of summer, Skyler.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Do we have any reasoning for why it seems like
it's a little more rosy this year than what we
were originally expecting, because we're already seeing an uptick when
it comes to things like flights and hotels, stays and
car rentals.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So I think on one end, we saw some diminution
in prices, and when it's cheaper to travel, more Americans
make the decision to travel. I'd also say that at
the outset of the year we were promised a lot
more uncertainty than we saw. It's still possible the year's
not over yet, but broadly, travel is downstream of americans
perception of the rest of the economy, because folks only
travel if they think they've got the money to do so,
(01:30):
or they can afford it, or they can budget to
do it. Look, I don't think it's anybody's idea of
a perfect economy, but it's a little bit rosier than
perhaps some thought late last year into this year, and
at the function of that, Americans took their extra money
they had or it took that economic confidence and they
sent the roads to the cruise ships of the skies.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You've told us before that most people have a tendency
to do vacations that are fifty miles in under a
road trip. Is that what we're seeing again this year
as well, people staying closer to home but still getting
out and going somewhere.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's absolutely true in the Mountain West, where most our
kids are back in school already. This is fundamentally we
see in our data locally a camping holiday. Folks go
to the high country, or they'll go to a barbecue,
or they'll go see loved weathers. What's interesting, and I
think we've spoken about this before that was true for
Americans generally, the Americans like to travel closer to home.
But since the rise of the of the of revenge
travel and the COVID nineteen pandemic, holidays that you wouldn't
(02:18):
think would be international travel affairs have become that. We
do see folks traveling internationally for Labor Day, We do
see folks traveling internationally for say July fourth. Those aren't
the preponderance of travelers, but they represent a solid portion
in our data set that they didn't before. I think
that ultimately COVID nineteen made it so that folks that
realized how much flexibility they have, and the folks who
had the flexibility to take extra time off around a
(02:40):
three or four day weekend are taking it and going
further distances.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
A camping holiday is my game plan as well, and
I know I'll have a lot of company with the
Hooks who are going to be traveling on I seventy
for this weekend. Do we have any expectation of the
best or worst times to be hitting the road?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I can tell you, just as a colorad and who
regularly goes up and down I seventy, stay off at
Friday evening if you can. That's going to be some
of the worst localized data.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Broadly.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Saturday is going to be very, very busy as well,
especially in the early afternoon. A good rule of thumb
is if you can leave earlier in the day, you'll
avoid many travelers. Not A good rule of thumb is
if you can travel on a day when you aren't
expecting everybody else too, you might have the roads to yourself.
So we know Friday is going to be busy, We
know Saturday is going to be busy. We know Monday
is going to be busy, Tuesday not so bad, Thursday
evening not so bad. If you've got the time, if
(03:23):
you've got the flexibility, and if you can afford it,
you can avoid the worst traffic headaches by going that route.
But no, the traffic is the fact of life. And
as I always say, you can't be mad at traffic.
You are traffic.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If you yeah, you're a part of the problem, right,
as you like to say. When when I was looking
at some of the prices for if you are going
to fly domestically, flights are what six percent cheaper, which
I guess is good news too.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That's right across the board, especially to major destinations. We've
seen also prices falling for airfare into Denver. Six percent
isn't a ton of lea, of course when we're talking
about these expensive tickets, but it's appreciable. And I'll also
add that compared to inflating costs on airfare, this is
really good news. Whenever we see any stability or deflation
on airfare, it means more folks are able to travel,
(04:05):
and folks have taken advantage of that. So I think
good news all around. There and let's hope we can
keep it up.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Regional Director of Public Affairs for Triple A at Skyler McKinley,
Thanks Skyler, talk too soon,
Now on Colorado's Morning News. Well, Labor Day is fast approaching,
and Triple A puts Denver as a top ten state
side destination for the upcoming weekends.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And it's going to be a busy weekend here in
other parts of the country. We're also seeing us like
dipping prices when it comes to flights, hotels, stays in
car Reynolds and joining us now in the ka comments
Breed Health Hotline. Skyler McKinley, Regional director of Public Affairs
for Triple A, Skyler, glad to have you back. Specifically,
what are the numbers when it comes to domestic flights
this Labor Day, this weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
We know that it's been a robust summer, and well,
there's anecdotal data that some color and businesses have seen
some softening and tourist data over the summer. Our data
shows very robust. We're seeing record numbers of Americans travel.
We're seeing airfare prices decline and that motivates some last
minute travel. So all told, the travel economy was predicted
to be wobbly this year as a function of tariffs
(00:49):
and some of the international conversations, and well that was
maybe a little softer than usual, it was still robust
and one for the record book, so also pretty good
news as we head into Labor Day and the end
of summer, Skyler.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Do we have any reasoning for why it seems like
it's a little more rosy this year than what we
were originally expecting, because we're already seeing an uptick when
it comes to things like flights and hotels, stays and
car rentals.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So I think on one end, we saw some diminution
in prices, and when it's cheaper to travel, more Americans
make the decision to travel. I'd also say that at
the outset of the year we were promised a lot
more uncertainty than we saw. It's still possible the year's
not over yet, but broadly, travel is downstream of americans
perception of the rest of the economy, because folks only
travel if they think they've got the money to do so,
(01:30):
or they can afford it, or they can budget to
do it. Look, I don't think it's anybody's idea of
a perfect economy, but it's a little bit rosier than
perhaps some thought late last year into this year, and
at the function of that, Americans took their extra money
they had or it took that economic confidence and they
sent the roads to the cruise ships of the skies.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You've told us before that most people have a tendency
to do vacations that are fifty miles in under a
road trip. Is that what we're seeing again this year
as well, people staying closer to home but still getting
out and going somewhere.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's absolutely true in the Mountain West, where most our
kids are back in school already. This is fundamentally we
see in our data locally a camping holiday. Folks go
to the high country, or they'll go to a barbecue,
or they'll go see loved weathers. What's interesting, and I
think we've spoken about this before that was true for
Americans generally, the Americans like to travel closer to home.
But since the rise of the of the of revenge
travel and the COVID nineteen pandemic, holidays that you wouldn't
(02:18):
think would be international travel affairs have become that. We
do see folks traveling internationally for Labor Day, We do
see folks traveling internationally for say July fourth. Those aren't
the preponderance of travelers, but they represent a solid portion
in our data set that they didn't before. I think
that ultimately COVID nineteen made it so that folks that
realized how much flexibility they have, and the folks who
had the flexibility to take extra time off around a
(02:40):
three or four day weekend are taking it and going
further distances.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
A camping holiday is my game plan as well, and
I know I'll have a lot of company with the
Hooks who are going to be traveling on I seventy
for this weekend. Do we have any expectation of the
best or worst times to be hitting the road?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I can tell you, just as a colorad and who
regularly goes up and down I seventy, stay off at
Friday evening if you can. That's going to be some
of the worst localized data.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Broadly.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Saturday is going to be very, very busy as well,
especially in the early afternoon. A good rule of thumb
is if you can leave earlier in the day, you'll
avoid many travelers. Not A good rule of thumb is
if you can travel on a day when you aren't
expecting everybody else too, you might have the roads to yourself.
So we know Friday is going to be busy, We
know Saturday is going to be busy. We know Monday
is going to be busy, Tuesday not so bad, Thursday
evening not so bad. If you've got the time, if
(03:23):
you've got the flexibility, and if you can afford it,
you can avoid the worst traffic headaches by going that route.
But no, the traffic is the fact of life. And
as I always say, you can't be mad at traffic.
You are traffic.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If you yeah, you're a part of the problem, right,
as you like to say. When when I was looking
at some of the prices for if you are going
to fly domestically, flights are what six percent cheaper, which
I guess is good news too.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That's right across the board, especially to major destinations. We've
seen also prices falling for airfare into Denver. Six percent
isn't a ton of lea, of course when we're talking
about these expensive tickets, but it's appreciable. And I'll also
add that compared to inflating costs on airfare, this is
really good news. Whenever we see any stability or deflation
on airfare, it means more folks are able to travel,
(04:05):
and folks have taken advantage of that. So I think
good news all around. There and let's hope we can
keep it up.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Regional Director of Public Affairs for Triple A at Skyler McKinley,
Thanks Skyler, talk too soon,
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.