Expert Gives Travel Tips for Thanksgiving Holiday
WHITFIELD: All right, millions of people jamming the airports and highways at the same time. Well, that's exactly what might happen tomorrow as the Thanksgiving holiday winds down. We want to help you get through it all. So joining me right now from New York is Mark Murphy. He's the author of "Travel Unscripted" and founder of TravelPulse.com. Good to see you. Happy holiday weekend.</s>MARK MURPHY, AUTHOR, "TRAVEL UNSCRIPTED": You, too.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, so you have tips for us. And the first is leave after morning rush hour on Monday.</s>MURPHY: Yes. You know what, I don't understand why people want to drive back on Sunday night. I don't get it, because you're going to be stuck in traffic. I used to travel between New York and New Jersey and it could take five hours to get back from my folks' house. I just skipped it and came into late work on Monday, and the bosses be, you know what.</s>WHITFIELD: Good advice for next year, plan on taking that Monday off.</s>MURPHY: Definitely.</s>WHITFIELD: If you are flying, here's some advice you give. See if you can change your flight to the first or second one leaving of the day because there are bound to be delays.</s>MURPHY: Yes. So first off, when you go to book your flight, book the first flight out in the morning. It's always a great rule of thumb especially on holiday weekends. Secondly, if you're already booked for a later flight, check the flights with the airlines and see if any seats are open. And then go stand by if there are open seats for that first flight. But remember, standby is on a first come, first serve basis. You may stand around at the airport all day as well.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh, that's the worst. And there wouldn't be a change fee when you do that?</s>MURPHY: Yes, and that's the key -- no change fee. No human standby fee in most airlines, and no difference if fares. So you get the benefit of getting out early. Hopefully you'll get a seat, but as you saw from your earlier segment, 85 percent of the seats are filled, almost 100 percent this weekend, so your chances are slim to none.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, and then some airports are destinations in and of it themselves because there's shopping and there are things to do. And so you say give yourself a little extra time to enjoy that. How?</s>MURPHY: Well, you know what, let's face it, the airlines and airports, do they collude here to come up with a way to keep us happy when we're delayed? Possibly. They have literally like little shopping malls and some high-end shops, great restaurants these days. It depends on the airport. And literary you can get there a little bit early, kickback, have low stress, and maybe do a little cyber airport shopping if you would this Sunday.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. And if your flight is canceled or delayed, heaven forbid, you say there is actually an app that might be a able to increase your chances of get a refund. What?</s>MURPHY: All right, so here's the catch. It's a little known European Union law that says if your flights are delayed or canceled, you could be entitled to compensation depending on the delay and the price of your ticket and a few other factors up to 600 euros, and that's only for flights originating out of a European Union country or within those countries. So if you're flying on a domestic U.S. carrier that's coming from Frankfurt and it's delayed, you are entitled to compensation based on that EU law.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, that's really good, because oftentimes delays, cancellations usually weather related, and the airline is quick to tell you, sorry, if it's weather related, you're getting nothing out of us.</s>MURPHY: All right, so here's the number. A year ago, $1 billion worth of claims could have been made by U.S. travelers based on that existing law.</s>WHITFIELD: OK, I'm going to remember that app. Mark Murphy, thanks so much. I love that holiday advice. Good to see.</s>MURPHY: You, too.</s>WHITFIELD: And this holiday weekend some places in the nation are going to warm up a little bit, but for how long? Meteorologist Jennifer Gray joins us with that. Jennifer?</s>JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fred, over the next couple of days people will be traveling back after Thanksgiving holiday. And the conditions are actually pretty nice. We do have high pressure in the southeast, warmer temperatures making their way into the mid-Atlantic and the northeast ahead of the next cold front. Cold air, however, will stay in place across the northern plains in the Midwest. A little bit of rain expected in the south on Monday, but Saturday and Sunday looking good across the south. Cold temperatures, like we said, teens and single digits Sunday and Monday in Minneapolis, unfortunately, even cold in Chicago. We warm up to the mid-40s though before the cool-down. In Atlanta, look at this. Temperatures close to 70 degrees. By Sunday and Monday, even Dallas, mid-70s today and tomorrow. New York City even warms up into the 50s before you drop down into the 30s by midweek. Another big story, the rain in the west. California could see rain in a big way, some areas six inches or more. So good news for state. Even Oregon picking up on some of that. And snow pushing into the Rockies over the next couple of days as well. We're looking at snowfall totals. Up to a foot or more possibly. Jackson Hole. We're also looking at rain, two to four inches across much of northern California, up to six in isolated locations. Southern portion of the state, not quite as much. But if you are traveling back on Sunday, aside from California and the west coast, the rest of the country, travel should be great. We're looking at quiet conditions. We're seeing maybe a few showers as we work our way to the east. But sunshine across D.C., New York, a little bit of snow possible in Detroit. Fred?</s>WHITFIELD: Not bad at all. Thanks so much, Jennifer, appreciate it. All right, now our weekly look into the future. Today we go to the bank that is now in your hands. Here's Richard Quest.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was a time when handling your money meant popping down to your local branch to do a bit of banking. Today much of that bank fits into the palm of our hands. The future of banking might take us back into our local branches as traditional banks look for ways to make their physical space as enticing as the virtual one.</s>EVE CALLAHAN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, UMPQUA BANK: The branch model is outdated and not relevant any longer. We are look to go create a different kind of bank, one that offers all the products and services of a large bank but delivers them with real community engagement and the service of a great retailer or hospitality company.</s>QUEST: Oregon-based Umpqua Bank has adopted what they call store concept with their 364 branches. It's modeled after retailers like the Gap and the Apple store. The goal is to attract customers with a more comfortable, a more welcoming experience.</s>CALLAHAN: We still do our banking online. But we come here because of the community, because of meeting the people that we see when we come here.</s>QUEST: And that's the key. Bankers rely heavily on face-to-face relationships to offer financial products and services. So they are offering new enticements to lure Internet and mobile customers back into the branch. Banks like Barclays, Chase, and Citibank have all created these new branches with that very thought in mind, trying to capture the new banking consumer.