What Travelers Need to Know About Hard-Hit North Carolina

During my last hours at the beloved Blackberry Farm in eastern Tennessee, honored in this year's Readers' Choice Awards as the number six hotel in the South, I piloted my golf cart past a grassy hillock with a little white dollhouse of a church peeking over the top until I reached a trailhead. From there I plunged into the latticework of hiking paths that crisscross the southern swath of the property. I huffed and puffed up Horse Slide Trail, which is called that for a reason, until I reached Blackberry's boundary with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There was not a soul in sight—just sun-dappled forest, the whir of insects, and me alone with my footsteps and my thoughts.

Last week, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm before ripping through six states leaving a path of destruction in its wake and killing more than 100 people. The record-breaking storm – which clocked 140 mph winds and a storm surge that reached more than 15 feet above ground in the Florida Big Bend region – has left millions to deal with flooded roads, flattened homes and buildings, and power outages. North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama have all made disaster declarations as emergency responders work to rescue missing persons and more than 1.2 million are still without power as of Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. Popular North Carolina mountain towns – including Asheville – which have become top tourist destinations in the fall, have been reduced to debris as residents are left to rebuild their lives. Carrie Tucker of Charlotte, North Carolina, told Travel + Leisure in the wake of Hurricane Helene, western North Carolina is “completely cut off from life – no roads, no gas, no food.”

Exploring new territory can be inspiring and enlightening. But for the approximately 750,000 Americans who have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC), being away from home—and a familiar bathroom—often feels riskier than flying standby.

Frontier Airlines announced 22 new routes across its United States network, launching in December. 

Delta Air Lines announced five new routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, starting in March 2025.

The Walt Disney World Resort announced that travelers can save up to $200 per night for 2025 vacations when booking a three-night, two-day room and ticket package.

Amtrak is launching a new route between Chicago and Miami this fall that will whisk passengers from the Midwest to the Sunshine State in 47 hours.

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Thursday and started her devastating path up through the southeastern United States.

October is here and so are these great points and miles deals, and the latest in credit card perks—all of which come in handy for leaf-peeping trips, spooky getaways for Halloween, and last-minute journeys to chase some autumn sun. (Need some ideas? Check out this list of the best places to visit in October to get the travel inspiration going.) And for the aviation geeks: Here’s a rundown of the latest loyalty industry news and perks, so you don’t have to scour the internet to find them. Register for these points and miles deals to boost your account balances, and then start planning where you want to go next. We've got all the best points and miles deals for October, below.

When Erin Hynes and Lucas Amormino quit their jobs in Canada to travel around the world for six months, most of their loved ones were supportive.

Spirit Airlines is making more big changes to its network.

Delta Air Lines is picking up the slack that American Airlines left in Austin.