Things To Do In SW Florida

The gas price yo-yo has spun into a downward cycle again after hitting the highest prices of the year earlier this month in Florida.

The state’s average price fell down to $3.74 a gallon after topping out at $3.84 a little more than a week ago. The price has seen nine consecutive days of falling prices, but AAA spokesperson Mark Jenkins warns that the yo-yo might not be done.

“That downward trend may not last long,” he said in a press release. “Last week, gasoline futures prices rebounded to the same levels that led to the 2023-highs we saw earlier this month. Since it can sometimes take a week or two before changes in the futures market hit the retail side, drivers could see gas prices move higher early this week or next.”

Jenkins said refiners still are coping with the extreme temperatures across the South that reduced output because of equipment failures, power outages and severe weather while customer demand in the late summer remains high.

“It’s not uncommon to see gas prices fluctuate during the summer months,” he said. “The long-term forecast is unclear, as hurricane season remains a major wild card. Gas prices could spike if a hurricane threatens refineries along the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi coastlines.” read more

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: My family and I recently took a Princess cruise, and I booked my airline tickets through the cruise line’s EZair program. Our return flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Denver was on Southwest Airlines, which was in December during the airline’s service debacle. Southwest canceled our flight. so we had to return on another airline.

Southwest refunded Princess in early January for all four tickets, but I have not received the money yet. I’ve sent emails to the vice president of guest relations, the director of customer service and the president of the cruise line, but have received no reply. Can you help us get our $983 back?

— Julie Schumer, Aurora, Colorado

ANSWER: Princess should have refunded you promptly for the Southwest flights. After all, the airline had fully refunded the cruise line after its service meltdown at the end of last year. (You contacted me in late April to ask for help, so it had been four months since your flight.)

The EZair program is Princess’ air-inclusive program, and it offers certain guarantees that your airline can’t. That includes the ability to cancel airline tickets up to 45 days before your departure with no fees. Princess also says you can “rest easy” on whether you’ll make your cruise if it’s delayed or canceled on the day of travel with same-day arrival protection. So it makes sense to look into EZair. read more