Things To Do In SW Florida

Conditions were mostly nice this year for travelers flying ahead of and on Christmas, but some naughty disruptions again plagued those flying with Southwest Airlines.

For millions of people traveling over the holiday, this year was much better than last. Christmas morning put a bow on a relatively smooth weekend.

Only 157 flights within, into or out of the U.S. had been canceled and 2,111 were delayed as of late afternoon on Monday, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

For this holiday season, U.S. airlines prepared for massive waves of travelers by hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers — in an effort to avoid the delays and cancellations that marred travel in 2022, culminating with the Southwest Airlines debacle that stranded more than 2 million people.

Still, Southwest experienced hiccups again over the weekend that the airline was looking to clear by Monday. Just 2% of the airline’s flights were canceled Monday, though 16% were delayed, which is 693 flights total, according to FlightAware. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN (AP Business Writer)

Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays.

Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.

Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.

But many cards — tens of billions of dollars’ worth — wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.

Here’s what to know about the gift cards you’re giving — or getting:

After clothing, gift cards will be the most popular present this holiday season. Nearly half of Americans plan to give them, according to the National Retail Federation. read more

With some donning Santa hats and others in holiday sweaters, shoppers filled malls and stores across Central Florida on Saturday trying to finish last-minute purchases or find that perfect gift two days before Christmas.

Nearly 142 million people across the country were expected to shop online or in stores on what’s dubbed Super Saturday — the last major shopping day of the year, according to the National Retail Federation. The last time Super Saturday fell on Dec. 23 was 2017, when just over 126 million people made holiday purchases.

“I ended up waiting to the very end this year to finish,” said Marie Jenkins, of Deltona, as she stood on the crowded sidewalk along Park Avenue in Winter Park, holding two Williams-Sonoma bags stuffed with gifts. “I don’t usually shop this late before Christmas. But tomorrow I’ll be in the kitchen cooking and baking all day.”

A long line of people stood outside the Lululemon store along the avenue, waiting to make their way inside the crowded boutique that sells athletic apparel. read more