Things To Do In SW Florida

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines is relaxing part of its pet policy to let owners bring their companion and a full-size carry-on bag into the cabin.

Until this week, people who carried a pet into the cabin — which involves paying a $150 fee — could only have one other small item that fit under the seat.

Anything bigger, like a carry-on bag with wheels, needed to be checked — for a $35 fee. Or they could put the pet in the cargo hold.

Now American is letting passengers bring a pet in the cabin and also bring a regular carry-on bag or a personal item — just not both bags.

The old policy struck some pet owners as unfair, since they were already paying a pet fee.

Gary Leff, a travel blogger who first wrote about the change, recalled traveling years ago with a Yorkshire terrier.

“It was always frustrating that the dog counted as the carry-on even though I was paying the extra (pet) fee that was sometimes more than the ticket for me,” he said Friday.

Leff said he thinks American’s change will reduce the urge for travelers to falsely claim that their pet is a service animal that flies for free. read more

High interest rates, coupled with soaring insurance costs, have slowed home sales in Seminole over the past year, county officials said this week.

According to data released by the Seminole County Property Appraiser’s Office, the number of new and existing homes sold across the county in 2023 dropped nearly 20% from the previous year. In 2022, for example, a total of 10,942 homes sold for roughly $4 billion, compared to 8,757 last year for about $3.4 billion.

Explaining the decline during a presentation to county commissioners Tuesday, Property Appraiser David Johnson noted home sales are tied to three costs: property taxes, homeowners insurance and interest rates.

In recent years, interest and insurance rates have shot up, while Seminole’s overall property tax rate of nearly $4.88 per $1,000 of taxable value has remained the same for more than a decade.

As of Thursday, for example, a home mortgage at a 30-year fixed rate was 6.79% — compared to 3.17% at the same time in 2021 — a jump of more than 114%, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. more commonly known as Freddie Mac. read more