Holiday flights are cheaper this year — here’s how to book smart
By Laurie Baratti, TravelPulse (TNS)
The end-of-year holidays are fast approaching and, whether you’re planning a traditional trip back to the family homestead or an escape to a sun-drenched beach, having the inside track on when and how to book your holiday travel can save you substantial amounts of stress and money. But the windows for snagging flight deals for the upcoming holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s, are by and large closed by the end of October.
Seminole approves $14M contract with ‘outdated’ Lynx bus service but commits to cut costs
Seminole commissioners blasted Lynx bus service Tuesday for inefficiencies before approving a new $14 million contract for the upcoming year and committing to look at ways to cut costs to the county.
“As a business man, I can tell you, this is not efficient for Seminole County,” Commission Chair Jay Zembower said. “The model is antiquated. It’s outdated. … At $14 million, I think we could get a frequent card with Uber and run people all over where they want through this region.”
Zembower made the comments during a presentation by Lynx officials during the county commission meeting.
Proposals offered by Lynx to cut costs include discontinuing underperforming routes with few riders — primarily in the Lake Mary and Sanford areas. Those routes could be replaced with on-demand flex service — such as Lynx’s NeighborLink or a similar private service — where people request a ride by cellphone or the Lynx website.
Commissioners also leaned toward contracting with a private microtransit service, such as Freebee, which provides door-to-door car trips to certain locations — such as hospitals, shopping centers, SunRail stations or larger Lynx bus stops — within a designated zone. Freebee currently operates in Kissimmee surrounding downtown and Osceola Regional Medical Center.
How to go cashless while also avoiding credit card debt
By Kimberly Palmer and Sara Rathner, NerdWallet
Consumers broke up with cash during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it doesn’t appear that they’re rushing to reconcile.
Before the pandemic, Steffen Kaplan, a social media and visual consultant in the New York area, preferred using cash to credit cards. When we spoke in September 2020, he said cash helped him avoid overspending, but the coronavirus changed his spending habits.
“I don’t carry cash around with me anymore,” Kaplan said at the time. “Given that we have to remember to wear a mask, not touch anything, and go home and wash our hands every two minutes, it just seems easier to have a credit card rather than be fumbling around with cash,” he added.
Like Kaplan, more Americans shifted to digital payments amid the pandemic, and the number of consumers making the switch is projected to keep growing. According to the 2024 Global Payments Report by Worldpay, a payments technology company, digital wallets were the most popular method of payment for e-commerce in 2023, followed by credit cards. And for in-store purchases, credit and debit cards were consumers’ top choices. Cash accounted for just 12% of in-store payment methods in 2023, and Worldpay estimates it will drop to 8% in 2027.
Disney Cruise Line arrives to Port Canaveral with newest ship Disney Treasure
PORT CANAVERAL — The stars were still shining down amid the darkness of predawn Monday as a small crowd of Disney Cruise Line superfans spotted the new ship Disney Treasure far in the distance.
Crowded on the rocky inlet shore from Jetty Park, it was hard to miss with spotlights brushing over some low-floating clouds and then the bright red ship funnels lighting up like police lights on a dark highway as the 144,000-gross-ton sister ship to 2022’s Disney Wish approached to make its North American debut.
“This is kind of a tradition for us because we’ve seen every Disney ship come into the port for the very first time,” said Mark Bishop of Clermont, who made the drive over the previous day with wife Julie and friend Pati Jones of Lakeland. “We come over, we get a hotel room. we get up early. We’re either the first or second car in first and then we watch the ship come in for the first time.”
“And we shed a tear,” Jones added.
The trio were among the first cars making their way into the park that opened up at 5:30 a.m. to let a crowd of about 100 line up along the shore and welcome the lit-up ship as it sailed into the port for the first time.
Bitcoin has topped $87,000 for a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally
By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NEW YORK (AP) — As money continues to pour into crypto following Donald Trump’s victory last week, bitcoin has climbed to yet another record high.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency topped $87,000 for the first time on Monday. As of around 3:45 p.m. ET, bitcoin’s price stood at $87,083, per CoinDesk, up over 28% in the last week alone.
That’s part of a rally across cryptocurrencies and crypto-related investments since Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week. Analysts credit much of the recent gains to an anticipated “crypto-friendly” nature of the incoming administration, which could translate into more regulatory clarity but also leeway.
Still, as with everything in the volatile cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. And while some are bullish, others continue to warn of investment risks.
Here’s what you need to know.
Back up. What is cryptocurrency again?
Cryptocurrency has been around for a while now, but has come under the spotlight in recent years.
In basic terms, cryptocurrency is digital money. This kind of currency is designed to work through an online network without a central authority — meaning it’s typically not backed by any government or banking institution — and transactions get recorded with technology called a blockchain.