Southwest adds nonstop flight from Pittsburgh to LA

Southwest adds nonstop flight from Pittsburgh to LA

IMPERIAL, Pa.

Pittsburgh International Airport officials say Southwest Airlines is adding daily nonstop service to Los Angeles starting Aug. 7.

The flights will leave Pittsburgh at 7:10 p.m. Eastern time and arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 9:10 p.m. Pacific time. Flights from Los Angeles will leave at 4:55 p.m. Pacific time and arrive in Pittsburgh at 12:25 a.m. Eastern time.

The flights will give Southwest 16 nonstop destinations from Pittsburgh, the most of any carrier.

Pittsburgh International now has nonstop service to 53 cities.

Zika virus among travelers’ worries

The Zika virus has joined terrorism and extreme weather as one of the biggest worries of airline travelers.

InsureMyTrip, a travel insurance-comparison site, reported a 20 percent surge in calls recently from travelers worried about the virus that can cause fever, rashes, joint pain or conjunctivitis. The virus may possibly lead to birth defects if it is contracted by a pregnant woman.

Travel insurance experts say most standard travel insurance policies won’t let you cancel simply because of fear of the virus, even if you are pregnant. However, travelers who buy more expensive cancel-for-any-reason policies can get their money back if they cancel out of fear of Zika.

Several airlines, including United and Delta, have offered to reschedule flights or give refunds to passengers with tickets to areas of the world heavily hit by the virus.

Airline ticket, car rental costs fall

The cost of travel is declining, but some of the savings have nothing to do with cheaper fuel prices.

The average domestic airline ticket fell to $372 in the third quarter of 2015, a 6 percent drop compared with the same period in 2014, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Travel experts attribute the decline to a 30 to 40 percent slide in airline fuel costs over the last year.

Travelers are enjoying even bigger car-rental savings. The average car-rental rate for business travelers in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $38.88, a 13.6 percent drop over the same period in 2011, according to an analysis by Travel Leaders Corp., a Minnesota-based travel management company.

Among the key reasons for the decline is a series of mergers among the major car companies over the last few years, sparking a price war among the remaining competitors, said Parker Schlank, vice president of growth for Travel Leaders Corp.

Florida tourism

ORLANDO, Fla.

Florida saw a record number of tourists flock to its beaches, theme parks and cities last year, according to new numbers announced last week by Gov. Rick Scott.

Some 105 million tourists visited Florida in 2015, according to preliminary estimates prepared by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing arm. The new total beats the previous high of nearly 99 million and it marks the fifth year in a row that a record number of tourists came to Florida.

Visit Florida estimates that most of those visiting Florida — nearly 90 million — came from the United States.

Geography quiz

Q. Which continent has the largest land area?

A. Asia. With about 17 million square miles, it easily outranks Africa, which is about 11.7 million square miles.

Combined dispatches