>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ i'm julian glover. you are watching "getting answers" on abc7. you know how it goes. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today we will dive into the challenging and changing landscape of ensuring your home here in california. wildfires, making policies harder to get than ever before and more expensive, too. but there are things you can do. we will be sharing tips. summer travel is ramping up in a big way. more records were shattered this

past weekend. we have the founder of going.com joining us live to talk about the airline industry's rebound and how you can still find last-minute deals, if you are looking to plan that summer travel trip. first up, a shootout in san francisco leaves six people injured. police arrested one person, detaining another. this all happened along the embarcadero. this seems to be yet another deterrent for the city in terms of luring tourists and business back to the city. joining us live to talk about this is insider phil matier. thanks for joining us. >> this was not the headline that san francisco was looking for father's day weekend and on julian: -- and on juneteenth. julian: this is along a slew of things that have been happening recently, the mass shooting among fishermen's worth, major hotels doing the same thing.

how do they turn around this pr nightmare? >> this does not help. it is a serious question about how we are going to get out of this sort of circle. they are calling it the doom loom. right now it's one thing after another. this latest incident, for as bad as it could have been, a grand theft auto type shootout along the embarcadero between two of the most iconic slices of real estate you could ever see. could've been worse. nobody died. there were children involved. one of the cars swerved and almost hit two kids. it did hit them but did not hurt them seriously. others were hurt by broken glass. one of the people in the cars engaged in the shootout took bullets to the chest. the woman that was with him shot apparently in the arm. but it could've been worse. and they are grappling with

what exactly we are dealing with. all already they've determined those people involved are from out of town. pittsburgh. across the bay. east bay. that doesn't help anything in san francisco. julian: that doesn't make people feel safer knowing that the folks came from pittsburgh. > it is on fisherman's wharf. the golden gate bridge. that is san francisco. that is not the kind of headline the mayor wanted today. julian: like we mentioned, it's been a rough two weeks when it comes to tough headlines for san francisco. >> speaking of headlines, the question here is -- we are calling the mass shootings. i understand that because one a certain amount of people are killed -- - w had a mass shooting last week in the mission. people think of mass shootings and they think of a lone gunman shooting. this is actually people getting caught in crossfire. not deliberately shot at. it's a different type of

situation. we can have a lot of discussions about guns and gun control. but the bottom line is right now san francisco needs something that's going to try to stop this now. and it doesn't have anything. julian: on that front, mayor london breed, pushing back on comments made from a reported by our network that it was too dangerous to film in san francisco. what more can be done? >> i've got to tell you -- i've got to be honest with you. mayor breed, in all honesty, it is too dangerous to film in san francisco unless you have a full police escort. television crews for years about to go out with armed guards. television crews, movie crews are constantly getting robbed in san francisco and in the east bay. so, sorry, you might not like the headline, but other people don't necessarily like getting robbed. this is the reality that people at city hall are coming up against. this isn't theoretical. this is real. the drug use on the

israel. the shootings are real. other cities are experiencing much of the same thing but not experiencing the other things on top of it, which is the work from home, the empty offices, the empty retail, empty tourism. this is just another punch the city is reeling from. julian: it's tough to come back from whatever they call it -- zombie cities. what san francisco could potentially be, on the road to becoming a zombie downtown with not much happening there. >> it already is. it is limited to the downtown. if you go outside downtown, san francisco and bay area, it looks pretty normal. downtown, hotel, tourism, you are right. it's not like decrepit. it's not like it's falling down. these are magnificent buildings that are empty. and hotels that are giving their

keys back to their lenders saying, we don't see the future here as making money. that's pretty bad. i think the mayor and chief and board of supervisors are going to have to step up on this because people are starting to say, if you can't feel safe at fisherman's wharf, where you can you feel safe? julian: a huge tourist destination as well -- destination for sure. we had the supervisor on the show last week, he was very excited but also cautiously optimistic about a resolution that board of supervisors passed, trying to cut some red tape to use some of these empty office buildings as perhaps homes. for the homeless that we see on the streets in san francisco. he was the first to acknowledge this is not going to happen overnight. this is going to be years in the making. he was cautiously optimistic. what do you make of it? >> i think cautiously optimistic, we have to put the emphasis on cautious right now. it is a question of whether san francisco has the time to make

that transition. if had been empty offices alone, would say, plenty of people want to live here so we would spend some time here converting. if you have people working remotely from home but living here, we could've done it. the thing is we have both. we have people that have second thoughts about living here, working here. you put them together, it makes it more difficult and does not address it immediately. every day, something else is coming out. it started with walgreens. people said, it's no big deals, we have lots of walgreens. now we don't. it was only walgreens making a corporate decision, now other retailers go. but the bottom line is, whatever the process goes into the decision-making, it still leaves an empty building whether it is an office building or store. julian: it is a domino continuing to fall. want to talk about the big news politically right now. a big day of presidential

politics. president biden and desantis in town. they will be a couple of miles apart on the peninsula. neither of the candidates in town are about the hearts and minds, this is about the coffers and money in politics right here. >> i'm supposed to be the cynical one. your the hopeful one -- you are the hopeful one. [laughter] julian: it's truthful. >> the president has tried to get some money for his reelection campaign at the same time. >> california is the piggyback bank especially for democrats. california gave more in the last presidential election are joe biden than any other state in the union. and there was never a question about how we were going to vote. we gave $105 million to the biden campaign. and that campaign and all -- in all on the trump site collectively spent $5.5 billion. so it is about money. i have to ask you, do not you

already know who these people are? [laughter] julian: that is true. >> to convince ? you either know or you don't know. most people right now are going, i am not excited about either one of these. that's what the polls show. so i don't know. maybe just send us all a check -- but the need for become an industry and california is one of the biggest ones. he is going to some very upscale tech people and on the peninsula. one who was a real backer of artificial intelligence, which is a question of hot debate these days. desantis is also going with real estate developers. he is much smaller potatoes than the president of the united states. he's coming to give some money. that's also a nice way to write off part of the trip and have taxpayers cover that expense because they cover the president's trips and he covers a fundraising trip -- so it is a two-for-one for them. julian: there's a question i

want to ask you about 2028 we will have time to get to right now, with ron desantis in town and governor gavin newsom. we've got a minute. quick answer. >> if joe biden is looking for -- i wouldn't say a running mate but certainly a pacer, that is gavin newsom. he's already volunteered to debate ron desantis. i guess instead of joe biden. saying he would go on fox news into bait him. gavin newsom is very much in the picture as his kamala harris. who was recently someone himself. julian: on friday stephanie see our updated us on the latest on this cap street saga showing the $250,000 barriers that have been put to mitigate sex work among cap street are already destroyed, you are looking at the video of it right now. they've tried everything imaginable at this point and that is starting to cost taxpayers lots of money. >> they destroyed the steel barriers because they wanted to put planters there.

once again we are going around in circles, where we are destroying ourselves. it is only a san francisco occurrence. but we have a thing about flowers. we will figure that one out. the question is, has it made anything better? a little bit. but of course it costs $250,000. this is san francisco. julian: it is san francisco after all. always so many topics, never enough time. >> keep the hope going. stop the cynicism. [laughter] julian: coming up, helping homeowners get insurance despite the new challenges in the market. we will explore your options

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julian: californians are finding it harder and more expensive to ensure their homes these days. to major insurance companies, state farm and allstate, backed out of the california market, citing the high cost of rebuilding after wildfires. that left us asking, what can you do? today a consumer advocate is weighing in with ideas for homeowners. joining us live now is the cofounder of the united policyholders consumer group. amy, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me on. julian: we are glad you are with us. we have seen the headlines. but left the curtain for us -- lift the curtain for us if you will, what is happening that is making insurance no longer want to ensure homes here in california? >> one thing is, insurer not been making as much money on their investments, like a lot of people, and they need that extra income especially with climate change, where they are seeing more frequent disasters, so they

have been looking to raise their rates. and also technology has allowed insurers to look at our homes under magnifying glasses and see all the flaws. and those forces plus other industry trends have gotten us into trouble in areas in california with available affordable home insurance. julian: are those other industry trends construction costs for example after something burns down? you have to build it on you and that is quite pricey here in the state? >> yeah. certainly inflation. insurers have been complaining about how inflation has been denting their profits. a lot of what's going on right now, it is a business in the business of insurance. it is affecting people in areas where there have been disasters. a lot of it is this risk scoring and predictive tools that are used now, when you come by the

-- combined that with the wildfires we've had, it makes insurers jittery about the risk. julian: let's talk specifically about allstate and state farm. they are not issuing new policies but they are not ripping up your policy if you already have one with them. what happens to those homeowners who have been with allstate for years, for example? >> right, you certainly hope that you don't get a nonrenewal notice when your policy comes up to be renewed. if you do, you want to start shopping right away. they give you 75 days. people in the suburbs and rural areas might need the whole 75 days. start shopping right away. come to our website and type in the search box, you will get our step-by-step help. we are a consumer group. we don't sell anything or take money from insurance companies. we are here to help you navigate the situation with your home and insurance. julian: what are those options

for folks that have received those nonrenewal notices in the mail? we do know the california fair plan is the option of last resort. but there's another option on the table before you get there. >> yep, there are the brands that everybody knows from tv ads and everything else. a lot of those big named brands -- big name brands have been becoming a lot more picky about the homes they will insure. it's probably temporary. you should surplus lines. the trick is to find a really good agent who was on the case and up to speed. a brand and the fair plan, you will find options. it is a matter of putting a lot more time and unfortunately money in than people have been

putting it in the past and that is a frustration for lots of households and my organization. julian: frustration and also sticker shock for lots of homeowners out there. can you tell us how much more expensive some of these other options are, if you are not going for the "namebrand" insurance companies we all know? >> united policyholders been serving the home insurance market now for four years on sort of a rolling survey, and people are reporting doubling pretty often when their policy comes up for renewal. doubling and sometimes tripling of the premium. what's even more frustrating is, it is often for less coverage. that's why we really curate a lot of resources for consumers to use on a website. so does the department of insurance. it's a little tough to shop right now but it can be done. that's the main thing. don't panic. and understand that you we'll just have to put a little more time into ensuring your home

more than your use of. julian: getting less for more -- more than you are used to. julian: getting less for more money. makes you want to rip your hair out. can we talk about how this calculus of rates could affect the housing market, if you are to buy a home and all of a sudden you are well on your way through the process and you find out, wow, it's going to cost me a lot more to insure this home, how do we think the trickle-down effect is going to affect the housing market? >> well, it definitely has already been affecting the housing market. there's a law now that's going to be taking effect soon, when you sell the home you have to disclose if there have been wildfires in the area. i think that insurance price tags are definitely part of people's calculations these days one when looking at real estate. in any county where there's been a wildfire the last 10 years, insurance is going to be a little hard to find and more expensive.

it is factoring in a certain amount of worrying going on. we trying to keep people calm. because again there are options. the market is different, but it's still there. state farm did not say they were leaving, they just said they are taking a pause. and they already insure one in five homes in california. people need to stay calm, that includes real estate -- realtors, sellers, and buyers. pay more attention to shopping for insurance on your own. if you are shopping to buy a home, you definitely want to do your homework on what the insurance options are going to be for you, once you close that deal. julian: ok. great advice. you saw there website there their website there. thanks for your time. up next, the summer travel season is heating up.

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julian: school is out for the summer and all of a sudden the airports are packed. the airline industry shuttered another post-pandemic record. joining us live to talk about this and to share some needed expert travel tips right now is the founder of travel platform going.com. thanks for being here, for the first time in three years, air travel is back to levels we saw before the pandemic. what are you seeing out there? what is the cause for the industry bouncing back in this big way? >> it had been a turbulent few years for the airline and travel industry in general. for the first time since the pandemic began, the first quarter of 2023 some more people get on an airplane down the first quarter of 2019. and in the past three weeks,

you have seen the three busiest travel days since the pandemic began. i think it is safe to say that travel is bad it is back to normal -- is back it is back to normal,. when you look at the man, it looks virtually identical to where we were pre-pandemic, after three years of diminished demands, we are now i thankfully back to normal. julian: i guess we can still say this might be a byproduct of the revenge spending of not being able to go anywhere during the pandemic and now they want to get back out there, how are airlines able to keep up with the demand they are seen -- seeing? >> certainly. one of the primary ways airlines have done this is through a process called up gauging. it's a fancy way of saying that airlines are flying bigger planes than they used to. we've all heard about the pilot shortage. it is true the number of flights is still down 5% or 10% compared

to 2019. but in spite of that, the number of people traveling is virtually on par. the number of seats is actually higher than before. the reason why is because airlines have shed the older, smaller planes, brought in new work, larger planes -- newer, larger planes. it is likely your next flight is going to be on a larger plane than we saw before and that is how airlines are not only able to carry so many passengers but to keep fares lower than they would be of supply were more constrained. julian: let's talk about this. is this why if you like every time it is more expensive what you tell us the fares are actually falling. >> airfare is the most volatile thing that we purchase. i don't blame anybody for being confused, having headaches. the airlines purposely make it difficult to get cheap flights. but when you look at the data,

airfare has fallen nine of the past 12 months. it hit its peak in may of 2022. it's down about 13% now off that peak, and i think it's going to continue to fall as a lot of that pent up demand for travel really starts to dissipate, and as airlines get more pilots and more planes into their system. airfare is one of those things that if you have a plane with 200 seats, you probably have people paying 200 different prices to be there. there is not one price for any given route or any given flight. that is why we encourage members to make sure that they are getting the best far flight in terms of the airfare they pay versus the folks who are overpaying to be on that very same airplane. julian: when is the best time to book and are certain destinations better than others for people looking to score last-minute deals? >> if you are hoping to travel still this summer, the cheapest flights are going to be the last

two weeks of august. that is a time when you see demand quite a bit lower because of some schools are started to get back into session. right now there are fares over sfo over to london nonstop for 416 bucks round-trip. that is the latter half of august. or out to hawaii, if you were to fly july 16 through 23, round-trip fares are four dolla -- r $457. julian: appreciate your time and giving us those tips. >> my pleasure. julian: as a reminder, you can always get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our abc7 bay area streaming tv app.

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julian: thank you so much for joining us today for "getting answers." we will be here every weekday at 3:00 p.m. answering questions with experts from around the bay area. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. tonight the urgent search and rescue mission, the sub with five people on board vanishing just an hour and 45 minutes into its dive, missing more than 24 hours, they started with 96 hours of air. the u.s. coast guard combing the atlantic. the wreckage of the titanic rests 200 miles below the surface. james longman is standing by. severe storm threats from louisiana to florida, a confirmed tornado touching down in mississippi, reports of eight people trapped inside a bank, flooding in alabama, water rescues are underway and