#248 "Spring Break Stories: Costa Rica’s Nature and Cancun’s All Inclusive"

Southwest Seat Assignments, Grief and Travel: Colorado Springs, Costa Rica, and a Points Trip to CancunTyler and Monique return to the Non-Rev Lounge after a delay and discuss recent travel and life updates. They recap a Colorado Springs trip for an Oscars party and Tyler’s first experiences with Southwest’s new seat assignments, including bulkhead storage frustrations, while also noting Southwest removed a policy allowing non-revs to sit in jump seats. Tyler shares a family emergency: Tawny’s mother in California was hospitalized with critically low oxygen, placed in hospice, and died in early March; the family then continued a planned Costa Rica trip to visit Hayden’s Spanish study-abroad host family, took an uncomfortable bus to Jacó, and did an unexpectedly strenuous rope-and-waterfall hike with no wildlife sightings. They describe return-travel complications (Dallas weight restriction, reroute through Miami, Global Entry/mobile passport shutdown), Tawny’s Broadway trip to see Chicago, Tyler receiving United and Delta non-rev benefits from listeners, and a separate points-based Cancun trip via Oklahoma City with major Hyatt room upgrades and unexpectedly quiet resorts.00:00 Welcome Back Updates01:50 Colorado Oscar Party03:23 Southwest Seat Assignments08:01 Jumpseat Policy Changes10:51 Family Emergency Drive13:41 Racing to Costa Rica19:27 Hayden Study Abroad21:00 Bus Ride to Jaco25:17 Waterfall Hike Surprise32:01 Beach Day and Sunburn33:17 Manuel Antonio Wildlife Hopes35:00 Heading Back to San Jose36:40 Nonrev Chaos and Weight Limits40:58 Miami Customs and Gate Sprint42:00 Would You Go Again48:38 Grief Catching Up50:26 Surprise Delta Benefits57:48 Spring Break Travel Crunch58:40 Cancun Miles and Routing Mistake01:03:20 Flight Rule Confusion01:04:08 Revenue Standby Strategy01:06:10 Oklahoma City Overnight01:07:53 Kids Through Security01:10:47 Two Resorts Plan01:11:13 Globalist Suite Upgrade01:14:35 Dreams Resort Perks01:17:02 Empty Cancun Surprise01:19:08 Points Value Breakdown01:21:50 Name Drop Travel Hacks01:24:33 Busiest Cancun Routes01:26:36 Wrap Up And SponsorCheck out Route Explore from StaffTraveler   https://route-explorer.com/StaffTraveler wants our feedback to help build Route Explore before it is officially released.  Send any feedback to [email protected] is offering a 10% code for any of our listeners who buy their eSIM.Use the Promo code ST10NONREVLOUNGE  https://share.stafftraveler.com/nrl-esim✈StaffTraveler is a great app that can assist your non-rev travels! Use it to find the loads for your non-rev travel! Use this to sign up:https://stafftraveler.com/nonrevlounge