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

Mar 20, 2026

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Southwest Seat Assignments, Grief and Travel: Colorado Springs, Costa Rica, and a Points Trip to Cancun

Tyler 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 Updates
01:50 Colorado Oscar Party
03:23 Southwest Seat Assignments
08:01 Jumpseat Policy Changes
10:51 Family Emergency Drive
13:41 Racing to Costa Rica
19:27 Hayden Study Abroad
21:00 Bus Ride to Jaco
25:17 Waterfall Hike Surprise
32:01 Beach Day and Sunburn
33:17 Manuel Antonio Wildlife Hopes
35:00 Heading Back to San Jose
36:40 Nonrev Chaos and Weight Limits
40:58 Miami Customs and Gate Sprint
42:00 Would You Go Again
48:38 Grief Catching Up
50:26 Surprise Delta Benefits
57:48 Spring Break Travel Crunch
58:40 Cancun Miles and Routing Mistake
01:03:20 Flight Rule Confusion
01:04:08 Revenue Standby Strategy
01:06:10 Oklahoma City Overnight
01:07:53 Kids Through Security
01:10:47 Two Resorts Plan
01:11:13 Globalist Suite Upgrade
01:14:35 Dreams Resort Perks
01:17:02 Empty Cancun Surprise
01:19:08 Points Value Breakdown
01:21:50 Name Drop Travel Hacks
01:24:33 Busiest Cancun Routes
01:26:36 Wrap Up And Sponsor

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