I'll give you a real world example. Say you live in MCO and have a 4:50pm show on the MD88 in the ATL. You decide you want the 14:30 that lands at 16:04 to be your backup so you try to reserve the jumpseat on the 13:30 as soon as the window opens 5 days early. Taken. Try the 12:30, taken, try the 11:30, taken, try 10:20, taken... try 9:30. Got it.

Okay, it takes you 1 hour from your house to the gate, you want to be a few minutes early so you plan to be there by 8:30. So get up at 6:30 and leave your house at 7:30.

Meanwhile, the guy you're flying with lives in Peachtree City, he woke up at 9am...



Attended the weekly HOA meeting...



Then left the house at 4pm, singed in right on time [ignore the clock] and he's already thinking about his gate house PA...



Now, book your jumpseat going home. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat... and note that's if you can get lucky enough to hold a 4:50pm sign in. That's a good trip and will probably go senior.

It's not easy. It takes a lot of time. It's a personal choice, it's nobody else's business to tell you what to do. But if you could figure out a way to be happy on Long Island or Ann Arbor, you'd do well. Atlanta works very well, but your progression won't match that of a JFK/DTW guy. If you want the west coast... have you seen Hunger Games?