Originally Posted by
Genzie
It's not as simple as having a load of gold bricks to get rid of. Drive the car round-trip for 3000 miles, gas, food, hotel, wear and tear; call that $800+. You lose a couple days off each way on the drive, you deal with Atlanta traffic and the weather getting to and from SIMS, The hotel has free food for 11 meals a week, you could probably turn that into five days worth of lunches if you wanted to, Time and stress saved by being 10 minutes from work means a lot . Split a room at the hotel, now you're breaking even. Don't get me wrong, I'm on a budget, I'm not sure which way I'll go. But staying in the hotel looks pretty dang good, even to a poor fellow like me.
I probably wasn't clear, when I said sorry west coast guys, I meant if you live that far away, sorry it might not work for you to drive your car. The atlanta traffic is not an issue, you just need to check the traffic and go a different way if needed. Time and stress is what it is all about. If you have wheels, you will be able to save lots of time because you won't be at the mercy of hotel shuttles. Being able to drive to get things you need etc. is invaluable. For those that do not know, it is about 1 month from when you come back after indoc till you finish the 400 series in the sim. That is a long time to be without a car and eating hotel food or the 3 fast food places next to the hotel. Not many of the hotels have 11 meals per week.
Stress: sharing a hotel room will be more stress than having your own room in a pad. Also, if you get the 717, the sims are at the boeing center which is miles away from Delta headquarters. There is a shuttle, but only once every 4 hrs. And you will have to take a hotel shuttle to the training center to wait for the boeing shuttle (exception, crowne plaza), so lot's and lot's of wasted time and stress.
If you live anywhere from Florida to New York, it is less than a 12 hr drive, (approx.) so just 1 or 2 tanks of gas each way.
I hope that helps.
note: you do Not need a car for your indoc. It is 2 weeks, and delta pays for hotel.