First off I don’t think you want to be Spokane based without living in Spokane. Some people do it but Spokane has a lot of 1 and 2 day trips which make commuting difficult and even once you are able to hold a line you would still need a crash pad.

Q reserve FO’s have seen a small uptick in flying recently however for practically the past year they hardly got any flying at all. I once went an entire month without getting called off reserve at all, however like I said that seems to be changing. I can’t speak for the E-175 as much since I’m on the Q but it seems like their reserve time is getting just as bad if not worse than the Q reserve time. Someone else might be able to better answer that question for you.

Lastly, 5 months of seniority ABSOLUTELY does matter and can make a huge difference in your QOL especially if hiring slows down.