Originally Posted by Web265

Someone already replied to this, I'll add a little bit. I live in central NJ. I was LGA based at first, on reserve and I live about 1:35 from LGA. 2 + at rush hour. I would get 3am reserve start. Set my alarm for 3, check phone, no call? back to sleep for an hour. Get up shower dress and head for the turnpike. Sit for a couple hours at the closest rest stop to the GW, read a book, then start home. This lasted all of 3 months, then I was given a line. (I went back to bidding reserves because I preferred weekends off, but that's on me)

3 am reserve ends at 1 pm. They have to give you two hours to get there (unless you waive it) and your pairing has to start within your reserve period, so, at 11 you're off the clock. (if you didn't get called).

I stayed on reserve at my choice for about 5 mos, got the 2 hour call out maybe 3 or 4 times. Even if the assignment was the same day as the call, it was most often several hours out.

You can also proactively drop some reserve days for open time, or so it seems. I didn't do that but it looks like the folks on reserve are doing so. I think you can drop a reserve day at the start or end of a group of days and add it to a day off to pick up a pairing but I don't know all the details. So less actual reserve days.