Originally Posted by
Lightspeed
I currently have a good corporate job with a decent QOL and I’m weighing my decision to leave for UAL. The primary reason to make the switch is to have a more stable schedule and to know ahead of time when I’ll be home.
No two ways about it: it will be short term pain for long term gain.
Hopefully the economy keeps plugging along and you will be off reserve quickly. That alone will make all the difference in the world for QOL unless you absolutely desire weekends off and bid reserve intensionally.
Whatever pain you experience in the short term will be minor compared to when your sweet corporate gig disappears in an instant, and it will, statistically speaking. Very, very few corp jobs last a career---it's just the nature of the beast.
Much better to make the switch on
your terms.
Originally Posted by
Lightspeed
3) If you want to purchase airfare for the whole family at a discount (instead of trying to fly space available) how are the tickets discounted?
Note that the discount (in theory, 20%) is subtracted off the lowest fare in the computer system, not necessarily the lowest that UAL is actually offering. Thus, the discount can be much, much greater than one would expect and far below anything available on any airline. Other times, not so much. It pays to watch fares and shop around.