Originally Posted by yh308

All true. That being said crew scheduling is pretty decent with putting your reserve assignment on your schedule much earlier. Many times your assignment is put on your schedule the night before. You can self notify online and lock in the reserve assignment. Sometimes with a late enough show the next day it can save you having to commute in the night before.

Every reserve assignment I've had, I've had much more than three hours notice. Except once they called and asked if I could get to the airport in an hour. After I told them no they told me "nevermind, we'll find someone else".

In my opinion, if you live in base, reserve life is pretty chill. You don't fly much typically, outside of summer months at least. Lack of flexibility(being able to drop) and opportunities for premium pay are the drawbacks. Some abilities to break guarantee but not a lot.