Originally Posted by afterburn81

The differences is pretty laid back. I was on the 200 for a bit when I went to the 700 they just give you a few days of ground class, a few days of sim training and then a little SOE to finish up. Then they finally get around to creating a line for you which is mutually agreed upon. It takes about a month to finish all the training. I hear all sorts of estimates as to the length of reserve. Guys quote anywhere between 4-10 months as an FO. Of course you hear otherwise on this forum which are guys who heard it from someone else and so on. For now I'll just go on what an actual 700 FO told ME.

As far as QOL it all depends on whether you like reserve or want a line. That's totally preference of course. When you hold a line you fly all the hours you get paid for but you accrue time faster for upgrade and it's easier to commute. Of course I would like to get my hours building much faster but right now on first year pay it's kind of helpful to be able to do a little work on the side to offset some living costs.

The way I see it: on reserve you get your 75 hour guarantee (75X23= 1725) and I only fly about 40 hours a month so basically it's kind if like 1725/40=43hr. And during my free time I work out of the house and the local area for another 40hrs a month at a significantly greater rate/hour than my normal pay. So I could hold a line and actually work 85-90 hours at 23/hour or I can work 80hrs a month and get paid for 115hrs (75+40). Just something for now. And FYI I don't have to commute and only live about 25mins from the airport in which I can just take the train so reserve isn't bad at all. All in all that's really the only difference between the 700 and the 200 besides the better overnights on the 700 and the thing is a lot funner to fly. But then again who flies for fun anymore