Originally Posted by
symbian simian
Real cost of commuting is not a tank of gas and a $80 hotel bill. It's TAFB vs TAFHome that matters. You spent about 18 hours per trip getting back and forth to work (1pm for a 5am show, and a 3 hour drive on the backend). With trip rigs that means missing out on 5 hours of pay compared to living on the employee lot, or at least 4 hours of pay for living within a reasonable distance. 4 trips per month, 10 months er year (vacay, training, sick) is at least 150 hours of missed pay (before HOT/SNOT missed opportunities). So about $30K for an FO, $45K for a CA per year, more than 2 million based on a 30 year career. That said, I commute, by air, and it is worth it to me to live where I do.
Everyones situation sure is different. I commute, but I also pick up lots of HOT/SNOT or whatever because I live near a fairly well served SWA city. So lots of DH on the front and back that I get released from. If you live in BFE, yeah, the earnings are gonna drop if you want time at home. No doubt. But living near a fairly largely served city, BNA, STL, TPA, etc, can produce lots of opportunities.