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Old 04-07-2022 | 01:14 AM
  #13  
Defbond
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Joined: Feb 2022
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I did this for 7 months, commuting to Eastern Europe from Florida. If you have the seniority to hold 2 weeks on 2 weeks off technically it's possible. Realistically though during those 2 weeks it was 6 on 1 off with a lot of flying so you are really tired. I jumpseated on Delta and usually got business class, never had a flight that was overbooked, worst case was a middle seat in cattle class. Sometimes if my duty ended early enough on the last day I could get a flight over to Europe in the evening which is when most flights leave eastbound. It's not sustainable, especially as you get older, if you aren't used to doing red eyes your circadian rhythm will be shot to hell and it could affect you safety, I guess it all depends on what kind of schedule you have.

The worst part are the check in agents at some airports in Europe, they don't know about jumpseating and sometimes it will take a lot of explaining and even trips to the ticket office to get a boarding pass because you won't be passing security without one. If you need to do a connecting flight on a non US carrier, you'll have to get an ID90 because Europe doesn't have inter-airline jumpseat protocols. I'd say it's doable but only once every few months, since the commute will be eating up a lot of your free. time. Also plan on coming back at least 2 days before you start your next trip just in case, especially if there's only 1 flight per day back to the states from wherever you are travelling from and also because you will need a good 24-48 hours to completely adjust back to your time zone. Also you should have your own apt stateside, at least a studio, I couldn't imagine doing that commute with a crashpad, your QoL would be absolute trash.

All that being said I am in the same place as you, I fly in Europe and want to return to the US, my plan is to come back to Europe every few months once I can get enough seniority to hold 2 on 2 off, but I will be renting an apartment wherever my base is. Good luck and feel free to PM if you have any more questions.
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