Originally Posted by
Albief15
Well...I can hold 35% at ANC...and fly around the world. I can hold LAX at 65%...and commute like a dog to get there. I can hold some nice lines NOW in the MD10/11 at MEM, but after upteen guys get excessed into it I'm not sure how good 65% at MEM will really be. You and I both like day/domestic, but there is only so much to go around. Years ago...30% in the 727 was SWEET! Now...I'm close to that and I cannot consistently hold R-24, a west coast line, or even a day line. Sometimes I can, sometimes I cannot--but the point is the bid back is shriniking.
I'd like to fly to ANC, CDG, VCP, and STN once in a while, when not going to SEA, DEN, LAX, and MCO. I got a feeling if I go to the MD11 I won't get getting much of what I want.
So--pony up--upgrade--and go make some money. Its a 14 hour flight from ATL to HKG, about $850 on Cathay. Two weeks gone, two weeks home, and a lot more money. Lots to stew on...but to answer your question...yeah...I'm serious. It is still a practice bid. And currently there are dudes junior to me there, which could have passover ramifications between now and training. I'm still researching and stewing. But I got a lot of contacts over there that know what the lay of the land, and it might be fun (for a while). Another point--another bid is around the corner, which will have some vacancies. If I bite off more than I can chew I could bid back stateside, and a 2 year seatlock to down-bid wouldn't really hurt--I'm more than 2 years away from a domestic upgrade anyway.
Not trying to share too much personal information, but there are a lot of opportunities in the this bid. The only guys I see get hurt on the junior captains on the 727 and DC-10 that cannot hold a similar seat. I'm sorry it is hurting them, but there are some winners coming out of this too.
And I won't take the FDA LOA package--section 6 is all I want. My family and horses will stay put.
Albie, you think the commute to LAX is tough and your thinking of trying to commute to HKG in COACH for 14 hours, and depending on ONE off-line flight a day to get there? Commuting to LAX would be a cake-walk compared to that. I live within driving distance of LAX (which has 5 direct flights, and a dozen more two-leg flights a day to HKG) and I wouldn't dream of trying to commute to HKG!
And two weeks on and two weeks off with the HKG bidpack? You must have been reading different management E-mails and looking at a different sample HKG bidpack than I was. I would have sworn our management types said not to count on HKG being a commutable domicile. And the sample bidpack didn't show too many lines/trip combinations that appeared to be commutable.
Not to mention all of the unanswered questions about HKG taxes, China taxes, where in HKG you need to show up at to go to work, and several dozen other questions that have yet to be answered and have been discussed ad-nauseum on this board.
No thanks. IMO, anyone who bids HKG with the intention of trying to commute is taking a VERY big risk with their careers and their family lives. And moving there with a family? The shortcomings of the LOA make that cost-prohibitive. I wish all of the HKG bidders all the luck in the world - I'm afraid they're going to need it.