Don't commute. It sucks ass, and it's probably the worst at United with the seniority-based way we do it.

At AA and DAL you can reserve a jumpseat a week or two ahead of time, which locks in your ability to go to work if a seat is available. At UAL, you can get bumped up to an hour prior to the flight by someone senior. So you could be like me, thinking you're getting on a flight that you're listed on for a week, then senior dude shows up at the last minute, bumps you, and now you're screwed.

Obviously this gets better with seniority but it's not something I recommend signing yourself up for without understanding. Either live in base, or if you don't want to move, go work for AA.