Re: $2 per seat CA/$1 per seat FO:

Papa always taught me to never say never, but no airline captain is going to make $500+/hr...at least not in my lifetime. And I'm only 25.

Sure that'd be ideal, but its not realistic in the least.

I agree about the type rating though; in the business aviation world two pilots going through an initial swap seats with the PF almost always in the left seat. Both complete their type rides, then once they get into actual flight ops they can decide how they want to run things (seat swap or dedicated PIC/SIC). Besides, what are the differences between an SIC check and a type rating...a no-flap landing and a circling approach?