Originally Posted by
Delta1067
You can come out way ahead on per diem if you are smart and do a little planning. 90% of the time you get free breakfast at hotel. Lunch can usually be free via something you grabbed from breakfast or out of the flight snack basket or pack a few PB&J's for your trip so I rarely paid for lunch either. I will splurge for a nice dinner if the layover permits and I almost always have $200 leftover per diem each month.
Delta1067... this is not a rip on you, just on our profession's situation in general.
Isn't it sad that we, as professional airline pilots, consider eating a free, unhealthy, and unreliable breakfast... and possibly saving enough for lunch (using PB&Js as a backup) to be "coming out way ahead".
There are so many things in this industry trying to destroy your health.... try not to let the cost of healthy food make nutrition another factor to that list.