Thread: Eagle Commuting
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Old 01-14-2011, 06:35 PM
  #16  
freezingflyboy
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Joined APC: Dec 2005
Position: 7ER B...whatever that means.
Posts: 3,965
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I'm not an Eagle guy but I'll try to answer your questions...
Originally Posted by sham8723 View Post
Ok, If I may inject a question in here (since I haven't figured out how to start a new thread yet) that I think should be pertinent to the topic. Is the typical schedule (other than reserve) always 4 on 3 off? I'm considering commuting from TYS (Knoxville, TN) to maybe ORD (assuming I can get ORD as a domicile). If I did this: would there be any good estimate as to how much off time I would lose to commuting? I mean like is it risky to catch an evening flight the day before i'm supposed to be @ work so I can retain at least some of the day at home or am I gonna be grabbing a morning flight the day before and losing the whole day to commuting? Hopefully this is a somewhat answerable question... i basically know nothing about anything at this point
It would depend on the trip you have that week. If the trip shows late on day one you can probably commute in day of and not have to lose a day at home or pay for a crashpad/hotel. Just make sure you can cover your butt with any commuter clause if you need too. Same is true on the last day of a trip. If the trip ends early enough on the last day then you can grab a flight home and, again, not have to worry about a lost day off or a night at the crashpad/hotel. This is what pilots mean when they say a line or a trip is "commutable" (shows late on the first day and releases early on the last day).

Note: on reserve, this is pretty much out the window since most reserve callout periods don't have enough time between them for you to get home and get back to base in a reasonable fashion. If you are commuting to reserve, you will most likely need a crashpad. Your mileage may vary depending on reserve rules at different companies (long call vs. short call reserve, callout times, reserve pilot pickups, etc)

Originally Posted by sham8723
oh... let me layer on another question: Are pilots able to claim hotel points for themselves when staying at hotels while on Eagle trips?
Thx.
Short answer: Depends on the hotel. At XJT some hotels have it negotiated in their contracts with the company that they either DO or DO NOT give us points. Sometimes the front desk drone doesn't care one way or the other and will give them to you. Sometimes a little schmoozing/flirting can get you points you would otherwise not have gotten. I guess the long and the short of it is this: it doesn't cost you anything to sign up and it doesn't hurt to ask so you might as well. Sometimes you get a little bonus you weren't expecting.
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