Thanks for the update. I thought I was going crazy...still possible.

Welp, they are going to requal me on the old cat and train me in order on the new cat. I’ll get requaled for 1 month on old equipment. ****.

For 90 days, you probably just have a single sim period? Not surprised they'll burn that instead of paying NQAT.

Have you ever negotiated these fees over the phone? I get mine waived. Every Time. They want someone who spends a lot on credit cards. They don't care that you never carry a balance. They get 3-5% every transaction. a $100 fee is easily waivable even at the clerk level if it keeps you spending with their card.

That's what I was thinking. While that sucks in your case, it kind of has to be that way. The AE process is already liberal enough with honoring seniority as it is.

It is exactly as you thought...a limited purpose FSA. You can refer to the IRS section on HSA. The IRS encourages you to save it and only use the $$ for medical expenses at your choosing. The dental/vision aspect of insurance is normally paltry for most of us but if you have kids in orthodontics, the FSA is a pretty good thing or if you are going to have extensive dental work.

I flew with another pilot last year and he had taken his wife on Business Class to Munich on his points. He uses the Points Guy (TPG.com) to explain the process. Basically puts all his normal expenses (cable, utilities, gas, groceries). Call me crazy but that adds up to 2 free tickets a year. Or....transfer the points to hotels. Last May we stayed a week in NYC at a spectacular boutique hotel on the upper west side.

Fill out the form and they’ll schedule you about a week before you go non-current. They’ll definitely get you set up. If you go non-current they have to do more than a typical CQ 2 day since you’re non-qualified. They have to do a MV and a LOE (the LOE is actually a jeopardy event but they can repeat the flight phase). Going non-current isn’t a bad thing but a much bigger pain in the butt to resolve than doing the 3 bounces. Technically that’s all they have to do but Delta’s Instructor Guide requires a 2 hour program with a couple other maneuvers to get you back in the groove. Some instructors adhere to the instructor guide and some less so but if you go non-current it’s at least a full CQ sim and if it’s more than 30 days, it’ll be longer.

FYI last month my fleet training guy told me to have to CPO to buy a trip to get me current. 2 days before they still hadn’t scheduled me when I got current on a green slip. YMMV.

If they buy you a trip, you’re paid as though you went to training. This can be an adverse event depending on the trip. I had one bought and thought I was getting 21+ hours. I was more than surprised.