I did refer. 14 or 13. Never 12. I have 14 this month, 14 last month.

And for those who don't speak Delta: Greenslip is a trip that pays x2 for line holders, x1 over guarantee for reserves. If a reserve flies one on their days off, they can be credited new days off over future reserve days (payback days). This in turn frees up more days off to pickup more greenslips, creating more above guarantee money and more payback days. Guys can create a cascading sequence called rolling thunder, effectively doubling their pay for the month. Greenslips get awarded by seniority, so the tenured pilots are the only ones realistically with a chance to achieve this. You can also do rolling thunder as a line holder.

Biggest con for reserve as a commuter is you can be converted to short call (only 1 day at a time), up to 6/7 days a month. It's an unofficial 2hr report. However if you are on your last day of reserve before your off day, and assigned short call, you will be auto released by 12pm (some fine print, not every time). Live in base, SC is no biggie.

Imho the best qol is Hawaiian 717.
The caveat is you have to live on Oahu.
Commuting can work, but really this is a day job for people like me.
Other fleets may get more days off for the same credit, but I drive to work, maybe pick up the kids or whatever, then drive home.
Maybe have a week of overnights for training for the year.

Even though I live close to the airport I avoid reserve because of this. IMHO, short call is the worst thing in the world. The lack of oversight with regards to how and why SC is assigned needs to be fixed. Or it could be the twenty minute call out I did at a previous shop for years. I hate being tied to the phone.

Who cares if they say it's a twenty minute callout? Get there around 2 hours, no pressure or q's asked. I find the callout ladder for SC is spelled out and predictable. However, it's still a mystery as to how many will be assigned in each day of each bucket.
Just a couple of modifications to SC for the better and our reserve would be darn near perfect. (contractual & visable SC requirements, create stronger reward for SC which discourages CS flippant overuse, rewards and reinforces in-base pilots to YS, commuters commute less or get their hotels reimbursed.

They always say to go with who calls first, but they also say to live in base. If you already have roots, family, friends, wife has a career, how realistic is it to actually follow that advice? In that instance, commuting isn’t really a choice.

Sure it is. You apply only to carriers with a strong base where you live. Like I (eventually) did. And, yes, it severely limits your career potential but you have to know your priorities. I get tired of hearing people say that commuting isn’t a choice.

Is it often “seemingly no choice”? Sure. But don’t confuse the two scenarios.

You would really hated it in the past when every single day was shortcall. There is no 20 minute callout at Delta. Arrive at the airport two hours after your called and you will never hear a word about it. To keep it real however at Delta the average number of shortcall days system wide averages about 3.2 per month.

It would be realistic and required if you worked any other job other than airline pilot. My friends with jobs paying 200K and up get transferred all the time. It’s only not realistic in most people’s mind because we have the option. Other professions don’t.

But within someone’s career with the same company the bases don’t close and open at a whim.

Commuting for me isn’t a choice. I don’t live anywhere near any major hub for any airline and I’m not going to move my kids away from all of their extended family so it isn’t a choice for me.