Living "In Base" - How far out?
 

I'm sure this has been answered in threads on here before, but I was unable to dig it up via a search.

I've seen that everyone mentions how living in base will provide you the best quality of life, but what I haven't seen mentioned is exactly how far out you can live to where you would still be "living in base" and reaping the benefits of the enhanced quality of life.

For instance, would living an hour drive from your domicile be too far? Just trying to know what's a good limit on how far out to look for places to live.

And as a second, related question. Does anyone on here drive for their commute? If so, how far do you drive, and is that better than flying?

Appreciate any advice and thoughts!

i drive 2 hrs. Know lots of guys who drive 2-3 hrs. Beats even an easy commute any day

I live about an hour outside Detroit and I love it, but I have a line. It really depends on type of schedule you get. If it is a 2 hr call-out the further you live can impact your QOL

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I drive 25 minutes. I would say "how far is too far" depends on whether or not you're on reserve and, if so, what your min reserve call-out is. That being said, driving is still better than flying.

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Given that most places use 2 hours as the reserve call-out, I'd say if you can live within a 2 hour drive, you're good. I'm just 30 minutes from the employee lot at my base (no traffic), or 1 hour in traffic.

It's a completely different job, living in base, vs commuting. I commuted hub to hub for 6 months (4 hour leg each way) and hated it. I don't know how guys do it long term.

Some guys at my base do 4 or 5 hour drives each way. At that point, commuting by air starts to look more attractive. I know plenty of guys who live right at the 2 hour line, and most of them choose to drive. Knowing that your car is waiting at the end of a trip, or never stressing about missing your commute, is priceless ...

1-2 hours drive is better than any commute. 3-4 hours drive might be better than many commutes, especially if you live exactly where you want to live and can do four-day trips.

I wouldn't do more than 3-4 hours, you'll be too tired unless you can get trips that start with one leg or a deadhead.

If you're less than an hour from the airport, that opens up all kinds of QOL options such as locals, B2B trips, picking up premium pay, and even sitting reserve intentionally.

Thanks everyone for the responses! This is the info I was trying to find out.

Makes doing my homework much easier.

To date, I've never been bumped from my car. Factoring into drive time verses flying the lost time waiting for the next flight. If you're tired, you can pull off the road and take a nap or get a room. The biggest issue with how far out would be your report window for reserve.

The only downside of driving is the cost compared to a free flight.

Lax based. Know some guys on reserve who drive from San. 2 hour call out its a gamble.

Depending how your reserve system is set up its not THAT big a gamble. They'll just watch stuff and if they think they are getting close to a call out they'll head towards the airport, then stage themselves two hours away.

Op... The only drive that's two far is the one you aren't willing to do.

I guess it depends on where you live. I would rather drive 20 minutes to the airport and catch an hour flight to work than drive 2+ hours in bad traffic.

How likely is it that you'll have a 6am show to start your week, then get off at 10pm at the end of it? Too early to fly the morning of, too late to catch the last flight home type of situation.

Depends on the airline, base, equipment, and seniority.

More likely you'll have either am or pm trips, ie start early and end early, or start late and end late. Some places may have commutable trips (typically four-days) which start late and end early.

Start (very) early, end (very) late was the typical footprint at my last domicile. But there was a reason for that, and I didn't mind because I had a long drive on traffic-prone freeways, and I could avoid rush-hour on both ends. Also we had a trip rig so it paid more than equivalent am or pm trips.

Depends. All good until you run late and miss your flight home at the end. That's the worst feeling, and is sufficient justification for the gas cost to know my ride is waiting for me whenever I get done.

If you can't sit at home on short call RSV (2 hrs most places), in my opinion, you don't live in base.

I live in base sometimes, depending on the time of day. I almost always live in base on weekends.

Meh... It hasn’t happened yet in 3 years of commuting. If it does I’m resigned to it haha. I bid for trips that start and end around noon. It’s a pretty good way to prevent commuting issues.

the secret to commuting is not caring and being flexible. I miss some commutes home, but you know what? Them the breaks.

Sometimes I don't even feel up to sitting in the back of an airplane to get home at the end of a long day
... I can't even imagine wrapping up 5 legs then driving 2 hours. F that.

Different strokes.