Why the bonus? Is there alot of people bailing out before then or something?

uhh... YEA! There are a couple regionals right now offering $2500 bonus *when you show up* for previous CRJ experience.. $500 is almost a slap in the face.

The airport area is not a good part of town. 2 miles north is the "hood"- NO JOKE! Just keep your valuables out of sight- especially in your car at night. The place is fenced in, as well as security patroling- but a guy in my class still had his cat converter CUT OFF in the middle of the night (going for the platinum in the cat). just watch yourself...Do not expect to go eat close to the airport/CEC- you will need to take a 10 minute ride down to southhaven or a 10 minute ride to germantown/collierville.

Yeah at least they give you 1 1/2 - 2 hours for lunch during training. I just go back to the hotel and eat and then chill/nap for an hour.

$500 just for dodging bullets? I think they could probably just get some flak-jackets for cheaper, especially if they bought in bulk.:D

Is it a good idea to have a car while in training, or can you get by just fine without it?

Having a car becomes a distraction. A lot of people go out and do stuff throughout the week. Some even start touring crashpads in MEM. Break ins in the parking lot have happened in the past, and more than half of your class will have a car if you need rides to Wallyworld.

You can carpool to Beale Street on the weekends. Not having a car keeps you in your room studying during training. Unless, you came from another 121 carrier, you will need to study a lot more than you are used to.

You can get by without a car. While it may become a distraction (it won't, if you have your priorities in order), it can benefit you in the studying department. You won't have to spend as much time waiting for a ride/shuttle van to get to/from class, shopping, sims, etc.

Bring the car if you can.

It is only a distraction if you don't have discipline, and the training isn't all that hard. It is more time consuming than anything else. Anyway, about the car, I would take it so you don't have to rely on anyone else to get around when you need to. During the ground training portion, everyone has the same schedule, so not having a car then is not as big of a deal, but when you get to sims, you really need a car, though there are guys that made it through without having a car. That way you don't have to worry relying on someone else to take you to and from Flight Safety. If you get the 2200-0200 sim session, good luck finding someone to take you around at that time of the day. We used to take a van downtown so that we wouldn't have to leave our car there. Go with a group and it is cheap. You will really appreciate having your car while you are there for 2 months. You will get so sick of being at the Homestead, at least have the freedom of having your own car. But by all means, I wouldn't rent one if you don't have one. You don't get paid enough to do that, unless you have saved up some extra cash.

You want a car, if you have a ferrari- get a beater. If you have a reliable set of wheels, bring it.

Definitely take your car if you are able. It will save valuable time when you are busy, tired and need to get something to eat etc.. Also, after ground school is over in the afternoon or evening if the CPTs are occupied at CEC you have the option of going over to FlightSafety to do flows and/or sit in on sims. (By the way, sitting in on a sim session before sim one was of great benefit to me and I highly recommend it.) As for the car being a distraction, I would respectfully suggest that if someone can't focus on getting the job done then they may be in the wrong business.

The hotel area is crappy but the parking lot has guards at night. Don't leave anything of value visible in your car and you should be fine barring some very bad luck.

If you go down to Beale Street on the weekends split a cab/van. Parking can be expensive and it would be really dumb to end up with a DUI after coming this far...

Work hard in training but take some time to relax on the weekends and you should have no problems.