It depends entirely on what schedule your seniority will hold. 18 day trips a month? No no no. 3-4 long trips a month, sure. Reserve would suck, but it always does outside the distance you could make the callout from home.


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Just depends on your situation and what’s important to you. I live in base, or well I did until they closed it. When I first upgraded I drove to DCA. Out the door around 0200 and in the lot by 0445, for my 0500 reserve. It was nice because I never missed a commute home.

I’m a line holder now with a further drive. Currently the company has to give me hotels, which is important. I’m going to drive down tonight (4.5), because the gas spent is cheaper than airport parking. Also the return flight isn’t looking promising and we have a lot of commuters fighting for the jumpseat. Later this month I’ll exclusively drive when I have to start factoring in hotel costs ($60-$70).

Cost savings is most important for me since I’m trying to close on a place and move to base. I don’t sweat the miles since I’m going to run the car until the wheels fall off. It’s just what’s important to you.

 

I did a 3 hour drive over the last year. It’s OK even for home reserve, just sit somewhere an hour closer. It sucks for day trips. Lots of nights spent in my car in the employee lot with an early show the next day. With a line it was not bad at all especially with longer trips.

The mileage gets expensive though. Get a Costco account for gas and tires.

 

I drove 1.5 hours for 2 years to & from base for trips as a line holder and as a reservist. It wasn’t an issue for work because I would make the round trip 5 or 6 times a month on a 75-90 hour monthly schedule. For reserves it was a 2 hour call out so I could hang out at home. For non-rev travel purposes, however, it wasn’t the best. We quickly learned to always schedule the first flight of the day in case we were bumped to the next one. The one time we scheduled the last flight of the day and were bumped we drove back home to then try and catch a flight the next day. Driving 3 total hours and waiting an additional hour only to get denied is 4+ hours wasted only to drive back again the next day. Sure, we could’ve gotten a hotel room but your own bed & food an hour and a half away can be a double edged sword.

 

I'm a line holder who minimizes trips and lives six hours from base.

When Covid hit, I lost my sweet one-hour flight to base.

I still don't drive. Six hours is way too much.

 

I used to live 45 minutes from base but in LA traffic that easily became 1h45'. It wasn't terrible on 3-8 day trips but when the company switched to all daytrips, doing it 8 days in a row drove me bat**** crazy. So much that I moved back to my hometown, changed to a more commutable base and did a transcon commute instead. Even when it ended up being 2 legs it was less stressful than driving in LA every single day. Now I found a job back home with no commute and it's even better.

 

My driving is 1h:50m ish. Not a bad drive to work. . However I fly to n from now wheels up/down 25 mins . On a normal schedule arriving at 9p day 4 to drive 2 hours. I’ve found myself falling asleep. I had to sleep 2 hours then finish up a 2 hour drive. That particular occasion I flew just under 8 hours

 

Tesla autopilot i agree is simultaneously too much and not enough

but it you haven’t used garden variety civic/corolla smart cruise control... it’s a game changer Especially in traffic

 

I've used Subaru's. Works fine on multi-lane highway but sucks on a 2-lane whenever another car comes around a curve opposite direction it catches it in the corner of it's sensor arc and triggers the auto brakes... usually on MAX.

 

Subaru uses a camera-only system that’s different from most that’s more of a doppler radar setup.

But I would put windy 2 lane roads on my “do not drive” list regardless