Does per diem pretty much cover taxes?
 

I was told by an airline buddy to consider an airlines monthly reserve, at your pay rate, to be close to what you'll actually take home. He said that the per diem about covers taxes, for planning purposes. Would you all agree to that?

(Yes, I know some people say don't count it is income, but I'd like to be able to plan what a realistic check would look like)

Per diem covers food you need to eat while at work.

Take your guarentee and subtract 30% for taxes medical insurance, ect... that will put you close to what you should bring home in a relatively conservative fashion. Don't count on time over guarentee or per diem as they are not consistent.

If you find yourself sitting reserve in base while being a commuter and don't fly you don't get per diem but still have to eat and pay for a crash pad. :eek:

Yes, I would say that is pretty realistic. But it is difficult to know if you will be used on reserve or not... For November I only have worked 40 hours, which really hurts the per diem, so for this month, no it probably wont cover my taxes. But generally, I would say you could assume that.

As a lineholder its nice but not great. But when I sat reserve there were some months I didn't get more than 50 bucks per diem.
I would say on average I get 450-600 bucks a month in per diem.
Hope that helps.

You can come out way ahead on per diem if you are smart and do a little planning. 90% of the time you get free breakfast at hotel. Lunch can usually be free via something you grabbed from breakfast or out of the flight snack basket or pack a few PB&J's for your trip so I rarely paid for lunch either. I will splurge for a nice dinner if the layover permits and I almost always have $200 leftover per diem each month.

Delta1067... this is not a rip on you, just on our profession's situation in general.

Isn't it sad that we, as professional airline pilots, consider eating a free, unhealthy, and unreliable breakfast... and possibly saving enough for lunch (using PB&Js as a backup) to be "coming out way ahead".

There are so many things in this industry trying to destroy your health.... try not to let the cost of healthy food make nutrition another factor to that list.

I second that. It's also amazing to me how many pilots just sit in their rooms the entire overnight. I'm fortunate enough to stay downtown at most long layovers. I take advantage of this and treat layovers like a vacation. Isn't traveling what this job is all about?

No prob..I didn't take that as a rip. I wasn't too clear so my bad. I am a very healthy person and can usually find healty choices at free hotel breakfasts such as yougart, fruit, cereal. I will skip it before I eat dounuts and muffins and unhealthy carbs/sugars. My point was more on saving money but you can do that while eating healthy as well. I will spend money on healthy food before I eat junk for free if that is my only choice. I too treat layovers like a vacation and will always go out and enjoy what the cities have to offer. I'm just saying it isn't hard to come out ahead on per diem and do it healthy while enjoying your layovers as well.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input!

It also depends on the company. They all have different per diem rates.