It depends on the commute. BUF-NYC is pretty easy, especially if you allow yourself the JFK options and even EWR emergency backups. EWR is a hassle, but JFK is a 15-20$ crew cab ride or a couple bucks for pub if you have the time. Compared to moving to NYC I'd absolutely commute on that city pair without a second thought. You will have to watch the weather and plan your commute some times, but the total negatives are far less than moving to NYC IMO.

Tl:dr.....

I make my commute 90% of the time the other 10% is just because of cancellations the plane I am on is about half empty and in the holidays there is always a jump seat. Just speaking from my expriance.

Roger that. Mine would be SYR-NYC but I get where you are coming from. Thank you for the thought.

anyone do ORD-PHL/DCA? hows that working out?

Never did it, but was IAD based and all of the ORD commuters I knew made it sound like the ORD to DC area was brutal. Lots of competition for the JS from mainline UAL guys. The good thing is IAD and DCA are options cause you can plane train and bus your way between IAD and DCA...eventually the metrorail will go all the way to IAD, but I don't know if that is finished yet (got new job haven't been to IAD in almost 2 years).

Wont be finished until 2017

Miss you boo! :p

I moved to my domicile about a year and a half ago after years of commuting. And I even had an excellent 'crashpad' in my base. I say that in quotes because I had my own room in a buddy's house. It wasn't really crashpad but I paid crashpad prices. Still commuting sucked.

Flights are delayed. They cancel. Someone gets the jumpseat first. The flight is weight restricted. Etc.

If I had a 6AM showtime the next day it basically meant leaving by early afternoon the day before. At the latest. And if there's a weather event all bets are off.

Moving to domicile means I no longer look at the weather. I do what I want the day before. I don't care if we're late on the last day.

My free time has doubled. Still, I'm not keen on where I'm based, but my overall stress level has plummeted. And don't think commuting is necessarily cheaper than living in an expensive domicile. Commuting has its own added, often hidden, expenses. Like parking and food while waiting and hotels and/or a crashpad.

I can tell you that DTW-CVG used to be cake but now is a nightmare since the Delta/NWA merger. I can also say that DTW-LGA (except on a Saturday) isn't too bad all things considered. It beats the hell out of trying to afford to live in New York. I can also say DTW-JFK.... No Bueno. Way too many commuters now with way too few flights.

If you live at a city which has a substantial number of flights to your base it's not as bad. I know guys who commute from BOS to PHL or DCA and they say it's not bad. There are 10 flights per day.

But if you're living in upstate NY and hoping to take one of the 3 or 4 RJ flights per day you may be in for a nasty surprise sometimes.

Airbus 320 series airplanes usually have 2 jumpseats and some Boeing 737s have this as well. MD-80 series airplanes have one jumpseat.

Plan accordingly .