This right here.

Commuting vs. living in base...it's an entirely different job. Commuting to a line is hard enough. Commuting to reserve (I did it for a while) is a special kind of misery.

Let's say you have a 4-day trip that reports at, oh, 10:00 local. Odds are, there's only one or two flights that get you into base with sufficient time to make that report time. (Or possibly no flights.) You'll burn the previous afternoon commuting in, and then spend money on a hotel. Then, on Day 4, let's say you get done at, oh, 4:00 pm. Let's say there's 1 option to commute home. Now imagine taxiing in, only to be told that there's no gate available for you and you'll have to go sit for a while. Now imagine listening to the FO operating your commute flight home as he/she calls Ground for push, while you're still sitting there waiting for your gate. There's another hotel night gone. You finally return home on Day 6...and then turn around a day or two later and do it all again.

Drive to work whenever possible.