You can bid all of your vacation in 1 block if you like, and you have the seniority. Of course you need to have 5 years longevity for three weeks of vacation. And you can extend your actual vacation with days off. For instance, bid the last week of a bid period off. Then bid a week of vacation at the beginning of the next bid period then some days off. This takes some seniority of course, but it is possible to turn one week of vacation into roughly 3 weeks off. I’ve done it.

 

Any SFO 737 or Bus drivers care to chime in? Starting BI very soon. From reading this thread I've gathered 737 provides the most "opportunity" in nearly any domicile. I will not be commuting, QOL is top priority, and don't really care what I fly. Easy answer is to bid for something I'm already typed in (320), but am looking for some feedback from guys/gals on property that may provide a different perspective. Thanks for the help!

 

Everybody’s situation is different, but if you want QOL and you’re gonna live here, SFO737 easy. Was bidding like 35% before Covid at 3 years here, (back to bidding 30% for October), will start upgrade next month. Also keeping in mind that this is a $hit place to commute to, that inflates your seniority even more, because commuters typically only look for commutable stuff. You won’t be bound to that. Same for the premium stuff, something like 75% of this base is commuters, they won’t be picking it up. PM if you have more specific questions.

 

All good info, appreciate the reply. Congrats on the upgrade, that's a lot quicker than I was expecting.

 

The SFO 737 does a fair amount of Hawaii flying.
I much preferred my 30 months on the SFO 737 than the 12 months I did on the SFO 757 (you'll never see a 767).
I'd have liked to try the Airbus, but I didn't want to wait 2 additional years to move to something larger than the 737.
YMMV.

 

How do you manage to survive living in SFO until upgrading? I get the 401k savings, but after taxes and soaring costs from property to transportation…how much extra can be saved while still living reasonably?

What is an average credit hour month? Can you credit 100h and still get 15d off? Is the norm 4x4d trips?

Commuting equally seems less than ideal, and I’m truly trying to visualise what life will be like. All honest opinions and previous experiences welcome. Every place I turn has my eyes looking like 😳.

When I consider the other options of EWR or LAX as a new hire, I feel equally terrified. My family lives in the west so SFO/LAX make the most sense from that perspective.

How do you see DEN? What longevity does the junior CN hold? How many years as an FO until it doesn’t feel like you’re struggling?

I only have 10-15y until retirement and that definitely is an important consideration. Would you leave a 250-300k/yr job to start from the bottom at UA with this timeline?

Thank you for all advice. Trying to make important life decisions to get closer to family and honestly worried about costs despite what once would have been a great salary.

 

thats a lot of questions. My question is “10-15y to retirement”. What? Your time to retirement is knowable to the day

and leaving a $250-300k job for United isn’t a profitable financial move

as for living in SFO … very few do, even fewer without an asterisk. Inherited house, spouse job, pension, whatever

 

Some people plan retirement based on a $ number not days to 65th birthday.

 

Any future classes dates after October ?

 

If you are making 250-300k/year somewhere else, unless it is in a different line of work that you hate or we are in a domicile that improves your quality of life, there would be no reason to come work here with a 10-15 year horizon financially.