Lol, any school that’s private and not a public one!

As a 30+ year NV resident, things have changed over the years but never has there been serious talk of instituting a state income tax. As long as CA residents continue to flee East we’ll be good.

Property taxes are amazingly cheap here (at least in Vegas - Reno is going crazy with high property values because of the SFO area being so close) when compared to other states without an income tax. My house in TX would cost 4-5x in property taxes easy.

If someone doesn’t want to live at a UA base, LAS is a pretty good option in my opinion, especially for SFO.

How bad is the DEN-SFO commute? Some say it’s the worst thing in the entire world while others say it’s not that bad.

It’s better now that there’s more flying in DEN so there’s fewer commuters.

But “better” is a relative term. Any hub-to-hub commute can be challenging and DEN-SFO can flip from open seats to everything’s oversold at the drop of a hat. Or a SFO flow.

Commuting sucks.

That being said, since the opening of the DEN 787 base and the FA contract, getting a seat isn’t so bad. Between UA, SWA, and F9 there are options. And it’s a $30-50 Uber to SJC. There’s also OAK.

Two things make it challenging. 1. The earliest flight leaves at 600a except during summer months, and the last flight out of SFO is at 800p on SWA except weekends which is around 4p. There is a F9 1am flight but...
2. When low ceilings, wind, and/or rain move into SFO, things delay significantly. That adds to stress and long days.

I’d love to hear the thought process/seniority when folks switch commuting to sfo vs bid home in Denver. Thanks!

Nobody has mentioned ORD yet. It certainly has its downsides, like weather and property taxes, but there some amazingly good deals on houses 30-45 minutes north of the employee lot just off the tollway. Very possible to sit short call at home, or even on the golf course.

Schools are very local, so no broad brush answer on that.

One caution, there is a proposed constitutional amendment to introduce a graduated income tax, up to now it has been a flat rate with very few deductions.

ORD is not currently a junior base, but it has been in the past, and probably will be in the future. The airport and terminals are expanding. Construction delays are probable for the next couple of years.

Joe

For me, it won't be until I can hold a line. I was the plug this year in last year's December mega bid. It was unheard of half-wingers walking around DEN, let alone in 6 months, but there I was. Living the life of "sitting" reserve "at home." However from my experience, "sitting" at home rarely if ever happened (90 hours first month in April). You also have the added benefit (sarcasm) of being the central base to all of our other bases except for the east coast bases. So, I would routinely get farmed out to SFO/ORD/IAH. Lowest reserve bidder also means don't try to get any days off that your peers will ask for (i.e. a weekend, holiday, etc).
So, I actually base traded back to SFO. Do I want to commute, of course not. But, everyone has their own personal reasons. Mine came down to wanting some type of control over my schedule. For example, next month I get 19 days off and all of them are the exact days off that I want.
Little extra bonus to being a line holder, premium pay. This month I picked up a 3-day, out of base trip that paid 34 hours. That will help with the Christmas presents this year.

Just another data point from my very limited perspective. You have to choose what's most important for you. Good luck!

Some guys are willing to commute/drive long haul in a fervent quest to save on state taxes, but looking at that last paystub I see California withheld $10,500 from me last year, a sizable chunk of which I’ll get back (since they still allow work-related expenses, including union dues, to be deducted).

The thing is, living in the 916 area code also allowed me to legitimately sit short call reserve at home and not get touched for two months at a time. The area I live in has great schools, great weather, and a Prop 13 lockdown on property tax increases. When I do go in it’s a 1:45 drive, rain or shine, no delays or cancellations, and I always get a seat in first class. Throw in the couple VDOs I wrangled last summer (which were only possibly because I could be there in under two hours) and I’m failing to see the attraction of other options in a purely mathematical equation.

If you don’t want to live in California for idealogical reasons, I get it, but from a dollars and cents, what’s your time worth to you perspective I gladly wave the Bear Flag.

Agree with pretty well everything you said except one point: where exactly do you live that it’s 1:45 rain or shine? My 103 miles from 916 ranges from 1:30-4:30.

Other than that, the opportunities to make extra money because of the high number of commuters here makes up for what Governor Steal-Your-Girl takes from me.