I'm on perpetural reserve at my airline and I'm always looking at open time to see what I might be assigned and what I can request from scheduling.

Hah!! You're so right...

I set alerts, but they're very few. Best part of having a line is you can choose to only pick up or trade for what you want. You don't have to swing at every pitch. Very easy to get 80% of what you want and very hard to optomize for that final 20%.

The issue with reserve is you are told when to take something. I find it's infinitely more stress sitting at home ready to take a call. Very tempted to try a VEC line next month because I know I'll not fly much but is my mental peace worth it?

Not fly much? I'm a VEC this month and have racked up 57 hours in twelve days already, and have been doing my best not to work. That might work in your category, though.

57 hours on reserve in the first 12 days of the bid period is crazy. Whats your base/seat/fleet?

It sure is. So far it seems like if your goal is to not work a ton, VEC and LCL should be avoided in BES's that usually have a lot of open time. Esspecially with blocks that start Thursday - Saturday.

^^^ NB fleet your going to get abused no matter what RSV type you choose… if you live in base VEC can make you some money for sure on all the fleets… LCL reserve is definitely good for a commuter so you don’t have to get a room to sit SC… but you’ll always get a trip if one is open.

As a commuter, I am making the decision to go back to TRV after a month of LCL....sure I didn't have to pay for hotels for SC's but I have flown nearly every single day of reserve this month......would much rather suck up 6 hotel rooms a month for SC than fly every single day I'm available.

similar story here. The “who gets called first” hierarchy kinda sucks.

I’m just always amazed at how many trips are in open time, how deep red the pool display is, and how there are apparently no more captain spots to be had in the base.

at this point, just give everyone a line and staff trips with premium pay. Flying 4 on, 2 off (throw in 3 off here and there), especially as a commuter, is a quick path to burnout.

final point: I know commuting is a choice, but have any other commuters found that it has been excruciatingly difficult the past 3-4 months? I’m not even talking summer loads. It seems like 90% of the flights are massively delayed or straight up canceled. And this is other airlines, too. I don’t ever remember it being this bad. I think I’ve had one on-time commute in the past three months.

Yep, and the entire concept of assigning trips to LCL before giving a TRV (who wants to fly) a chance to pick it up doesn't sit well with me. Had multiple TRV's want to pick up a trip last week but they gave it to me on LCL well before the APU window.