Ar Pilot

A mainline only Crashpad helps. Most guys will be older and more respectful. Ear plugs and eye mask helps. Some nights it’s luck of the draw if you pick a room with no one in it. Was in a primarily JetBlue pad in Kew gardens and basically every night around 8pm they’d all get called out for Caribbean redeye turns. Mostly had the place to myself.

Whoopsmybad

When I was on reserve as a NH I made this my go to. Picked trips in open time, did a YS for the ones I wanted. Rarely did I not get one of the ones I asked for. That way you can get full trips instead of broken trips. And the company is picking up your lodging.

flyinthrew

I’ve done this. Key is getting a pilot-only, cold bed in a pad with mostly line holders. I sometimes go a day or two without seeing anybody in my pad much less in my room. Lineholders show up, eat, sleep, and leave.

iaflyer

I had a crashpad near JFK for two years. It was just DL and AA guys, in 2 years, I think I only had to share a room once. It just wasn't very busy - mostly line holders who needed it maybe once a week. Some days I was the only one there. And being older, we were all pretty respectful of each other with noise levels.

Some pilot use AirBNB to get a room when they need one, seems like you're sharing the house with the owner or whatever (you're not getting the place to yourself at lower price points) , but not noisy and seems to work well. In NY, you wouldn't need a car. Hotels in the NYC area are pricey - in other bases people either get a inexpensive room with late checkout, or try and Yellow Slip (request trips) to fly.

gloopy

Cold bunk > hot bunk, all things equal.

Kew > anywhere else for most fleets most of the time, all things equal.

Mainline/pilot only > everyone pad, all things equal.

Two bathrooms isn't twice as good as one; its 100 times better.

Obviously there are exceptions to these as well as potentially mitigating circumstances.

The over all vibe of a pad is probably the single greatest factor and is hard to quantify until after the fact. The only way is to either try it out (usually for a month or two) or get a good rec from someone you know and who understands what you're asking.

Don't stress about the price; a good one is worth a little extra. However IMO single occupancy isn't worth the substantial premium. Quiet, respectful pad mates and cold AC (plus earplugs and eye covers) are often a more solid sleep opportunity than being at home with stomping screaming kids, barking dogs, phones ringing and the constant temptation to take care of just one more minor chore right before/after bed.

Cold AC and warm blankets plus blankets hung on the sides of a bunk have yielded the most solid sleep I've ever had especially in situations that were otherwise jacked up circadian wise. Location comes into play for the times you're there (planned or unplanned) as its nice to have numerous sit down and take out places, hang outs, grocery store(s), cleaners, safe walking/jogging etc. The ease of being effectively equal distance from JFK and LGA give you lots of options both coming and going, both for work reports and commuting. Lots of transportation options as well.

The area also has a close by train station where you can begin the long, arduous trek to EWR (which should be it's own base but that's another topic). Even then, sometimes with known early reports to EWR, you may be better served just getting a cheap crew rate room near the airport anyway.

You will spend money coming and going, as well as to stay there. There is no way around that. You will get burned on commutes from time to time. Things will "melt down" from time to time and you could find yourself there for days. Having a good pad with options is worth the price and being in the middle of the two legit co-terminals (LGA and JFK) is a no brainer for most fleets most of the time. If you're on a true widebody fleet, then some of the otherwise less appealing JFK pads may begin to make more sense for you, but you'll still need to take commuting options into account. Plenty of ex-JFK padders switch to Kew for that very reason.

If you are a very light sleeper, then maybe single room is for you. But it will cost a lot more. The nightly ala carte approach works the best financially once you get some seniority...unitl it doesn't. But it usually does. Hotels are not only pricey but tend to sell out when you need them the most. IMO a good pad is a must on reserve and as a junior lineholder. Even past that point I'd carry one as insurance. These days with the "optimizer" destroying NB rotations and RR's being more common, even once top seniority tiers are effectively "junior" as far as pairing quality and commutability are concerned.

mmuiwa

What is the policy on picking up Open time trips on your days off on reserve. Is it allowed? Does it get paid on top of guarantee? Is there a limit?
Thanks

crewdawg

You can do that via a Yellow slip. It just counts toward your reserve guarantee, so it only pays "on top" if you've already flown enough to hit reserve guarantee for the month. As far as a limit, I would assume you'd be limited by ALV+15, but I've never even considered that.

CBreezy

No. You cannot pick up. You can volunteer on days off but you go below line holders and on call reserves. It only goes toward reserve guarantee

FangsF15

To add to what was said above, you may be thinking of a Green Slip, which is paid as single pay ‘above Reserve Guarantee’ for what is actually flown (no rotation guarantee on reserve, but 5:15 ADG and trip rigs still apply).

You also get payback days, which start 9 hours after release plus 24 hours for each day off interrupted (X-day/PB/TOFF). There is no limit, other than FAR limits, but you can’t get #2 until every other eligible pilot with a GS request in has turned down their first. It’s a way to balance GS across the seniority spectrum.

FangsF15

Nothing at Delta pays 150%. Green slip on reserve pays ‘single pay’/100% above guarantee. So, if Reserve Guarantee is 72 hours, and you fly a 2-day GS, you will get 10:30 pay above the 72, for a total of 82:30, plus PB days as earlier described.

Lineholders get single pay for the rotation guarantee, plus single pay for what is actually flown. It’s often described as 200%, but it’s more nuanced than that. And, they must also have a minimum of 65 hours of credit in the month, and GS don’t count toward that credit.