Pervis

Both the CC72 and CC76 allow you to choose the max 8 day tour option. Guarantees at least 5 days off. I’m on the CC72 and do just that, and rarely get 6 day tours. More productivity for the company on an 8 day tour and more FDP as well. The 8 day also pays about $500/month more.

thebirdflyer

With the schedule that we have is it worth getting a credit card with lounges access like the Amex Platinum? I know you can't go in with uniform but say at the end of your trip and you are flying home, would you ever have enough time to quickly change and go in the lounge? Or is it not worth it since you would never get to use the lounges unless you are doing personal travel?

jtf560

I have it, but I'm on the Global and almost never fly the first or last day, so I'm in street clothes for most of my travels. I also have a lounge I can use for breakfast and coffee to start each tour. I wouldn't do it without a usable lounge to start each tour. Also, if you want a drink on the way home, you will need to dummy ticket or you run the risk of a random test somewhere along the way home.

Av8rg8r

From the perspective of someone who's been on property a year and a half and not flying large cabin, I don't see it being worth it. Rare is the tour for me where I don't do at least 1 leg on my first or last day, and I find that I get treated a lot better by airline crew when I'm traveling in uniform.

MajorDickasons

Please, what is a dummy ticket? Also if you’re on street clothes at the end of a tour on the way home, is there a decent chance of a random test?

Av8rg8r

The company is required to start and stop your tour at your home base, unless you request a last day dummy ticket. With a last day dummy ticket, the company will reimburse a portion of the cost it would otherwise pay to fly you back home, and you can buy a ticket to anywhere you like. For example, let's say that your family heads to Aspen to go on vacation before you finish your tour, you can request a dummy ticket and instead of flying back home and then out to Aspen, you can fly directly to Aspen on your last day and meet up with your family there.

Random testing for drug/alcohol screening has to be done while you're on duty, so they could tag you with a "stop by here on your way home and do your test." Dummy ticketing prevents this as you go off duty and are on your own when you dummy ticket. As for likelihood, I've been on property a year and a half and haven't had it happen yet.

jtf560

The chance of the random is probably less than 1%, but drinking on duty is career suicide and not a wise choice to make. The dummy ticket releases you from duty and doesn't prevent you from turning around to buy the same ticket home again or booking yourself on your preferred airline to get home. Honestly, getting a card for lounge access probably isn't worth it for the vast majority of pilots, especially since the Amex Platinum is almost $700 a year now. That said, it is worth it to me to feel a bit more relaxed while at the terminal. The airlining to and from work is the worst part of the job in my opinion and anything to make it a little better is worth the splurge for me.

AirBear

The dummy ticket can be nice, but sometimes you don't even need to use it. I was on NWA from DTW-CLT going home. My wife was in MEM, I planned to non-rev (retired USAir/AA) CLT-MEM. I told the gate agent what I was planning and he just changed my ticket to direct MEM. I let the company know and everything was good. Many gate agents will try to take care of a pilot in uniform. Not as many as before, but there are still some around.

Gilligan13

You can’t have a drink at dinner when you’re on the road?

jtf560

You can't have a drink while your on duty or within 10 hours of duty. You usually won't have time for a drink with dinner or time to sit down and have a nice dinner.