Originally Posted by 24seven

Thanks.

Covering 3 bases has to be a pain though... for a commuter.

Originally Posted by Tank21

I'm on the 320 in DC and a commuter also and from my experience, all of my flights have been out of DCA & IAD. I have not had to get to BWI yet for a flight.

Originally Posted by 24seven

That's good to know. I would have a mix of flights to both IAD and DCA. Getting to BWI would require some extra time for me.

Do you find yourself having to commute in the day before the trip, or are there trips available that are commutable on both ends once seniority can hold them?

How long has it been taking a newhire to get a line in that base?

Originally Posted by Tank21

Can't answer the seniority question but I have to commute in the day before for reserve (I have to double commute though also).

I've been on since July and I'm currently at 90% on the seniority list, so still sitting reserve.

Originally Posted by 24seven

Do you get short call and FSB often? I would have about 6 direct flights between DCA and IAD, so I don't know how much of a risk it would be to sit at home on long call days.

How many days off are you typically getting on reserve?

Originally Posted by PA Slammer

I was hired in July on the 737 to EWR. Had a line in Dec, reserve in Jan, back to a line in Feb. Got DCA on last vacancy bid. I should be around 67% there and likely hold a line. Moving up quickly.

Originally Posted by MiLa

I'm also a newb and commuted to the DCA base for a little over a month before being activated in ORD. For where I live ORD is a significantly easier commute so a no-brainer for me. Out in DCA it isn't too bad getting between DCA and IAD. I usually had a hard time getting to IAD because it was all RJs so went to DCA a lot. You can take the metro and there are a couple of different bus options. Look at the 5A bus the leaves either from Rosslyn or L'Enfant Plaza. The other option is switching from blue line to silver and taking the silver line all the way out to the last stop. From there you can get on the Silver Line Express bus to IAD. They have all the info online. I used both options depending on the timing of trains and buses. If you got to the station at the right times the 5A bus is faster, but sometimes only runs once per hour. The timetables are available online. The Silver Line Express runs every 15-20 min, but there are a lot of stops on the metro on the way out to the last stop. Also make sure to check the time tables because the metro and buses aren't 24 hours so early mornings and late nights may not be available, especially on weekends... I only once had to go to BWI because my commuter flight diverted there. As previously mentioned I was able to get a one way car rental for $25 using a United discount code found on Flying Together... All that being said there may be another reason to pick ORD over DCA with equal commutes. From my experience (which I admit is limited being that I was only there for a month, and also during a typically slow time of year), there was very little open time in DCA on the 737. This meant that there was very little opportunity to aggressive pickup. As a commuter, I think it's good to aggressive pickup because if you're not flying, you leave yourself open to short calls and field stby. I ended up with a combination of 6 shortfalls/field stby's in the last 2 weeks that I was there. It seems to me that other bases have a lot more open time. In my short time in ORD I have been either used for flying and even was used for a trip on a VDO day and got some add pay. It seems like there has been a lot more open time available here.... Anyway sorry for the long winded response. This was just my experience and it may vary for others.