Any SWA commuters living in WA state?

[BravoHotel]

I got the call "to continue in the process" from SWA last week and am looking for some info on the pos/neg aspects of commuting from somewhere in WA state. Anyone doing it from other than Seattle?

Thanks
BH

 

[Tripower455]

Commuting, from anywhere, is a pretty big negative. There'd have to be 100 positives for me to do it again for any length of time......

That said........

Commuting from a SWA city will be infinitely easier than a non SWA city, especially since 9/11 (the last 2 years I commuted I drove 100 miles to FLL and it was MUCH less stressful than the previous 8 years of offline commuting from RSW, 25 miles away).

Also, a nonstop commute will be much easier than a 2-3 legger (I've done both).

My recommendation is to not commute, if at all possible. You will spend roughly an extra 40-50 days a year NOT being at home on your days off. Even with the "easy" commutes (DAL-HOU, BNA-MDW etc.) you are still expending a lot of time and energy just going to and from work......


Just my $.02 gleaned from 10 years of graduate level commuting experience.

 

[TR4A]

I live 20 miles north of Seattle. We have pilots and F/A's commuting from all over the state. Mostly in Seattle, Vancouver and Spokane areas.

 

[grichardii]

Spokane Commute

I am in the SWA pool also. Will be living in Spokane to commute. There are non-stop flights daily to Oakland.
Check the SWA interactive map on their website. \
Have a great SWA day.
Tanker Dude

I got the call "to continue in the process" from SWA last week and am looking for some info on the pos/neg aspects of commuting from somewhere in WA state. Anyone doing it from other than Seattle?

Thanks
BH

 

[BravoHotel]

I live 20 miles north of Seattle. We have pilots and F/A's commuting from all over the state. Mostly in Seattle, Vancouver and Spokane areas.

TR4A,

It would seem that, based on freq and availability of non-stops, that commuting from SEA to OAK would be much easier (less stressful) than Spokane to OAK...am I correct? Or would Spokane be realistically do-able?

Any Eastern WA commuters out there?

Thanks

 

[Yahtzee]

BH,

Well done. Now it's time to work on those Boxed Items, Limitations, and Flows. Last week I trip traded with a guy who commutes out of Spokane. He's been doing it for three years. I'll get you a number.

Any word when ya'll might start?

Yahtz

P.S. How 'Bout My Dawgs?

 

[TR4A]

TR4A,

It would seem that, based on freq and availability of non-stops, that commuting from SEA to OAK would be much easier (less stressful) than Spokane to OAK...am I correct? Or would Spokane be realistically do-able?

Between SWA and Alaska there are many flights to/from Seattle. There are many commuters. The Summer can be tough commuting.

GEG has one non stop each way on SWA. The new schedule that starts on 31 October changes the times drastically for the NS. It is very do-able. We have a lot of commuters from GEG. There is one FO that drives from Ephrata to GEG.

 

[de727ups]

More Spokane

UPS has a flight from GEG to DFW Tues, Wed, and Thurs leaving GEG at 7am and leaving DFW at 3pm to come back. Always wide open but we'll have to wait for SWA to get onboard the CASS system.

 

[Pinto]

Double commuting from Central Washington

I live in Wenatchee WA and I have been commuting to my Navy reserve job for 2 1/2 years--about 3.5 hours drive away. I started at Southwest in March and I've been double commuting to both jobs. So far so good. For Southwest I'm based out of Oakland and I have been mostly driving to Seattle (2.5 hours). Horizon has 5 flights a day to Seattle, but to be within the commuter policy of two flights, I would in most cases have to leave my house earlier than just driving. Things might be more interesting this winter when I have to drive over the pass. I might switch to commuting out of GEG for a couple of months in the winter (3 hours driving). For me it comes down to quality of life--living where I want to. My wife has a good job and the cost of living is less over in Eastern Washington so I don't have to work as much. If you need to work a bunch to make $$ then I would live in domicle. (You can pick up all those trips I have been trying to drop!) Yes, I commute once a week a long way to work and back, but when I'm home I can do things I like to do right out my back door.

 

[Tripower455]

For me it comes down to quality of life--living where I want to. My wife has a good job and the cost of living is less over in Eastern Washington so I don't have to work as much. If you need to work a bunch to make $$ then I would live in domicle. (You can pick up all those trips I have been trying to drop!) Yes, I commute once a week a long way to work and back, but when I'm home I can do things I like to do right out my back door.

This is it in a nutshell....... You have to determine how to balance a good place to live against the effort it takes to get there.

I have lived in Naples FL for 17 years (I commuted on airplanes for 10 of them and had 2-3+ hour drives for 6 of them, and drove 5 minutes for 1). It is home.

I can honestly say that if I was forced to commute long term again, I would move in a heartbeat instead of fighting with the commute. In fact, I am just about over the 3 hour drive to MCO, and if I could pry my wife out of here, I'd already be living somewhere closer to MCO.

IMHO, commuting is a big price to pay to live somewhere. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it.