For those of you getting ready to start a new career with the airlines, the information below should give you a good idea of what to expect and how to preserve a little of your cash.  For those of you that have been doing this a while, I hope its useful for you as well but understand you may be well beyond this point.. I encourage anyone that has additional suggestions or feedback for the info we've provided, please contact us so we can share that info with our readers.  You can leave your comments in the forum pages or contact us at support@aviatorsedge.com

 

For the new folks, your lodging will be provided by your airline through the duration of your training.  Most likely that will be a hotel within 10-15 min of your training location.  Transportation will be provided from the hotel to class and back, your expenses will mostly be your meals and entertainment during this phase.  Once you move on to Sims and IOE, you might have some off time while you wait for your turn.   Time might even allow you to return to your home if the delay is long enough, but most likely your lodging will only be covered during the actual days of your training. 
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After completing IOE, you will most likely be on reserves and unfortunately being a junior pilot may mean that you are not at your first choice of bases yet.  This would mean that you need to commute as well as find lodging at your assigned base.  I'll cover some details about commuting in a separate section later.  for now, the focus will be on lodging options.

 

 

First things first - stop using Expedia or whatever other reservation site that you are currently using.  You now have access to a site that is exclusive to airline employees and will save you additional money.  Its available for hotels, rental cars, flights, and cruises.   It will even show you the current rates on Expedia and Priceline and usually beat that price by 10% or more.   After clicking the link, you'll use your airline email address to confirm your eligibility.  (this is now available for non-airline employees as well but the discounts are not quite as good)

https://qf6w.app.link/XVlaWnlNIK?invite_code=ODQwNzc2X0lG5a903c&c=3

 

Here is a screenshot for a Charlotte area hotel as an example of your potential savings 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hotels

At first, it may seem as simple as finding the cheapest hotel room and staying there.  I can tell you that it's not that simple, or at least it shouldn't be if you want to make a profit by the end of the month.  The first important note is that there are two separate lodging requirements, the first being at the base you are pulling reserves at, the second being the lodging you will need while on a trip. The second is the easy one, the company will provide a hotel any time they take you away from your base.  Since your company will take care of lodging when you are away from your base, I won't cover that one any further.
The first requirement is the one we'll focus on.   The company will pay for your lodging on your work days until you have time to officially move to that base, that move will be actually scheduled and referred to as relocation days.  Keep in mind, they will try to schedule this as early as possible to minimize their expense.  Prior to the relocation days, they'll provide you with a hotel on a day to day basis.  If you don't get called for a flight, they'll extend your hotel for another night.  If you do get a trip, you'll check out and either get a hotel where ever your overnight is or if you return back to your base, they'll book another room there for that night. 
After your relocation days, however, you'll be responsible for lodging at your base.  The problem is that if you get a hotel on a nightly basis like the company did,  you'll potentially spend more on hotels then what you made for the month.  for example, if you were to work a schedule of 5 days on followed by 3 days off, repeat this cycle for the entire month.  You could work about 19 or 20 days a month.  worst case scenario, if you don't get called up for a flight for the entire month, you would need a minimum of 19 nights of hotels, at a really good company rate of about $55 a night plus taxes and fees, you're looking at potentially $67 per night, $67x19= $1273.  This could obviously be substantially higher depending on the actual price of hotels that are available in your area.  For example, the cheapest hotel around KDCA may be well over $100 per night, which could be more than 2/3 of your monthly paycheck.   This method also doesn't account for issues with hotel availability.  During certain events, the cheaper hotels may book up fast and leave you with no options in your price range. This is also assuming that you have housing somewhere else that you will stay at on your days off.
Best case scenario, you commute on the first morning of your reserve days and get assigned trips every day.  If those trips have you overnight away from your base, the company will provide lodging and you would end up with no lodging expenses.  Although this would be nice, it's not very common and you shouldn't rely on this.

Worst case scenario, you are not utilized at all during your reserve windows and you need to rent a hotel on a nightly basis. 

Most airlines have some sort of commuter policy that will reimburse some hotel expenses.  it will be important to read and understand your companies policy.  for example, my company will reimburse up to $250 per month in hotel expenses but those hotels must be from either the night before your work days begin or on the night that your work days end.  Some companies have certain hotels they use for their commuters and would provide a certain number of stays for free,  I think 4 is a common number.  I'm not familiar with which hotels are used or the quality of them.  We'll update this section as we receive feedback from our readers.    

 

We recommend getting a rewards card if you use this option as you may accrue enough points to receive a free stay or other travel benefits.  You should get these anyway as some hotels will credit you for your stays even when the company is paying.  Although you won't generally recieve points, the stay credit may help increase your level and therefore your benefits.  

 

  

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Extended Stay
Extended stay type hotels may be an option as well.  They can potentially be much cheaper but do require a commitment to a longer stay.  I've found some that were less than $170 a week and some that gave substantial discounts for month-long stays.   This may be an option but don't have high expectations for cleanliness or amenities at this price range.   This option would seem reasonable if you were at a base where the likelihood of being called was minimal.  The concern would be to commit to a month-long rental and then be assigned trips all month and never actually need the room.  That's what happened to me, I paid for a month in advance and ended up sleeping there about 5 nights, it would have been cheaper to take hotels on a nightly basis.  the problem is that you don't know in advance what your reserve workload may be like.   If you do this option, make sure you check with the front desk for price deals.  The place I found was $41 a night online but when I talked to them in person, I got it for $29.  That was at Woodspring Suites.  Overall I was pleased with that place.  I also stayed at In-town Suites for a week, although it was cheaper, I would not personally recommend it based on cleanliness and the actions of the long-term guests that resided there.  contrary to the hotel option, most extended stay type hotels do not provide transportation to/from the airport.

 

 

 

Crash Pads
Your next option may be to search for a crash pad.  These are usually apartments or houses that are specifically rented out to pilots or flight attendants on a weekly or monthly basis.   Prices vary but could be as low as 200 per month.  A price like this would typically be for a shared bedroom.  That could be 2 beds in a small room or even couple bunk beds, be sure to ask.  Usually, for a slightly higher price, you could get a private sleeping room.  the rest of the house/apartment is shared between all the renters.  Some crash pads are in the $500-$600 range but I haven't seen many above this.   This option may be a great choice for saving some money but has a couple considerations as well.  You are potentially sharing your sleeping area with someone that isn't on the same shift as you.  If you are a light sleeper, this might not be ideal.   The next consideration proved to be my biggest challenge, Availability.  I could not find a single available option in Dayton,  which is why I was forced to try the extended stay type hotels.   Right now there seems to be a substantial increase in new hire pilots which is causing the crash pads to stay constantly booked.   If you're looking at this option, plan ahead since they may be booked a month or more in advance.  Transportation may also prove to be an issue, although some crash pads do have transportation options, most don't.  So be sure to do the math for a taxi or Uber to/from the airport and be sure to calculated costs for the month. 
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Airbnb
This may be an option for some depending on where you're based and what is available in that area.  Currently, no one on our staff has had any luck with finding an Airbnb at a price that made it worthwhile.  If any of you have had luck finding a good priced BnB, please write to us and let us know your suggestions so we can pass it on to our readers.  The best I've been able to do is to find a $40 discount off your next rental.