United flight attendant transfer between bases: how the transfer bid works, the seniority implications and why people move from Newark to Denver

United Denver, year two, reserve, and I transferred here from Newark after nine months, which several people on the reserve threads asked about. Here is how a base transfer works at United and why people do it.

How the transfer works

United runs a transfer bid process where crew can request a move to another base, and awards are made in seniority order as vacancies open at the receiving base. Some bases have waiting lists measured in years (SFO, Honolulu) and some have vacancies most months (Houston, Denver in some periods, Newark oddly enough because people leave it). Your system seniority does not change with a transfer; your position on the base list does, because you are now compared with the people at that base.

Why people leave Newark

Because Newark is a senior base for international flying and a hard base for reserves: expensive to live near, a long reserve, and a commute that makes the reserve callout stressful. Crew who took Newark for the international and found themselves on reserve for years look at the bases where they could hold a line and move.

Why Denver

Denver is a growing base, domestic heavy with some international, where a junior crew member can hold a line much sooner than at Newark. Cheaper to live in (still not cheap). A base where the flying is mostly the West and the mountains and the Pacific coast, which suits some people completely. The cost is the international: less of it, and the Europe and Asia flying is thinner.

What I gave up and what I got

Gave up: the Newark international, the possibility of Europe on reserve luck, the New York life. Got: a line within months of arriving, a flat I could afford, a base where the crew room knew my name, and a commute of 25 minutes. My mental health went up more than my pay went down.

The trap

Transferring to a junior base for a line and then wanting the international later. You can transfer back, but the base list at Newark has moved on and you are junior there again. The crew who do best decide what they want from the job before the first transfer, not after.

Advice for new hires

If your goal is international, take the international base and suffer the reserve. If your goal is a life, take the junior base and hold a line. If you are not sure, take the international base for a year, learn what reserve is, and then decide. And put the transfer bid in early, because the queue at some bases is long and being on it costs nothing.