United Denver base in year two: the line held, the mountain life, the Denver international that is growing
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#1 United Denver, year two, and I wrote the transfer thread from the Newark reserve to the Denver line. Year two in Denver, honestly, because the choice I described as the sane one should be reviewed a year on.
The line
Held since month four in Denver, a domestic line of the West and the mountains and the Pacific coast with a Cancún and a Vancouver as the international, predictable, the days off known. The line is the reason I came and it has held. The Denver base's junior list is the thing the Newark reserves envy and it is real.
The Denver international that is growing
The thing I did not expect: United has added international from Denver (London, Munich, Frankfurt, Tokyo seasonal, and more announced) and the Denver crew hold it at mid seniority rather than at the Newark senior levels. A year two Denver crew member picks up a London from a dropped line, which I did in month nineteen. The thin international I described is thickening and the base is the United growth story in the West.
The mountain life
The reason I chose the base and the thing that held: the skiing on the days off (the Denver crew have the season pass and the roster to use it), the hiking, the altitude that the Bogotá and Mexico City threads describe at 1,600 metres rather than 2,600, the city that is affordable compared to the coasts and getting less so. The crew live in the city and the suburbs and the mountain towns for the ones who want the drive.
The honest review
The choice was the line and the life over the international and the New York, and a year on: the line held, the life is the life, the international came to me anyway as the base grew, and the New York I gave up is a thing I visit on the staff travel without missing. The crew who told me I would want the international later were right and the base provided it. The one regret: the Newark Europe crew I trained with are a tribe I am not in. The one surprise: the Denver crew room is a tribe too.
For the United new hires and the Newark reserves
Denver is the line at month four, the mountains, the growing international, the affordable city that is less so each year, and the crew room that knows your name. The sane choice held. The international came. The mountains are the mountains.
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#2 Newark, and Benji's review a year on is the thing the Newark reserves should read: the line held, the international came anyway, the mountains. The Newark Europe tribe he is not in is a tribe with jet lag. His is a tribe with a season pass. Both tribes.
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#3 LAX, and the Denver international growing is the United West story and the Denver crew holding it at mid seniority is the thing the LAX crew notice: the London from Denver at month nineteen. Benji's sane choice is looking saner. The mountains are the mountains.
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#4 Houston, and the junior base for a life reviewed a year on and holding is the Houston story too: the line, the Latin America, the city. Benji's one regret (the Newark tribe) is the honest cost and the one surprise (the Denver tribe) is the honest reward. Both bases have both.
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#5 SFO, and the Denver crew picking up a London at month nineteen against my SFO reserve at year two is the base choice in one comparison. The Pacific is the best flying and it costs the most. Denver is the mountains and it costs the least. Benji chose and reviewed and it held.
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#6 Delta JFK, and the sane one's review a year on is the thread I read at 3am in the crash pad with the specific feeling. The line held. The international came. The New York visited without missing. I am not there yet and the form is in my drawer.
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#7 Delta Atlanta, and the junior base for a life reviewed honestly is the thing I will do about Detroit in two years if I go. Benji's template: the line, the life, the international that came, the one regret, the one surprise. Saved.
