For the last 16 months, I've been working in Milwaukee Mon-Thu and home in Maine Fri-Sun. Until a month ago (when negotiations between NW and the mechanics' union broke down), it was reasonably easy to take; CO President's Club membership let me relax in the Detroit WC's during my 1-2 hour layovers, rapidly accumulated PE status let me ride in front most of the time (although a long stint of CRJs between DTW and PWM was quite unpleasant) and a long weekend every week gave me more flexibility in the time I'm able to spend with my family.

Since labor talks broke down, though, delays and cancellations are taking their toll and travel on NW has gotten much more stressful. I've had enough.

No other carrier has a reasonable schedule out of PWM, so I'm bussing to Boston to fly Midwest Express starting the week of 8/22. I'll still be able to leave early Monday and be home by 8:30PM Thursday. BOS has a PC where I can idle, awaiting my flight to MKE or bus home.

My recommendations, if you value your sanity (since you're a FT'er, some of them will be blatantly obvious):

• Sign up for your preferred carrier's FF program (duh). You'll value the improved seat selection and opportunities for ugrades once you've obtained status.
  
• Sign up for your selected hotel's loyalty program. Upgrades and guaranteed preferences and reservations will make your stays away from home a little easier to take.
  
• If you'll be renting a car, get set up for a corporate account and/or a preferred membership with your rental agency of choice. It will get you out of the parking lot much faster.
  
• Get a membership in the carrier's club of choice, a Platinum Amex, or a Priority Pass. Beats the hell out of hanging around the gate, and free wireless access can be had at some (CO, for example).
  
• Fly direct if you possibly can. Dealing with connecting flights will, at a minimum, double your chances of delays and cancellations.
  
• Travel light. Leave a bag with the stuff you don't need to bring home every week at your work site hotel (assuming it's the same every week, of course). This lets me travel with just my laptop bag and a briefcase-sized satchel containing clean skivvies and a couple of shirts. No need to check anything, and you're not a bin hog.
  
• Get assigned seats in advance of your arrival at the airport. The folks that wait are the ones that get IDB'ed.
  
• Check in online before you get to the airport and skip the line at the ticket counter or kiosks . . . you can head straight for security when you get to the terminal.

The only part of my current job that's stressful is the travel, and even then it's usually just the trip home that gets me worked up when things are irregular. My prior position was one where I was on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and that was far more stressful than this. Though I don't get to see my family every day, I do get to enjoy the time I do have with them far more than in my previous position, since I don't have to take my work home with me.