If got a job with FR, I'd probably have no intention of staying beyond 3-4 yrs anyway. With 2700+ hrs jet time under your belt, I reckon you could practically walk into another job, and one offering better T&Cs than FR. Indeed I know a number of FR grads who joined the company with precisely the same plan.
Happy wanderer, I understand the attractiveness of this plan, it really does sound good. But there is a major, killer, flaw to it. When ryr was small, this plan really did work. Now all it does is shoot yourself in the foot. Why? Because the very act of working for ryr on lower T&C's than elsewhere allows ryr to undercut the rest, thus either forcing them to reduce their T&C's or go under. The current oil crisis is going to accelerate bankruptcies all over Europe. I can absolutely guarantee you that. More redundant, current and experienced pilots looking for less jobs, less airlines to go to, no-one else hiring. Do you see what this means for T&C's in the next couple of years?
So you ask me, what are the options?
You have already spent the money training so I appreciate you want to fly. You probably have very few options other than ryr. Wannabes in your position have to now accept that you will never earn a good living flying. Those of us farther up the ladder have to accept that our T&C's will continue to slide, and the rate will get faster, mainly because, let's be honest, wannabes will do the job for less.
So you either give it up and write off the training money or accept that the glory days are gone.
And yes, I know when you compare to other jobs, it might seem great. But I prefer to compare it to what it once was. Once upon a time, we didn't compare ourselves to lower incomes, we compared ourselves favourably to doctors, lawyers etc, the top earners of society. Unfortunately the very factors that made flying so attractive in the past have attracted people that have dragged us down into the crap job it is now.
ps on the base issue, it depends on supply and demand. Asking for a specific base is meaningless as you probably will be deliberately sent elsewhere (ryr don't want to see you happy - remember they want you to leave asap so they can fleece some other poor low payed mug for training).