okay, vacation months I get, but I'm pretty hard pressed to find any "just take its" on the ptp swap board...IOW, guys are flying over 100 hrs in their vacation months and flying to the PUL on their non vacation months.

I dont mind a little exaggeration, but "half the guys I fly with..." don't have the option to fly over 100 hrs month in, month out.

So, my 3 pronged strategy has been: 1.Credit to the max in vacation months using whiteslips; and 2. (especially in high alv months) bid reserve and move x-days to minimize exposure in other months, and 3.bid a line in other months and just fly it as delivered.

IMO, in a way ALPA protected us from ourselves by getting the ALV (and subsequent reserve guarantee) raised. It takes the sting out of reserve and IMO, when guys bid like I do, we are not doing the harm to manning like some here surmise...And still crediting 90+ hrs/month on average across the year.