Originally Posted by
NWA320pilot
If you can bid a trip that carries in enough to put you above the ALV just bid RES and put the days after your vacation. Then call in full for the month after your trip. This will also pay more than RES guarantee dependent upon the ALV.
Edit: You need to be careful to make sure your carry-in trip is high enough credit to exceed your adjusted guarantee for the month, otherwise you will still be on the hook for the RSV days. Just something to be aware of.
For example, I had 6 days of VAC in Nov with an ALV of 73:45. My RES Guarantee for the month was something like 60 hours. With 2 weeks of VAC I would guess a pilot's guarantee would be somewhere in the mid 40's. That is the threshold you need to hit to be full, which requires a pretty big carry-in trip.
Not saying it's impossible (depending on the category), just make sure you run the math before you commit to this strategy or you may find yourself sitting reserve over the holidays.
To clarify: a RSV pilot is only full when they reach THEIR (adjusted) guarantee for the month. You don't have to make it all the way to ALV. However, if you are 1 minute shy of your RSV guarantee, they can assign a trip that can take you as high as ALV+15.