Cousin;
My understanding (could be wrong) of how the system works within a bid group is "top down". That is why I don't understand why you would put L-- first, and then H++ at the bottom. If it works top down, won't it actually award some L-- if it can, and then never actually get to the trips you really want?

Within a single bid group, I do Set, Avoid, and then Awards. No mixing of them. My first bid group is my "dream" with H++ trips at the top of the awards, and less desirable trips down from there., and then I relax my avoids as I go down the list of bid groups. It works for me, but my base is relatively small, with not a lot of variety in flying. Because of this I might be learning bad habits in bidding should I bid 737 IAH with 500 pilots in each seat.

And, thanks for the help.