Conversation this morning about various vacation plans/options for the this year. Six different options over three, or more, time periods. The limiting factor is being able to bid the time off over the end of month transition. Will I be able to get 5 or perhaps as much as 10, if not more, days off in a row? How much I get, and in what months, will start ticking off the different options. Hawaii or Aruba? Iceland or cruise? Or Portugal or yacht charter? Or....

It requires some short range flexibility because you only have about two weeks notice as to how many days you get off in the following month. But it's a vacation option that always exists. Twelve months a year. To realistically maximize your 'vacation' breaks it's only available five times a year. That's before you take any regular vacation or use your regular vacation to extend the end of month transition 'vacations'. Early on you get 2 opportunities to extend the mini vacations for 2-3 weeks, after approx. 10 yrs you get 3-4 vacation weeks.

The reality is with young children, or a wife who doesn't have scheduling flexibility, you're limited to more traditional vacation breaks. As a junior guy they can be hard to get which is why some guys choose seniority vs switching to larger aircraft or upgrading.