I talked to a planner as I was working with my schedule and she said they usually try to approve/disapprove within a few hours. Also, you can put a "backup" trip for the same days as an initial request and it will just be thrown away if the first one is approved. This allows you to still be the first one to bid for a secondary trip and not just hope you'll get the first one. Another thing to remember is the SAW stays open for 72 hrs, so even if there isn't a trip you want right now, there may be something hours or even a day later. I think I was just very lucky in changing 3 of my trips. One was approved after an hour...then I went out for awhile and there were different trips available when I came back. Those trips were approved about 5 minutes after I spoke with the planner...I probably shouldn't be mentioning all this, huh?? I think if you take the time to seriously look at your options you will be rewarded. Hope that helped!