Originally Posted by sailingfun

Your Golden days must be in well in advance. It is not a request and must be honored. That is the reason for putting them in so soon. When they build the CQ patterns they look at the Golden days. If every pilot in his training window bids 25-30 Dec off there will be no posted patterns those days. All the patterns will be filled. This means failure to bid Golden days can be a big mistake. If you are the only one without Golden days 25 to 30 Dec and there is a 25-27 Dec pattern you are getting it regardless of your seniority or actual training bids! Always bid Golden days in a Holiday month.
In addition you can’t be awarded training over your Golden days even if you bid for it. If a perfect BB training pattern shows up on 5 to 7 Jan and you put Gokden days 1 to 5 Jan you can’t be awarded it regardless of how you bid. That is why you have the option to use 1 to 5 days. If you want New Years off but don’t care about anything after the 2nd best to use only 2 days on 1 and 2 Jan.