Originally Posted by FangsF15

+1. Just one anecdote: When I upgraded, I had a qualifier at 80%. I missed it by one whole percent. I instantly regretted it, and realized 81% would have indeed been good enough. I took out my qualifier and got it a bid later, but at that time it was many months between bids. There are no guarantees "the next bid" will have a vacancy, primary or contingent. Besides, there really isn't much difference bidding at 50% vs. 60%, much less 47% anyway.