If you're going to float you have to do it in round one.

If you bid in rounds 2-4 you will get awarded a vacation. It might be ugly but you'll bet it.

Just checked an FO bid status for last year's (2016) vacation awards. Second round junior vacations had April and October(plus whatever was available in Round three). Junior guys, and really everyone, got Jan/Feb/Nov/Dec (not the holidays) in round three.

Round one is your best bet. Try using single weeks in your bid.
The best weeks guys typically get in the second round is May, Sept, or April.
Third round is Jan/Feb/early Nov/early Dec. Fourth round is the same.
Only ten percent of the people in the bid status I checked bid all four rounds.

After floating 17 days in 2016 and only being able to drop 2 trips, I wasn't planning on floating anyway.

I've tried hard to learn this scheduling system, but think we still don't get it. It's next to impossible to drop anything, so I don't get it when LAA guys talk about doing so well floating. I'm guessing LAA guys really pilot to pilot trade and LUS haven't gotten the hang of it? Just my seniority range with PBS?

A great APA service would be to have the very successful LAA scheduling gurus come to LUS bases and go give a seminar.

The PBS system is 100% crap. It's not a matter of "learning" it really well, the system doesn't have anywhere near the granularity and control of other systems.

R57 - the way to succeed with using floated vacations hours is to post trips for pickup. On the N4 they show up 'below the line.' That's where you have more success vs relying on TTOT to drop trips. Above the line is company OT, 'below the line' is a pilot dropping a trip. Below the line pickups can be done before TTOT. It requires you to contact the owning pilot and he'll 'drop' the trip to you.

The better the trip, and the shorter it is(turns!!), the better odds of having someone pick up the trip. I've bid a month of turns and ended up not flying a single one. Dropped some, traded the others for different trips. It's a way to get time off when you can't hold a vacation in that month. You'll typically get a bunch of days off but it's harder to do if you're looking for a specific start and end date.

But even a blind squirrel gets lucky. Buddy dropped a trip over Christmas and used his floated vacation bank to pay for it. He was stunned that it allowed the drop but sometimes it happens.

Finally offering premium and OG in my seat. Let's show some unity and only fly premium.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think many LUS guys understand or are using trade. With my PBS blocks I've only been able to improve my line by generally picking up more time. For Dec I listed every trip for drop at one time, only one that did was covered by CPA, but it was for the second week. Nothing around the holidays.

For January I tried to get 1 days to improve my trip trading chances. I bid everyone in layer 1, got none.

Maybe it's just an awareness issue? IDK. Or maybe PBS satisfies more guys so they're not working as hard to work other days?? IDK.

I've used it to get a week's vacation over Memorial Day, Labor Day, Easter and July 4th or a week at the beach during the summer.

Bid turns that don't touch the holiday weekend. Post the trips where you're trying to get time off first. After they're gone (no guarantee) post any other trips you want to get rid of or trade those turns using the TTOT system.

As soon as bids are final guys post trips below the line. You can't get them by yourself until TTOT opens. Beforehand you can by calling the posting guy directly. I've had a completely different month before TTS/TTOT become active. Dropped some of mine to guys who called and picked up from other guys below the line.

Dropping a trip for CPA around holidays is a rare exception.

The problem is twofold...

1. Schedule gurus typically don't like to share the knowledge, because they'll loose their edge.

2. PBS is changing the game on the LAA side now as well, so they have some new tricks to learn as well.

One problem for LUS bases, is lack of participation. Hardly anyone is using TTS, and most guys probably aren't aware that they can now pick up trips in open time at any time in the month using TTOT. I've flown with a few really sharp captains who have taken the time to learn the new system and taken advantage of litesabre, and are improving their schedule. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered by the guys who literally have no clue about the new systems, and our contract. Hell, there are guys still printing the release!