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Sure, I completely understand what you're talking about. You guys are talking this specific year, and I am considering generalities of any year. It would be much more beneficial to start this at the beginning of the year that you had vacation. It really is similar to what the OP is saying, except he is saying to pick up lost trips in vacation makeup, and I'm suggesting to pick up trips in regular makeup (except of course, you lose any priority).

For example, if you use his method to knock out large blocks of trips in vacation, go way over your bank, but yet still fly a vacation month (ie fly one 7 day trip)....do that for your 3-4 vacation periods over the year, that particular year could be comparatively higher than average. The next year would be very low. I don't see the negative in doing that, unless you knew you couldn't live with a low year. And most people can't, but some of us can.

 

The way I read it, make-up vacation has the lowest priority (of the make-ups). Are you saying you lose priority using regular make-up?

Order Open time is assigned-

ii. Make-up:
(a) CMU
(b) M/U
(c) MUS (includes both MUS and MUD)
(d) MUV;

 

What I was trying to say, was that the OP was showing how you can use vacation makeup in the view/add window, giving you priority. Which, since you can cherry pick trips before they release them, gives you priority over regular makeup in open time assignment. My airplane, there is zilch in open time anyways, but one never knows if that will change next year.