[QUOTE=NuGuy;1576697][QUOTE=daldude;1576544]

This, but don't forget DOH isn't a good measure. A guy in the 9000s may have 15 years in, but the guy one number senior might have 13 years.

Junior MD Cap in NYC went down to 8200 something on this last bid, if I recall. 717 A is still relatively senior, even in DTW.

Nu[

Yes before I said 6 more years I checked on the most jr capt at delta. It will take six more years to reach that number. And you are correct the pilot 1 number jr to me was hired 2 years prior to me. So he is looking at 22 years to bid the lowest capt position at Delta.

Fellow dudes and dudettes…I know that it has been bantered around on here but would like some info, again. Looking at taking the wifey-pooh and three kiddos (14B, 11G, 8G) to a good all inclusive…preferably one that gives us a good deal. Going to look at PUJ and a few others. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, need to factor in non-reving….several flights a day would be nice…thanks in advance…DW

Just that it's another 787 with battery issues! :eek::D

What everyone else said. Just a quick recap:

PB days in the bank can be used in the current calendar year with the concurrence of the pilot and the company -> basically if there is adequate RSV coverage (Required > Available) then you can place a PB day anywhere you want.

If you don't use your PB days by the end of the calendar year, they automatically become Supplemental vacation days, which you can attach to your awarded weeks during annual vacation bidding in January/February next year. The rules for these are the same as for VAC days that you buy from the Bank. This is the CHEAPEST way (for the company) for you to "redeem" your PB days, as they are worth the value of a vacation day (3:45.) There are a couple of reasons you might want to let them roll over, but generally it's best to use them in a month when you are a REG pilot.

To use a PB day, go to iCrew -> PCS -> Leave Requests -> Payback Days

As mentioned by several others, the most EXPENSIVE way (for the company) for you to "redeem" a PB day is to use it to drop a high value 1-day trip. You are then paid the value of that trip, but in no case would it be less than 5:15. A PCS ninja with some (good) seniority might be able to use a PB day to drop a dinner-and-a-movie trip worth 9-ish hours <--- Much better than letting it roll over as a VAC day. :D

Other nice uses for PB days are to break up RSV days of availability. A RSV ninja might be inclined to place a PB day on day 3 of 5 (for example) leaving him with a 2 on, 1 off, 2 on stretch where he makes himself less available for assignment to a trip, and will only get at the most a 2-day. This works really nicely in a fat category in a slow month. You can basically turn 1 PB day into a week off...This works the best when guys are ho-ing for 1 and 2-day WS's, leaving the RSV guy at home when he gets down below 3 days of availability <----This probably won't be happening much now that we've "right-sized" our staffing over the past year.

Similar to the above, RSV guys in international categories could use this to make themselves mostly unavailable by breaking their RSV days into chunks just short of the shortest trip that their category flies.

This is possible for RSV pilots because PCS doesn't require any of the usual buffers/days of availability requirements that other X-day movements do.

Each payback day for a RSV pilot is worth the pro-rated portion of the ALV so it's not as valuable as it would be for a REG pilot, but still better than letting it roll as a VAC day @ 3:45/PB.

Still others will save them for a month when they think rolling thunder might be a possibility. It's a bit of a crapshoot, but this might be the most valuable way to use a PB day, since it opens your schedule up to be available for GS's.

Lots of ways to play it. I generally refrain from pointing any of this stuff out if a guy is senior to me, so consider this my public service announcement for the year :p

Fantastic information. Thanks for sharing

I found a pretty sweet deal at the Melia near Luquillo, PR last January. We didn't do the all inclusive but it was available. It was a Priceline Express-Deal, so you'd just have to hunt around, but we got a nice suite-type room for $115/night vs the usual rate of $250+. Really nice property/rooms. Despite our Priceline Hobo status, they offered us the AI at checkin, which I declined because our kiddos are too young to fend for themselves if I were to drink enough to make it worth it. :eek:

I've had really good luck with Puerto Rico - if you get out of San Juan it's fairly reasonable too. SJU is pretty convenient from ATL with plenty of flights, and lots of eZed backups (B6, FL/SWA, AA) when our flights fill up.

At the PUJ layover right now. Awesome place. New, clean and great staff.

Called front desk and asked about Delta rate. She said $75 a night and $50 a day for whole family all inclusive. Sounded too good, so I asked her a couple of different ways.

Hope that helps.

LeineLodge, thanks for typing all that out: Cut, Pasted, and Saved!

That isn't the NH hotel is it? Because I stayed there last month and it wasn't AI If you think that place is nice (sorry, I wasn't wowed), you should have seen the place we were staying just over a year ago. At NH, I paid $15 to go to the AI next door--that too was a bit of a let down compared to the AI I got the first time I went there on a SC trip.

Maybe crew accommodations is just giving the MadDog guys the NH hotel while all others get a nice AI.

I agree, they may not have said it specifically, but from what I remember, they were suggesting that if we ratify the contract, we would be hiring by the end of the year and everything would start moving upwards....oh and don't worry about the 3rd and 4th year 3% pay raises, another merger or the new FTDT regs are going to give us the leverage to negotiate a new contract WAY before those pay raises take effect.

I felt like a chump then, I felt like a chump Jan 1, 2014, and I will feel like a used prom date on Jan 1, 2015 when my date stops returning my calls.

We have been used, in the name of proactive engagement, and our phone calls are already being ignored. They are making billions and we have served our purpose through sacrifice...now we are going to have to fight, tooth and nail, for every future gains we achieve.

E