We have very different experiences, I have never failed to hold a summer week regardless of seniority. I held a summer week with both my primary and secondary vacation this year. I have often also been able to move other vacations to the summer via move ups.
August schedules are released. I looked at 8 random categories. I did not find one single day in Aug where a APD or IVD would not be granted and most of the time a PD would work. That’s very different from what your trying to portray. Again not one single day in 8 categories for a IVD or APD.

Edit: This post just in from the man who states you can’t drop trips for more time off in the summer!
Originally Posted by notEnuf View Post
Maybe we should eliminate the GS trigger. I'm sitting at 65 hours after dropping a trip. Ain't no way, unless...

The 20th hasn't happened, so that won't hold true for everyone on the list. In how many of your data points is there room enough to accommodate more than a small percentage of the list exercising this magical APD? The privilege of using your once-a-year-only, unpaid APD in a single month of the summer doesn't scream schedule influence to me. Of course I know you and I rarely see eye to eye.

There was plenty of room and in many if not more than half the time a PD would work. That’s a far cry from impossible to drop a summer trip.

In my 5 years I've never been awarded a summer vacation. Closest I've ever gotten was late Sept. Then again I usually lose a day of vacation (due to deployments) and the associated screwjob that goes with not getting to bid two weeks (this needs addressed). Worse yet, two of the years I just got what was left over since I missed bidding while deployed...never was awarded a move-up, after they arbitrarily gave me the coveted mid Feb vacation. One year they did give me an October vacation...funny enough, never a summer week.


I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying. That said, as a habitual trip dropper, I've found looking at reserves avail after the first PCS is a more indicative of how it will look. Often going into the first PCS it all looks good, only for many in the bottom half to have drops/APD/etc.. denied because those numbers went black before getting to them. Long trips in my category make it tougher, but I've generally been able to make it work, many times at the last minute. Then again, supposedly I'm in a massively overstaffed category that may see a big displacement soon. With APDs/IVDs only making up 3 moves, the PD is where it really matters.

Half of the days does not mean that half of the time a trip will drop. Many categories have a predominance of their trips as four and five day trips. Only a single one of those days being black inhibits the PD. As you know.

Senior bidders taking summer vacation?

Must be a gs play. L.o.l.

Those will all change before the 20th is done. Now my category has 3 black days and they are 2 Saturdays and a Sunday. My bid package has 76% of the hours in 5 day or greater trips, of those 95% touch a Saturday or Sunday. We use to have 18 hour 3 days and turns, not any more, and this is the second summer with domestic and international mixed which tanks the international and domestic quality. No matter your previous preference, now half your trip will be what you never thought you'd do. BTW, how long is your "summer?" I'm talking about June, July and August.

Authorized leave was not vacation. They were days negotiated as compensation for lost holidays during the year.

So yes, they were a sort of holiday pay. Not even close to vacation.

Denny

We will look on the 20th. I bet most categories will have the ability to APD or IVD and still chances to PD.

APD and IVD perhaps but APD is unpaid and IVD is essentially unpaid because you are just shorting yourself later. If your intent is to drop to adjust your schedule these tools are a waste. Both APD and IVD days can't be used to pick up so you have to be stategic with using a single APD day which makes the other 3 APD days useless. IVD days are paid at vacation day value making them worth less than a trip of equal length and you lose pay and time off during your real vacation.