NuthnFlashy

FO bidding about 45% with 8 day Vacation in March but want to get the MOST days off for the month (especially weekdays for house project and keeping an eye on the construction) ... so which one ...

• Bid a line that conflicts best I can and hope to drop the remaining weekdays and fly weekends?

• Bid secondary ... SLG is TOTALLY new to me and I dont want to mess it up, but would it meet the goal?

• Bid B RSV and expand and try to drop weekday R-Days? Is there someplace you can put in Reserve preferences to input Weekends?

I have just bid RSV in the past ... but some guys say a line is better. Otheres say the new SLG is pretty good.


Guidance please ....

Adlerdriver

Obviously equipment and trips are going to be a driving factor. What a/c are you on?

Personally, I'd bid lines that allow you to get max days off using your vacation first. Those are no-brainers with limited pitfalls. Just scrub the bid pack and find your best options. After that, you have to decide if you want to gamble.

The secondary line option can allow you to increase your vacation days/hours applied to your schedule. You do this during the view/add. But, it's a request and may not be approved. You can ask for up to 12 days total in a 4-week bid month. That would give you 72 CH which, when combined with a min BLG request might give you the whole month off. But, they could say "no" and build you a max BLG line on top of your existing 48 hours which probably wouldn't meet your goals.

Reserve extension is also a sure thing and would leave you with (I think) 4 R-days for the month.

HoursHore

If you extend vacation to 11 days, you’d owe 4 rdays with 48 ish hours of leveling. Keep your r days at the beginning of the month and you probably won’t turn a wheel.

busdriver12

Thought you got leveling for vacation days, no matter when your vacation was placed?

FlyBoyd

You do....but everyone else has leveling at the end of the month so it isn’t as effective keeping you at the bottom of the list.

busdriver12

Ah, I understand.

RT1Spitfire

I’ve got the opposite “problem”... I’ve got 7 days of vacation in March and I’d like to max my CH ($$) for the month. I’m junior so I’m not able to hold a week long pairing.

I think my best option is to bid a secondary line, request to use 42 CH toward my BLG, and then pick up OT trips to plus up my remaining BLG. But I’m not sure if scheduling will award me all 42 CH (isn’t it just a “request”) Thoughts??


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RT1Spitfire

I have a different “problem”... I’m an Airbus F/O looking to make max CH ($$) in March with 7 days of vacation. I’m not senior enough to hold week long pairings (to cover with my vacation footprint), so I’m thinking I should bid a secondary line and request 42 CH to be applied toward BLG and add OT trips to plus up my remaining BLG and fly a normal months worth of trips. But I’m concerned that scheduling won’t give me all 42 CH since it’s only a request. Thoughts / ideas?

Raptor

If you do NOT want to take vacation and truly max pay, you can bid a secondary line. Then (need to pay attention to the times to do this) you can request to reduce your vacation to zero CH. Then you can request to shrink or eliminate your vacation footprint. Ensure you stay below max buy back of your vacation and you’ll get paid your vacation hours left over at the end of the year.

You can also do variations of the above. If you want a few days protected off, but want to max BLG the rest of the month, reduce your vacation hours to zero. Then leave your vacation foot print where you want days off. You will get a full BLG for your other 3 weeks.

This is all predicated on the “request” to add or delete vacation hours as a secondary line holder. You aren’t guaranteed the company will approve your request.

Adlerdriver

You may have this and I'm just reading too much into your post but I'll clarify anyway:
You don't need to "cover" a week long pairing in order to knock that trip out with vacation - the vacation footprint just needs to touch it. There's also sliding and expanding (for lineholders) vacation which gives you added flexibility to knock out more trips. I'm not smart on the vacation expansion option for lineholders - maybe someone who is can offer you some advice.

Just so you're clear on the above, if you do nothing other than bid a secondary line with your vacation, this is exactly what will happen. You have a 7-day vacation in March worth 42 CH. That's not subject to a request. If you bid a secondary, they HAVE to pay you for those hours. The planners will start with the 42 vacation CH already in your line and add trips from that point until your monthly CHs are within the min/max secondary range for BLG while avoiding your vacation footprint. It's about as basic as our vacation gets. You get paid for each vacation day, no more-no less, get the balance of that month's BLG in trips and get 7 specific extra days off that month.

The "request" to which you refer regarding vacation hours is to increase or decrease the amount of vacation CHs applied to one's secondary. You can request up to 5 more vacation days (12 max in a 4-week month) for a total of 72 CH from vacation in your secondary. That just means more pay from vacation, less from trips in your secondary and more days off that month.

Maybe you can clarify what you mean by "making max CH ($$) in March with 7 days of vacation". Do you mean having as much March pay come from your vacation bank as possible? or The biggest paycheck possible for March specifically with no concern for any days off, vacation or otherwise?