Senior FOs. CKA bidding and getting all/most of the month bought. Out of base VDAs pay VDA for the trip PLUS paper VDA between home base and VDA base. So a 2 day LGB trip to the East coast and back (usually DH back btw) would credit around 12 hours. Add the 12 hours of paper VDA between BOS and LGB/LAX and back which is another 12 hours. So for 1 leg, you're getting 24 hours of VDA pay. An average trip like this was between 48-52 hours of pay. A day trip would be 33-38 hours. The credit adds up. Quickly.

Thanks for clarifying. Def played the system well.

Good work if you can get it.

Yep. Funny thing is, while the FOs were senior, their overall seniority wasn't uber-senior. One was mid 400s, other low 600s. As someone mentioned here, the 400s guy was a LGB CA before downgrading 6 years ago. He made more money and had more time off and schedule flexibility as the FO than he did when he was CA. Even dealing with a Transcon commute to BOS.

There's money and QOL to be had at all seniority levels. Some better than others, obviously but you need to be creative and know your work rules and how to exploit them to your benefit.