...and therefore not too many years of life after retirement.

Is there anything special about having 7 days left, as opposed to a fewer number, after the last vac bid?

You'll get assigned a VAC week in the 5th pass!

If a pilot fails to submit a bid, or submits an insufficient number of bids, he shall be assigned a vacation period(s) when the fourth vacation bid awards are published.

Enjoy your February vacation!

The vac bid system is not supposed to accept a bid that leaves less than 7 days in your bank, for the next bid. But, since there is no bid after the 4th...I'm not sure if it will allow you to leave less than 7 or not.

I just noticed that there is a pretty good explanation in the vacation tab on PFC. A bid that leaves less than 7 days after the last round is not considered a valid bid.

I've failed VAC bidding before and gotten a Jan VAC on the 5th pass!

For the last couple years, I've left 7 days after the 4th bid to get the 5th vacation, on purpose. The question is...Can you leave less than 7 days after the 4th bid. Technically, there is no 5th bid. It's just assigned.

Busboy: the answer is no. If your 4th bid leaves less than 7 days of vac, then the 4th bid is considered an invalid bid and you won't get an award on the 4th pass.

Okay, vacation experts, I don't think I saw this question addressed yet. I looked in the contract, and it appears to me that if you go negative in your vacation bank at the end of the year, instead of taking it out of your pay, your vacation bank for the next year will be reduced by that much. Is that correct? I don't recall going negative before.

So if you wanted to make this years pay higher, you could go way negative into your vacation bank, and if you don't desire to work a lot, you don't have to make it up this year, but you either make it up or deal with the deficit next year. Is that correct? Seems like a painless way for guys trying to make a high five year without working extra (obviously I'm not talking 777s here, us regular lower paid folk).