You guys all know the first rule of fight club - right?

Well my first rule of bidding via PBS for both a reserve and Line holding month is to bid the last day of the bid period off.

Sometimes I might request a specific trip over the transition, but very very rarely.

Too many "bad things" can and do happen to guys every month at this time.

Obviously some guys will not get these days off, but if you are senior enough to hold it off it might not be a bad bidding strategy.

Scoop

well......even being senior enough to 'hold' the last day of the bid period off isnt enough.

always bid 'avoid carryovers greater than zero'....

Another great education for this new guy. Thanks folks! Hard Knocks University graduate level classes continue on.

What the guys above said. ALWAYS end your reserve month with a day off and hope not to get rerouted into the day off.

Think of it this way. When you look at your reserve month, you are on call everyday there is NOT something next to a date like XX or ** or training etc. On a regular month you are off unless there is a trip next to it. However, going from reserve to regular month, scheduling looks at the regular month with nothing next to them as available days to finish up any reserve month carryouts. Also, on a regular month, this is how they are able to inverse assign.

Not an expert so anyone else please weigh in, but that's the way it was explained to me when I complained about the same thing.

Ferd

I'm learning now what you mean by this. They have me shortcall until midnight. 6 reserves in base tomorrow all other bases with over 12 per base. No open time in base at all. I keep calling and they keep proudly declaring that they can "fly me into my regular line". I really can't believe this is allowed without some sort of premium pay or return of days off lost. Well, now I know what to avoid!

If I fly a 3-day GS over a period of X days, are the 3 X days automatically applied to my next three on call days? Are there circumstances where this would be denied?

I've read about payback days being denied and put into a bank. Is a payback day what I just described above? If so, what circumstances lead to the denial of payback days. I can't find the term payback day in the contract.

You would get banked PB days if you don't have any more on-call days for the month. There are all kinds of theories on how best to use them, but they all need to have reserve coverage. If at the end of the year, you still can't use them, they become vacation days.

The Scheduling Reference Handbook is the textbook for learning how to use banked PB days. Look in it about page 104.

If you have future on call days in a month after you get a GS, crew scheduling is contractually liable to roll your PB days to start on the first day on call you have after completing the GS. They cannot just arbitrarily move them to later or put them in your PB day bank.

Denny

Thanks for the answers dragon and Denny. It is valuable knowledge prior to June bidding.

No problem. I remain in awe of Denny's use of PB days from last summer or was it the summer before. Good Luck!