Yes. REL drops for reserve days are the same as RES drops on a RES line.

And in a few months, if we keep REL lines, we will have no drops on a REL line for reserve days. That was what I meant; opposed to the idea you can Santa Claus your REL line and ask for whatever you want etc

You can ask for whatever you want. I also bid for lines that I probably won’t get. I’m not under the impression that just because I ask I’m owed. You can’t get what you don’t ask for.

Not even the one time a year?

That would be a mandatory float vacation request, not a drop per se but yes you will still be able to do that

Really? Well let’s see...

Let’s say there is a fictitious captain in DFW...lets call him Captain Crunch. Captain Crunch has been a captain there for...um let’s say 5 years. Okay Captain Crunch is starting his 4 day pairing let’s listen in.... “Hey FO Skydrol my name is Captain Crunch nice to meet you... ....so you live here or do you commute?” (Commonly the second thing the two crew members ask each other when they are starting a paring together and break up the awkward silence as they are going about their cockpit routines)

Okay let’s suppose that Captain Crunch is done with his 4 day pairing...like most other captains he probably had his schedule modified a bit a probably won’t fly with that same FO again for months or even years. So at this rate we could assume that captain crunch had flown with about 50 different guys within the last year. Did I mention that he had been a Captain here for 5 years?? Sure some guys like FO Skydrol has moved on and upgraded and some guys like FO Skidmarks has moved on to places like Delta, but Captain Crunch could probably go down the entire list of FO’s he has flown with (or talked to in passing) and tell you if they live in DFW or commute from Alaska, Japan or maybe even Orlando. And I’m willing to bet that Captin Crunch isn’t the only one.... just my theory anyways.

Not entirely accurate. This month is a perfect example for me. I requested one block of R days, min 4 days off between pairings, and a specific pairing and was awarded everything I asked for. I am not saying this is the norm, but to say it doesn't happen is ingenuous. Straight from DT, all relief line requests are considered in seniority order. I usually request min R days and specific R periods. So far, I haven't been too unhappy with what I've been awarded. I am hoping for that month where they forget to award me anything on my relief line. It would be nice to have a 30 day paid vacation.

How I was told to put in requests for REL lines and has seemed to work. And, as others have noted, you can drop reserve days.

Is it possible to bid reserve and last out, so you never fly when you get senior, or do they work all the reserves like Southwest does?

Depends on the month the base and seat. The answer is yes

It is assigned by reserve days remaining to match the trip length, first day of trip must be legal for your reserve period, and then by junior to senior. The old contract they assigned it by whoever has the least block time. The senior guys love that change.