JoePatroni

Scheduling wiil move vacation days for you if you like, you can’t move them back to a day in the past though.

Zenofzin

After your line is awarded call scheduling they will move vacation days to any days off. Be aware you need to bid a high enough line value if you wish to pick up so your PTC is high enough. There is a chart on front of bid packets. Generally 78:45 for 7 day vacation and 83/85 if you have 14 days off.

Duckdude

Yes, I misunderstood. My mistake.

guppie

Thanks Joe and Zen. I had no idea. I've turbo charged my credit time during a vaca month, but always around my vacation week. Do you use the "set line credit range" to make sure you get a high enough PTC?

Zenofzin

Exactly, either low credit and max days off or high credit and then pick up

GoCats67

If you want to keep doing this, that is your call, but you are either giving up the "free" flying during PBS or giving it away when you pick up.

So, if you are going to pick up to max anyway, don't change your bidding strategy and get something you don't want to fly in PBS. Bid whatever you really want and then pick up to your hearts content (using the vacation day move strategy discussed above).

Whether awarded high time in PBS or getting to high time via pickups, you are "giving away" the free time, but if you intend to go for the high time either way, then when you give up the free flying is irrelevant.

If you are trying to maximize your "free time" then you need to pay attention to your bidding in PBS. In the summer months or any month when your BES has high line values, it may be difficult to keep your PTC below MPG, especially with only one week of vacation. But in low line value months or months that you have 2 weeks of vacation. it is usually easy. For instance, this month I have two weeks of vacation and my bid award has 26:45 of PTC, but my MPG is 39:40, so almost 13 hours of "free flying." I am a time off guy, so that was just what I was asking for.

guppie

good stuff. So, set line credit range >= 85:10 in a 31 day, 2 week vacation month for pickups (FEB). Got it. But what do you set for low credit/max days off in a 2 week vacation month?

cadetdrivr

I'd suggest that anybody bidding during a vacation month should download the PTC-MPG-PAY-Calculator Excel spreadsheet from UAL ALPA:

https://www.alpa.org/ual/-/media/UAL...alculator.xlsx

As an example, I am on a global fleet for February with a PBS credit range of 69-80 hours and I have a week of vacation.
Folks can do whatever they want in a vacation month, but they should do so with numbers calculated in advance.

guppie

Thanks cadet. I'm pretty ignorant about PBS. Since we started Jepp, I've been either A. senior enough to bid by the trip, or B. below the G-line. haha. So it's been pretty easy. I can tell you that a RSV line in a 31 day month with 2 weeks vacation pays 86 hours. Just a matter of bidding for days off.

Andy

ALPA miswrote that. I fixed it (bolded portion).

This only applies to forfeiting vacation days to your PRAP or RHA.