The start of 2026 means many employees are seeing their PTO balances refreshed for the year. With some strategic planning, and travel know-how, you can make your vacation days go the extra mile.
One popular strategy, sometimes called “PTO-maxxing” on social media, involves tacking vacation days onto holidays and weekends to maximize your time off. By doing so, you can get around 40 days off by using just 10 to 15 days of PTO this year, some estimates say.
Of course, PTO-maxxing may not work within everyone’s schedules, team needs and employer policies. But every day you can place strategically adds up.
The U.S. has 11 federal holidays this year, several of which fall on Mondays. If you request off the Friday prior or the Tuesday after, you suddenly have a 4-day getaway using just one day of PTO. Likewise, for holidays that fall on Fridays, requesting the Thursday before or the Monday after creates a 4-day vacation.
The extra day can also save you some money if you’re planning on traveling.
