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Strategically Schedule Your PTO to Get 10 Long Weekends in 2024

Here's how to turn your long weekends into luxurious, extra long weekends.
2024 Event planner timetable agenda plan on schedule event. Business woman checking planner on mobile phone, taking note on calendar desk on office table. Calendar event plan, work planning
Credit: TippaPatt / Shutterstock

If you took away one lesson from last year's "quiet quitting" craze, I hope it was this: Do the work you're paid to do, and then go live your life. Whatever your company's policy is when it comes to time off, you deserve to make the most of it. But you need to plan ahead now and secure those vacation dates. Otherwise, long-awaited long weekends have a way of sneaking up and passing you by—just like all those other run-of-the-mill, pitiful two-day weekends. Here are the dates you need to know to stretch your time off using long weekends in 2024.

Federal holidays recognized in 2024

When you’re planning your vacations in the new year, the best way to maximize your time off is to always request days surrounding existing long weekends. And you should mark your calendar now with the major holidays and long weekends in 2024. After all, the earlier in the year you request those adjacent PTO days off, the more likely your request will be approved.

Here’s your complete list of guaranteed or potential long weekends in 2024, as well as what it looks like when you strategically request one PTO day to get a four-day weekend.

  • Monday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day recognized)

    • Take off: Jan. 2 (Tuesday)

  • Monday, Jan. 15 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

    • Take off: Jan. 12 (Friday)

  • Monday, Feb. 19 (President’s Day)

    • Take off: Feb. 16 (Friday)

  • Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day)

    • Take off: May 24 (Friday)

  • Thursday, July 4 (Independence Day)

    • Take off: July 5 (Friday)

  • Monday, Sept. 2 (Labor Day)

    • Take off: Aug. 30 (Friday)

  • Monday, Oct. 14 (Indigenous Peoples’ Day)

    • Take off: Oct. 11 (Friday)

  • Monday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day)

    • Take off: Nov. 8 (Friday)

  • Thursday, Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving Day)

    • Take off: Nov. 29 (Friday) (If Friday is already a day off for you, take off the next Monday)

  • Wednesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day)

    • Take off: Dec. 23-Dec. 27 (Monday through Friday), using four days PTO to get nine consecutive days off

Since you’ll be one of many workers looking to take advantage of the vacation dates above, you’ll want to get your PTO approved early. Plus, booking flights and lodging months in advance is one of the easiest ways to save money while traveling.