The reason for only 5 choices? Odds are you will only get 2-3 if that. The system will fill around awarded trips satisfying the company rules of min consecutive days off, max E/W, max consecutive late duties and to justify the mysterious FRMS system purchased. Quite obvious there is too few pilots to cover the commercial schedule. The only way for the company to cover the flying as best as possible is to not give any awards and just let the optimizer run without obstructions (pilot's lifestyle).
Hello Today Good-bye Tomorrow