Time to Fly…
Ready to go now? Bags packed with a valid leave chit? Great! Now use that contact list you’ve been building and send an email to every terminal within driving distance of your departure location. You may end up driving several hours and using long term parking on base (free) to get to your desired destination. Send your information to any possible departure point in case a flight pops up that you can use!! The sooner you sign up, the higher up on the list within your category your name is. This means that in a seat scramble, you would be chosen before a family that signed up later. Make sure the email is recorded in your phone, or better yet, print it out with the time, date, and list of recipients just in case. When you have proof that you sent the email, they will retro-actively add you to the list. Some bases (very few places) use the date your leave chit began as the criteria for placement on the sign up list. So, if you are on your way home after a trip, you get priority over a person in your category that is just starting leave.
Now comes the gamble. Do you drive four hours away, get a hotel room on base for a night, and try for a flight with only 10 seats or do you wait it out for a flight that is more convenient? Not sure? Then ask yourself how much you really want to get there. Could you drive all that way and not make it on the flight? Sure. Just make the best decision you can with the information you have at the time. Before you get on any flight, make sure you have sufficient funds to pony up for a commercial return ticket at full price just in case
It is also wise to have extra money to stay a few extra nights in a hotel or for a rental car if you have to return to a base that is not where you left from. This is where the ability to remain flexible really comes into play. How can you use a posted flight in conjunction with public transit to get where you want to go? Is there a bus line, rental car, Amtrack or commuter train that can help you to make a connection or reach your destination? Think creatively – and remember this is an adventure.
And don’t forget to check in before roll call time to have yourself marked as “Present”!
The Real Deal…
The trip we just went on has not been without it’s hiccups, but with some ingenuity we were able to turn it into an adventure.
We began our leave in Norfolk, Virginia. As soon as my husband went on leave we immediately used the e-mail sign up to get on the list on every passenger terminal that flies Space-A within a 4 hour driving radius of our home. Two days later a flight out of Andrews Air Force base in Maryland popped up. Three hours in the car then check in at the counter.
The time listed as “Roll Call” is when the presence of passengers already on the list is verified. If you arrive after roll call is completed you may still be able to get on the flight but you will be selected after anyone else who was present at roll call, even if they are listed as a lower category than you. My advice is to plan on arriving early!
As soon as the flight is at cruise altitude you may roam the cabin at will. Use the facilities, spread out your blanket and have a family picnic followed by nap time. Dress yourself and your children warmly! Temperatures can vary from aircraft to aircraft, but some flights can be very cold. You can always strip off your layers if you’re lucky to get a warm flight but a cold flight in shorts and a t-shirt can be downright miserable!
After reaching your destination immediately put yourself on the list of that terminal and any other you would consider taking a return flight out of (if you didn’t do this already, if you have then verify that you are on the list just in case) and proceed about your trip. Remember to keep track of flights leaving the area just like you did to get here. You may need to cut your trip short by a few days in order to get back home easily, leaving with some leave days left helps the trip to be less stressful as well.
When we travel Space-A we try to have a “what will be, will be” attitude. We work on today’s problems today and leave tomorrows problems to solve tomorrow. I was amazed at how much more fun we had on vacation when I wasn’t continuously worrying about “the schedule”.
For example: After staying most of our current trip with a relative we relocated to the IHG Hotel the Evergreen Inn on the McChord Air Force Base to be available for any flight back to the east coast. The hotel room was very comfortable, clean and nice. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and even placed a roll away bed in our sitting room so that we had extra space for the kids to sleep.
After visiting the terminal to find that the possible flight scheduled for that day would not work out for us we went back to the hotel to see what activities were going on around base. While I was using the wifi in the lobby to post an article and a giveaway to the Cre8TiveTogether.com site, my husband looked around the base MWR web page for things to do. The base just happened to have a meet the SeaHawks day scheduled, our favorite team! We would get to meet the SeaHawks and see the Lombardi Trophy in a hangar that was just across the street from our hotel. Score!
We spent the rest of the day wandering around the base, eating at the food court and window-shopping for furniture. A quick trip to the commissary for a few necessities to make sandwiches for a possible flight out the next day and some things for dinner, and we were on our way to see the Super Bowl winners. We took pictures with the SeaGals, and played with giant head photo props. The kids had a great time and so did we.
That evening we met a group of Australian Air Force guys here for a training program. We swapped food and stories, making new friends and had a great time! As it turns out we spent the next evening visiting with them as well.
When a flight that we could hop came through we spend some down time in the terminal at the USO building enjoying sandwiches, snacks, (Coffee!! A Must Have in my morning) and chatting with the volunteers – who loaded us up with snacks for the coming flight.
We were able to travel to and from our destination and had an adventure in the middle – Savings of $4,000.00 and some priceless memories thrown on top like a cherry.
It’s been fun, we’ll definitely be back for more…
References:
www.AMC.af.mil/AmcTravel/, www.Space-A.net, www.SierraNevadaMoa.org/SpaceA.html, www.AirTermNorVa.navy.mil, www.Nellis.af.mil/units/space-atravel/
Facebook Pages: Spacea.net, SeaTac AMC Passenger Terminal, Naval Air Station Oceana, NAS Fort Worth JRB, NAS Whidbey Island Air Terminal, Ramstein Passenger Terminal NASNI Air Terminal, March Air Reserve Base, NAS Fort Worth JRB, Joint Base Charleston Passenger Terminal, Dover Passenger Terminal, BWI Passenger Terminal, Pope Passenger Terminal, Joint Base Andrews Passenger Terminal, Joint Base Lewis-McChord Passenger Terminal.
