Space A Travel

This post is for all you fortunate military members, dependents and retirees.

Space A is a wonderful, yet not widely used, benefit of serving in the US military. The majority of people I have met while on our Space A adventures were retirees. Maybe that's because they have more time on there hands? I don't know. All I know is that if you can, if you have the time to be flexible, fly Space A.

First and foremost, purchase one of these Military Living Space A books.

They are around $20 and can be purchased at any AAFES PX/BX. They are a very helpful tool to use. Note though, not everything posted in the book about the various terminals are up to date. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. call and verify your information before planning on something. My 2 daughters and I showed up at North Island NAS, after taking a red eye into San Diego, thinking that the passenger terminal was open 24 hrs. It is not. Show time wasn't until 8am. We ended up forking out $80 to "sleep" (I use that term loosely because I didn't do too much of that) at the military lodging on the base for 5 hours. ALWAYS verify your information!

Second, PACK LIGHT! I'm not joking. Pack only what is necessary. There is a two fold reason for this. First, some aircraft has weight restrictions. Those weight restrictions include ALL of your luggage. Checked, carry on, packed food, etc. One plane we flew on had a weight restriction of 25 lbs per passenger. They are NOT FLEXIBLE on this restriction. If you are traveling with multiple people you can spread that 25 lbs per person out between the group, but it still must average out to NO MORE than 25 lbs per person. For example: if you and your 3 dependents are flying, you each have a 25 lbs weight limit. So all of you luggage combined must not exceed 100 lbs (25 lbs x 4 people = 100 lbs).

Secondly, not all places you land at have transportation readily available. You may be WALKING, and LUGGING ALL OF YOUR LUGGAGE, for quite a distance to the nearest place to catch a cab/bus/whatever. You do not want to be lugging 100 lbs of luggage for half a mile, let alone 1 mile!

Everything we took to Hawaii for 1 month
for 1 adult, a 4 yr old and 18 month old

Al rolled up nice and tight

What to pack?

Not too much clothes! You can wear pants/shorts at the very least 2 times before washing them! Shirts not so much, so find ones that aren't huge. Ones that can roll up nice and small. You only need 1, maybe 2 shoes You must wear closed toe, closed heel shoes (think boots or tennis shoes) for the flight. Then if going some place tropical/warm a pair of sandals. That's really all you'd need.

Pack a jacket or light blanket because it can get COLD up in the sky and you are not guaranteed a blanket.

Pack snacks for the flight! PACK SNACKS FOR THE FLIGHT! Sometimes you can purchase a meal at the departure terminal, sometimes not. Don't count on food being readily available. There is usually no meal or drink service in flight. You must bring your own!

Pack earphones (especially for little ones). They give you tiny ear plugs, but those don't work well for small kids. Instead, I pack our own hearing protection (see the photo below). You can buy them at pretty much any hardware store. It can get VERY loud on the plane, especially the cargo ones!

If it's a long flight, back some kind of entertainment, or something to knock you out. It can get boring REAL QUICK, especially for little ones. I pack Benedryl as a last resort emergency for little ones who are super tired and crabby, but won't sleep. I've NEVER had to use it, but it's there just in case. 

What type of plane will you fly on?

It could be super nice like this:

 Or it could be something more like this:

 Either way it's a free flight for you:)

Who can fly?

Any currently serving active US military member, their dependents and US military retirees who have a valid ID card. Service member dependents must fly WITH their military sponsor, UNLESS the sponsor is deployed for over 120 consecutive days, or you and your sponsor are stationed OCONUS. You must have a command sponsored letter stating travel eligibility if you wish to Space A without your sponsor. There are only 2 ways to get that:

Dependents stationed OCONUS you are only allowed to travel between your duty station and 1 destination within the continental US. You may be manifested to 1, 1 destination only. So for example: Say you are stationed in Hawaii and want to go to New York. You may only fly from Hawaii to one place stateside. If you fly from Hawaii to Travis, CA you must then buy commercial tickets to New York, If you fly from Hawaii to McGuire, NJ you must then find a commercial way to New York. You MAY NOT fly from Hawaii to Travis, CA and then try to find a space A flight from Travis to McGuire. If you are manifested (in Hawaii) for a flight from Hawaii to McGuire and the plane stops in Travis, you may continue on to McGuire as long as you were manifested for that destination prior to leaving Hawaii! The same works on the return to Hawaii. you may only fly on a flight that is bound for Hawaii. You may not fly from McGuire to Travis and then try to catch a flight from Travis to Hawaii. It must be a continuous flight to Hawaii. (Which your best bet is Travis, CA...though McGuire, NJ sometimes has them).

For dependents of deployed sponsors, you must have a commander's letter stating deployment status and travel eligibility. This enables all the sponsor's dependents to fly ANYWHERE Space A allows while the sponsor is deployed. Some countries have restrictions on who can Space A (i.e. active duty soldiers stationed there). Make sure if you wish to fly internationally that you have a passport! Also, make sure you have ID cards for EVERY dependent traveling. You must show a proof of ID for even dependents under the age of 10 (though 10 yrs old is when dependents receive their ID cards). I learned this while trying to fly back from Hawaii. Any ID with name and DOB will work. Both my children are under 10 years old. I had a NY Safe Child ID for the 4 yr old, which had her name, DOB and picture. That worked. I did not have an ID for the 19 month old. I had things that had her name, but no DOB. Luckily I was just given a verbal reprimand by the guy behind the counter and allowed to fly. I had my travel letter:) It all depends on the person who is reviewing your documents and the mood he/she is in that day. Don't take a chance, bring some form of ID with name and DOB for ALL dependents!

How does it work?
BE FLEXIBLE! You may sign up for travel at your desired place of departure no more than 60 days before departure. Some places do not allow prior sign up and you must just show up at the appointed show time and hope you make the cut. Active duty members may only sign up for travel the day their leave begins. They have higher priority than those that are able to sign up 60 days out though.

Selection is by category (1-5). Active duty members are the highest categories. Retirees are the lowest. Command sponsored dependents traveling without the sponsor are just above retirees. Then within each category the oldest sign up date is selected first all the way down to the newest sign up date. Each flight has a varied number of seats available (which can be drastically reduced without prior notice). You must arrive at the terminal AND be marked present PRIOR to roll call. So if the roll call show time is at 8am, you must be there AND marked present (all travel documents presented) BEFORE 8am. At roll call they start with category 1 and call out names of people marked present from that category. You acknowledge you are there and go check in. They continue until all the seats are filled, or there are no more people in that category. Then they continue to category 2 and do the same, and so on through all the categories, OR until all the seats are filled, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST! Sometimes you make the cut, sometimes you don't.

Sometimes flights are cancelled at the last minute. Sometimes they choose not to take passengers at the last minute. Sometimes they move show times up at the last minute. Sometimes they move show times back at the last minute. BE FLEXIBLE. Call the terminal's flight information line ahead of time (gives a 72 hour tentative schedule). When in doubt call and speak to a terminal service representative. It can't hurt to ask and verify flight information. I've shown up, after call throughout the day to see if a flight is still listed (which it was), to be told, "That took of an hour ago." "What?! It's on the recording as scheduled for tonight at 21:00.""It's been busy today. I've been meaning to update that." 
BE FLEXIBLE!
Space A is an adventure that makes travel interesting. And it's costs you next to nothing!:) Enjoy the ride and happy travels!

Do you have any Space A stories you'd like to share? Leave me a comment:)