Our 1st SpaceA Adventure? Charleston, SC to Hawaii

Molokai

 We have registered to fly from Charleston, SC, Air Force Base and several other installations on the East coast within about a 5-6 hour driving time from our home. We've only been on the list for about one week which probably will not put us in very good standing to get on the plane UNLESS it's a slow travel time and there are not more than 53 people who want to go. Last night this screen was posted. I got excited because it looked like it was going through to Yokota, Japan. When we called Charleston this morning, the passenger service rep said we could only be manifested through to Hawaii for final destination and would have to complete for seats to Yokota. Since this is our first Space A adventure, we'll be happy if we can get to Hawaii. Trying to compete for seats to Yokota might be more than we are up for on our first Space A adventure.

We have reserved a car for pickup at Hickham AFB. We're hoping to get a last minute opening or cancellation at one of the military facilities - Army, Navy or Air Force. Rates are fantastic compared to the norm in Honolulu. We could also try to find a place with Airbnb. Time will tell.

I'd like to fly to the island of Molokai for a day. In grade school I read about Fr. Damien and the leper colony.  If you've never heard of Fr. Daminen, check this article from EWTN Blessed Damien.

 Here's Part 1 of a movie about Fr. Damien. There are other parts of this movie on youtube.


  
I would like to visit Kalaupapa National Historical Park. There is an option to hike there which would be great.
 
Traveling Space A is never a guarantee and you are encouraged to have Plan B and Plan C or whatever ... "flying by the seat of your pants."  For our first adventure, I'm trying to keep it simple because Stoney prefers organized. So, Plan B consists of remaining in Charleston, SC for the day. We might take a walking tour with Two Sisters Historic Walking or Charleston Footprints. We could sample some of Charleston's delicacies with the  Charleston Culinary Tours.

Perhaps the next day we'll drive to Beaufort, SC.  It's about 1 1/2 hours south of Charleston.
Again, because Stoney functions best with activity and I enjoy walking as well, Janet's Walking History Tour.  

We enjoy staying at Bed and Breakfast places. A night here looks to be lovely The Rhett House Inn.


“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”  ~ Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

 

Space A E-Mail Sign Up

We have made our intentions to travel known ... Woohoo!!!!  Because we are retired and our category (Cat 6) will be the last selected to board a plane if seats are available, it has been recommended from those with experience to sign up via e-mail at the places you wish to depart from that frequently fly to the place you desire to go. That puts our names on the respective Space A lists at each place with the date and time we sent the email. Our names will remain on the lists for 60 days from date of sign up except for some Navy bases which only keep the sign ups for 45 days (have to check to see which ones). Then we begin a count down of sorts. 

Our chances of being selected for a Space A seat could be enchanced by waiting 40-50 days before going to a passenger terminal to mark ourselves present for a flight. If there are lots of CAT 6 hopefuls, we may be higher up on the list because we have been waiting 40-50 days. Sometimes it doesn't matter about date and time of sign up because there may be lots of available seats and everyone gets on. Other times there may be only 10 seats released -- that's when the importance of date and time of sign up can help. However, we would still only travel if those10 seats were not filled by the other 5 categories ahead of us.

There are no SET schedules anywhere unless you hope to travel via the Patriot Express (PE) which are commercial airplanes flying specific routes transporting active duty military and their families. Depending on the time of year, it may be possible for CAT 6 travelers to get a seat. It would be great to fly from Seattle/Tacoma to Japan this way. 

So now we watch the facebook pages for the military terminals we'd like to depart from going somewhere closer to our desired destination. Schedules are only shown 72 hours in advance of departures. A flight may appear on a facebook page, we could travel by car to our hoped for departing terminal, we could be marked present to compete for a seat on that plane. Our car has been parked in long term parking. We might even be selected to board and then have to get off the plane for one reason or another -- the plane has a problem, the mission has changed, or any number of reasons. There are NO GUARANTEES with Space A. My stomach is churning a little just thinking about this scenario. So we need to have Plan B and Plan C and roll with whatever ... I hope we can live with one another and roll ...time will tell.

So where might we drive to get on a plane? Charleston, SC; Jacksonville, FL; Birmingham, AL; Jackson, MS; Memphis, TN; Tampa, FL; Knoxville, TN.  

What might we fly on?  Check it out.

What Is Space A?

Space Available Flight, more commonly referred to as Space-A travel or military hops, is a privilege afforded to military service members, their families, and service retirees. The system accommodates these passengers by letting them fill seats on Air Force air transport flights that would otherwise be left empty. The seats are made available on a space-available basis.  Unused seats on DoD owned or controlled aircraft are made available once all the space-required (duty) passengers and cargo have been accommodated. 

Space-A travelers may sign up for travel 60-days in advance of the desired travel date. Passengers are categorized by priority of travel and are processed in priority order by their sign-in time (Julian date). For leisure travel, Reservists are placed in category VI, which is a rather low priority. (Official duty passengers have priority over Space-A travelers.) 

Space-A seats are provided according to certain criteria. Eligible passengers on a military aircraft are ranked in order of priority according to the purpose of their travel. Families may choose to use Space-A travel to go on a vacation during a family member's military leave. They may use Space-A for general transportation as well, such as to visit family or friends or for other private reasons. But the most urgent -- and therefore highest-priority -- situations involve military service members or other related individuals traveling on emergency leave, such as to visit a family member with life-threatening health problems. Individuals or entire families can be accommodated, although smaller parties usually have an easier time securing seats on Space-A aircraft.

There is no charge for personnel traveling in government owned aircraft. However, if a Space-A flight is made on a commercial contract carrier, a fee will be assessed - the fee varys (approximately $15-30) depending on the port. There is also a fee for meals served aboard military aircraft 

Space required passengers or cargo may require the removal of Space A passengers at any point. If removed en route, you may reregister with your original date and time of registration. Passenger Service will assign a new date and time to any country or destination you change or add on your application. 

This is not us but gives an example of how we might travel

When Stoney was active duty, we caught a Space A flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Dover, Delaware. Our boys were very young and it is was quite an experience to fly on a C5-A. Now that we are retired, footloose and fancy free, we're going to give this mode of transportation another go. 

We have sleeping bags and mats and we plan to travel with small backpacks for our carry-ons and small roller bags that will carry less than 30 lbs. I think we are authorized 70 lbs. of luggage on these bigger planes. If we travel with 30 lbs. or less, we could catch a flight on a much smaller planes. So we plan to be ready (just in case). We could fly to Europe in one of these. (Notice the people stretched out on the floor sleeping).


Below is a C17 Globemaster cargo jet.  They can be very noisy and cold; earplugs and blankets might be issued. You can see there is lots of legroom and supposedly you can jog around the cargo area, and visit the cockpit. Right up Stoney's alley.

This is not a picture of us either; just another example of how we may travel.

Most likely we'll begin with trying to catch a flight to California and see how we fare. Not sure our personalities will mesh with flying this way but we'll give it a go a time or two.

We could go to places all over the United States from the East Coast to the West. Flights go to Germany, Spain, Crete, Azores, Italy, England, Ireland, Hawaii, Alaska, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and other places. Adventure awaits ......

Prayer for Travel

O Almighty and merciful God, you have commissioned your angels to guide and protect us.  Command them to be our attentive companions from our setting out until our return; to clothe us with their invisible protection; to keep from us all danger of collision, of fire, of explosion, of fall and bruises, and finally, having preserved us from all evil,  to guide us to our heavenly home. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.