Space a Mac Flights

I wouldn't recommend it if you can avoid it -- there is no guarantee that you will get on any particular flight and could get bumped at the last minute. It could take days to actually get off the ground. The other difficulty is that they really don't accommodate for small children -- no movies or anything else you might get on a commercial flight that's international.
Good luck and have a great trip!

Hi Anika,
I used Space A a few times when I was in the Navy to travel home. The great thing about them is their free the down side is it's a first come first serve basis for instance retired are usually given first priority and sometimes the wait is very long.

Hi Anika,
I am not sure how long the flight to germany will be, but when I was a teenager and we lived in Guam we used that kind of flight to come back to the states for a visit. The waits where long and you could get bumped off the flight and your seat given to someone more important. We had to stay overnight in the airport in Hawii, but all in all it was not to bad. We flew in a C15 in jump seats from Guam to Hawii and then we got in C147 which had the seats above the cargo area like a regular airplane. Younger kids might find it cool, older (like over 10) might find it boring.(Not that they would tell you if it was fun anyway.)

From what I remember, there wasn't much of a wait. There is a list of who gets priority, like active duty on orders, active duty on leave, relatives, students, and retirees. I flew with student status. I went from Hawaii to Guam which was one 10-hr flight with a 3 year old. I don't know if things are much different on the east coast. I would call a number to see if there was a flight that day. If there was, I went to the area where they had you wait. I think I got there in the wee hours of the morning and just waited about 5 hours until the plane was ready to go. They called out the people that they picked to go, which was everyone. It actually wasn't so bad with a child, because they had seats all along the side of the plane and the middle part was for the most part open. My son slept on the floor for a little bit and then other times laid on 3 seats in a row. I remember he did alot of jumping and running, which is more than you can do in a commercial plane.
Coming back was a different story... a typhoon was coming so no flights were going out, and I had to buy a commercial flight back to hawaii. It is a gamble but sometimes really worth it.

HI Anika!

I know many things about space a flights. I used to work at the air terminal when I was serving my preganay tour. I would be happy tohelp you any way that I can. Send me a message and I will respond with all the information possible!!

When we were military we did Space A one time. It is very basic.

We had web seats and were packed in pretty tight. As for the wait, we were lucky in that we got on pretty easy but we could have been almost ready to board and got bumped by active duty personnel, that's the only downside of Space A.

Then again, if you aren't on a tight schedule, you can't beat it for the price. It was only $10 per person for a hop back when we did it, and would have been a couple hundred on a regular flight.

As far as with kids, I don't know about a long flight if they were real young, unless it was like an overnighter and you knew they'd sleep. Older ones you can take stuff to keep them occupied. But - look at most military planes - there aren't windows along the sides, so there's not much looking outside.

Email me private at ____@____.com if you want to get really into this. Also, where in Germany are you going to? I know you're probably flying into Ramstein but where are you ending up at?

Have a great week

R.:)

My husband is in the Navy and what i hear from him is that it is not like a normal plane. It is more like a cargo plane. He said it is very loud The plane is not insulated and you sit in seats against the walls of the plane, the seats are made of nets, so it is not a normal seating with rows. He also said there is a bathroom but it is very compact. It seems to not really be ment for passengers, I am not sure if that is how all mac flights are, but he has been on a few and he always says the same thing. If you do go this route i would suggest hearing protection for your children. I hope this helped some. B.

I wouldn't recommend it. I have waited over 13 hours for a flight and didn't even get on the flight I wanted. I caught the cargo flight home and ended up staying over night in Rota, Spain which ended up costing money. But I've also walked in the door, paid for my ticket and got on a plane almost immediately. And I must say that they use commercial planes for the scheduled flights. You get meals and movies. Pretty nice given that flights are only about $30 a ticket. Just know that it could possibly take forever to get on a plane. They might even make you wait forever and still not get you on a plane. Whatever you decide have fun and enjoy yourselves.

Those flights can be hard to get. If your command doesn't sign off that it is an emergency you are bumped back on the list. You can be waiting for days to get a flight. Emergencies are priority. Everyone else will get bumped. I wouldn't recomment the mac flights in all honesty.