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Chris and Sherri
Senior Member
Username: Csdav
Post Number: 100
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 84.168.153.246
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 03:56 pm: | |
great report; glad that it ended with a bang! Yep, those small planes are pretty cool when you are the only pax! It is nice to hear about someone traveling with children - I always learn something new, every time.
Happy travels. |
Joe Lippo
Advanced Member
Username: Momojoe
Post Number: 46
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 63.24.123.169
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - 04:10 am: | |
AH, the dreaded "Hickam Experience"...I have been there and done that. As far as terminal reps go...they generally know SQUAT about the aircraft or its capabilities, or estimated repair times, or even what aircraft are parked on the ramp! Your #9 needs to go way closer to the top! About Hickam: I've said it before, and I'll say it again...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!! |
Michaela Cannon
Member
Username: Cannon
Post Number: 10
Registered: 05-2006
Posted From: 211.50.61.125
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - 08:01 am: | |
Thank you, thank you, Monica!! I will forever be grateful to you. I'm sooo glad you saw the outcome here, because I was kicking myself for not having gotten your email! I knew you'd be worrying about us. Definitely the best part of Space-A-ing is the support and comraderie of fabulous people like you! Happy Travels!! |
monica coughlin
Intermediate Member
Username: Monicaandgene
Post Number: 12
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 58.88.190.120
| | Posted on Monday, September 04, 2006 - 04:51 am: | |
I am so happy to hear you got home okay. We were one of the one's going to Kadena. We had the two blonde girls. I have been wondering how you made out. What a great way to end your trip. We got one of those flights from the Marine Base on Oki to Osan last Dec. You are right, what an experience. Take care and trust me every trip you will learn something new!! |
william k
Intermediate Member
Username: Ltcbosco
Post Number: 13
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 68.196.116.157
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 03:00 pm: | |
Great information. You hit the nail on the head with your #9. This happened to us on one of the bases.We were on a flight ready to take off-the pilot said they had a problem with some equipment on board. The plane taxied back for repairs.After half hour,the pilot said the flight will be postponed till tomorrow-he asked if we would like come back the next day. I said we will be back.Got a room for the night-roll call was at 0230 next day. We showed up at 0200, the terminal was closed--finally spotted an Airman and told him the story. He said that the flight was pushed back an additional day. That sounded strange,since the pilot said it would take only several hours to replace the broken unit and that would put the crew beyond their 10 hr limit.For that reason the flight was pushed back only 24 hrs instead of the 48 hrs that the airman said. My wife and I sat outside the terminal till 0500
hoping to find an alternate flight. Could not go back to the room-turned in the key. At 0515,the same airman calls me over and said"your flight left" with a -----grin on his face.There were other flight problems that day for a bunch of SF guys and space As trying to get to the west coast. Finally, I approached a gent who was the OIC of the shift and explained the problem to him.His initial remark was that the crew was looking for us. He told us to get our luggage and stand by--we did. About 10 minutes later he informed us that the plane was closed up and it was too late to get on the plane. No apologies from the airman. The plane was standing the whole time and the airman made no effort to find out the status of the flight. We had better service from an E2 the previous day than we had from the two E5s.That #9 needs to be moved up to #3 or #4. Thanks again for the info. |
Ben Martinez
Advanced Member
Username: Benmart
Post Number: 33
Registered: 02-2005
Posted From: 69.233.209.42
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 02:29 pm: | |
Michaela, great trip report. I particularly liked the lessons learned at the end of your post. Having flown the Travis-Yokota-Singapore route often, I can attest that Yokota terminal reps can be less than helpful at times. |
Kevin Crawford
Intermediate Member
Username: Kcraw3
Post Number: 18
Registered: 06-2006
Posted From: 152.163.100.67
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 01:07 am: | |
Outstanding post. Your recap was worthy of a veteran. |
John D.
Senior Member
Username: John_d
Post Number: 3341
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 69.175.251.207
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 12:03 am: | |
Great lessons!!! |
Michaela Cannon
Member
Username: Cannon
Post Number: 8
Registered: 05-2006
Posted From: 211.50.61.125
| | Posted on Sunday, August 27, 2006 - 11:51 pm: | |
Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and time on this board! Without you we NEVER could've done this! We are back home in Daegu, Korea after our first Space-A adventure and are almost fully recovered!?!.
I arrived in Osan 11July with my 3 kids, 13 & 10 yr old boys and 20 month old girl, armed with passports, EML papers and not a little naivite, with the ultimate destination of Newport, Rhode Island. There was a C-5 scheduled for Kadena-Andersen-Hickam-Travis-Kelly with a 0700 showtime on the 12th. My plan was to travel to Kadena and get a flight to McGuire OR to Hickam and then try to hop onto an aircraft going as close to the Northeast as possible (e.g. McGuire, Dover, ideally Westover.) Got the kids up and out and arrived by the 0700 showtime. It took us a while to realize the showtime had changed to 1000--boy we could've used that extra sleep! At roll call we learned that the C-5 would bypass Kadena because of bad weather, so being oh-so-flexible, I adjusted my plan to go on to Hickam and try from there.
After the shock of the near vertical climb to the cabin(!) the 4-hour flight to Guam was a pleasant surprise. There were only 37 on board, so we had lots of room and comfort. We arrived in Guam in the late evening; no rooms on base. We asked the terminal reps, got on the horn and called hotels. Most were over $100, but we decided to bunk together. Those of us living overseas for so long were shocked to learn that most places don't have on-base taxis! Fortunately, a retiree in Guam runs a van service(advertised in the terminal) and has access to base. He picked us up (3 families and 2 singles) and suggested a newly acquired hotel with a promotional rate of $55/night. Perfect! He also agreed to pick us all up at 0700 for our 0800 showtime and was waiting for us when we got up.
The 8 hour flight to Hickam was also a pleasant surprise. The seats were all full, but everyone socialized and the trip flew by. We arrived at Hickam at 0000hrs, and that's where my luck appeared to run out. No rooms ANYWHERE--on or off base. The reps told us that people had been waiting weeks to get to CONUS. I had made the brilliant tactical move of manifesting only through to Hickam, and I didn't seem to have a prayer of getting to CONUS. The kids were behind on their sleep, we were feeling dirty and fried, and things were looking bleak. There was one incredibly helpful terminal rep and a few others who were in the wrong line of business. UGH. We decided to wait it out and try to get BACK on the C-5 when it travelled to Travis. At @ 0430, they made an announcement that our C-5 would be grounded because of a broken toilet, and that all manifested passengers would have to compete for future flights to CONUS. GREAT!?? I decided to get anything I could to CONUS and then fly commercial to Rhode Island. There were flights to Oklahoma City, Omaha, Reno and McGuire, any of which could've positioned me for a cheap commercial flight to Providence. Well, after their first 2-hour update of flights, ALL of them disappeared. I kept pestering the agents, but nothing was coming up. Many of the PAX were grambling about getting commercial flights. I wanted to stick it out!! I really did. Well, long story short, after hours and sleepless hours, I caved in and became a Space-A Failure. When they announced Aloha Air and Hawaiian Air were offering $200 flights to Travis (Sacramento) I jumped. (You know the rest of the story, don't you?? My husband was trying to track us down after receiving a few SOS messages and talked to the PAX reps at Hickam. They told him they knew we had left the termianl because we were called for the salvaged flight to Travis and other PAX told them we went commercial. UGGGH!!)
Fast Forward to our return journey. I had already purchased cheap Southwest one-way fairs for 16 AUG Providence-Sacramento. We arrived late on the 16th, caught a cab to a local Best Western, then the same driver took us to Travis the next day. (WAY too expensive--my 13 yr old said we could've flown for that much!) We checked into the Lodge at Travis but we only given 1 night. (We made the most of it--what a nice place. Air Force Inns do it right.) Travis AMC termianl is like no other. The PAX reps were very helpful. Instead of trying for the Hickam=Andersen-Kadena route, they suggested, hang around for 3 days and catch the Sunday morning flight direct to Yokota. I saw the wisdom in that. Everyone agreed that the Yokota KC-10 was a sure bet--never full. Never say never. We spent another too nights in a local hotel with a rent-a-car from the terminal and showed at 0530 for the 0700 showtime. The place was mobbed! Several C-5s Bound for the Pacific had been grounded, so all of those Pax were trying for the Yokota flight. We were thankfully one of the last Cat IV families on because our sign-up date was nearly 57 days out. Again, a great flight...the 9 hours passed quickly and in great comfort.
We arrived in Yokota and tried to get on a flight to Osan immediately with no luck. We got on the shuttle to the Kanto Lodge, lugged all of our stuff into the Lodge to check in, and were told we'd be going to the Family Tower on the other side of base. Lug ALL the stuff back out to catch the shuttle across post. Although the place looked like a ghetto from the outside, we had a nice 3 BR apt on the 3rd floor. Hoping to catch a flight to Osan the next day, we lugged everything back to the shuttle stop and rode back to the terminal. There was an aircraft with 15T seats and we were feeling lucky. Some folks from our KC-10 were waiting for a flight to Kadena, so we hung out together. One of them approached me with "bad news." All of the uniformed airmen were going to Osan on the flight--there were 11 of them. At this point my kids had HAD IT and started to panic. I learned at Hickam that things change quickly, and it'd behoove us to wait it out. Roll Call came, duty passengers process and ZERO SEATS were released. Oh Boy. 5 minutes later, another announcement: Stand By for possible seat release. Magically, they released 15 seats. We arrived at the roll call desk and watched in disbelief as everyone but us was called. I double-checked the flight roster, and my sign-up date of 6 JUL should've trumped all those CAT IVs with Aug sign-ups. I went to the desk to inquire, and they said, "OOOPS, you were marked CAT V..we'll correct that. Too late for this flight." I just about lost my mind. My Kadena-bound friends became irate FOR us and started to fuss and demand we get on the flight. I encountered two snippy airmen, and then went to the OIC, a CPT Sutter (and if anyone can get me an email address for him, I'd appreciate it!) He was very compassionate and sweet. Offered to make things right, but it was too late to get us on that plane to Osan. He and the NCOIC checked flights for us and discovered there was nothing scheduled for Osan until 30 Aug (this was on 22 Aug!) He explained that they frequently had DV flights come through in the evenings, and we'd have a chance of catching one IF we each had less than 30lbs. We were carrying about 134 lbs among the 4 of us. So we trudged back to the Kanto Lodge (not before considerable tears in the terminal as we watched all of the Kadena and Osan PAX cross through the departure gates.) I asked this time for a room in the main building, and luckily they had one for 1 night only. There was a flight info screen in the lobby of the main building, and that was another reason to stay there. The post office was within walking distance, another plus. We loaded up a backpack with books and heavy items and mailed 47 pounds MPS back to Korea.
Semoralized and dejected we slept amd awoke early. My 13 year old tried to convince his brother to join him in the lobby to take advantage of the WIFI in the early morning. Brother didn't want to go, 13 yr old went alone, and within 5 minutes was back up banging on the door breathless. While in the lobby, the flight screen had gone blank, and when it came back up, there was a flight to Osan with 5T seats, showtime of 0710. It was about 0630, so we moved out smartly. There wasn't enough time to wait for the shuttle, so we ran to the terminal (3/4mile or so.) We checked in for the flight and double-checked the flight roster to see who might be ahead of us. ALL of the names that bumped us from the previous flight appeared on the roster, which confused me, but I figured that upped our chances since none of them were in the terminal. At roll call, only 3 people showed, myself and two CAT V spouses with 4 kids each. We were on!!!!!!! And guess what?? It was our very own C-21A. Talk about luck. And remember all of those people selected ahead of us for the flight to Osan? They never got off the ground, and they were back at the Lodge sleeping away, never knowing about this flight. So feeling like the cats that got the canaries or Melinda Gates and kids, we flew to Osan on our very own LearJet with two very handsome pilots. It was the most exhilarating experience ever!
My husband had prepositioned our van near the terminal, and within 20 minutes of landing, we were driving out of Osan Air Base, heading for home in Daegu.
Thanks again to all of you here!
A recap of my Lessons Learned:
1.*TRAVEL LIGHT: BE READY TO GO*
2.*WEAR SNEAKERS* Open-toed/Open-heeled shoes are not allowed on Space-A flights.
3.*DOUBLE CHECK SHOWTIMES* Showtimes change frequently, and you could get a few extra hours of sleep, or conversely, need to get moving! Call the terminal directly and speak to a rep.
4.*DOUBLE-CHECK CAT STATUS* Make sure your are checked-in with your correct Category and Sign-up date. Don't assume they've got it right.
5.*BRING SNACKS* We found this was most important when transiting to hotels, lodges, etc. at odd hours.
6.*CONUS BASES DON'T HAVE TAXI SERVICE* Sometimes you must be very creative--and it's always best to stay on-base whenever possible.
7.*MANIFEST THROUGH TO THE END DESTINATION* as a back-up to any other plan you may have.
8.*TAKE A DIRECT FLIGHT WHERE POSSIBLE* There are so many things that could go wrong on each leg.
9.*DON'T ALWAYS BELIEVE THE TERMINAL REPS* We encountered this a lot! One terminal rep at Hickam, for instance, said they hadn't gotten out of CAT II all week, and the other one rolled his eyes and said that wasn't the truth. Again at Hickam, the rep told me our C-5 was already on its way back to Guam and there was NO WAY the flight would be salvaged, and several hours later it was on its way to Travis.
10.*DON'T GIVE UP* I was the worst offender, and I paid for it. Things change quickly; I can't say that enough. Stick it out, and you'll be rewarded.
11.*NOTHING IS GUARANTEED* There are surprises at every turn when traveling Space-A. Sometimes the surprises are devastating; sometimes they are fabulous!
Happy Travels! Michaela |
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