Ramstein to BWI in June

Author Message   Mike Schukert Senior Member Username: Mike_s Post Number: 519 Registered: 03-2004 Posted From: 74.243.17.190 Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 02:08 pm:    Re: Julia Ingold's (original) post concerning solo versus accompanied/with or without kids space-a travel. Bob Dart's May 18, 2010 post in the Space-a Lodging Forum provides support to the contention that, given a choice, solo is the preferred way to go--at least from an unanticipated lodging need perspective. "For the next week there doesn't seem to be any lodging available at the KMC facilities as there is a large scale readiness exercise going on at Ramstein. I stood in the stand-by line at 1800 of about 15 folks and only half got rooms...There were no rooms for families with children, limited for couples, and all singles were accomodated."   April DeLaRosa New member Username: Delarosacalm Post Number: 2 Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 62.153.212.23 Posted on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 - 08:17 am:    It is $15.00 to take a taxi from the civilian airport in Charleston to the airbase. I just did this on Tuesday May 18th. Our flight into Ramstein was delayed until the following morning. There was a flight going to Spangdahlem on Tuesday 18 May with 54 seats available that weren't even close to being filled.   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 2609 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 208.81.157.86 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 07:46 pm:    Marita: Access to Acrhives is available for a $25.00 donation to Pepperd.com. (See the note on the opening page above the list of archives). Happy Travels, John   Marita Marcano Member Username: Joluma Post Number: 32 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 74.170.108.155 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 07:04 pm:    John, Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, the site does not let me log in to read the discussion.   John D. Moderator Username: John_d Post Number: 4472 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 95.208.80.143 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 03:33 pm:    Marita, The "closest" Space-A location with flights to Europe may be right on your doorstep. They may just be advertising the first stop and the mission could be headed to Europe. See the previous discussion at http://www.pepperd.com/cgi-bin/spacea/board-auth.cgi?file=/658/663000.html   Marita Marcano Member Username: Joluma Post Number: 31 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 74.170.108.155 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 11:51 am:    Julia, It looks like most flights from Spangdahlem go to Charleston. In April they had up to 4 flights to Charleston a day (that sometimes did not all materialize, some got cancelled). We live in Florida and for us Charleston is definitely the closest Space-A airport with flights to Europe. I think the commercial airport is right next to the military airport, if I am not mistaken. If you live in Spangdahlem, I would definitely first try to get a seat from Spangdahlem, I think your chances are much better there. You still can try from Ramstein if you don't get a seat. It seems to me that everybody wants to fly from Ramstein and nobody wants to go through the hassle to travel up to Spangdahlem. So use your location to your advantage because you face less competition for seats.   John D. Moderator Username: John_d Post Number: 4468 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 95.208.80.143 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 03:54 am:    Julia, As a Cat-V you would be unable to hop from Dover to Charleston. Check the Spacea.net Dover page if you need transportation info from Dover to Philly.   Julia Ingold New member Username: Milolove Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 93.212.5.67 Posted on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 03:42 am:    Well I live in Spangdahlem, but I thought it would be easier to go to Ramstein and catch the rotator to BWI. I want to go visit my family in Florida, and I figured I could just go to BWI and buy a commercial ticket from there. I think I might try and get on a flight to Dover from Spangdahlem and then drive/train/bus to either Philladelphia airport or BWI. Maybe even try to get a flight to Charleston.   Marita Marcano Member Username: Joluma Post Number: 30 Registered: 03-2010 Posted From: 74.170.108.155 Posted on Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 06:49 pm:    Julia, You could try to fly from Spangdahlem Air Base instead of Ramstein. I have no idea how your chances are in the summer months but we just returned from Spangdahlem to Charleston and the PAX representatives told us that normally there is no competition for seats in Spangdahlem. If there are seats you have a very good chance of getting one. The first flight we were manifested for (but got cancelled because of technical problems) had 57 seats and only 4 takers including my husband and I. The second flight the next day had 19 seats for 3 takers including us. You could call the Spangdahlem PAX terminal to find out how your chances are in June and July, i. e. how much competition for seats there normally is at this time of year. I saw flights to Charleston, McGuire, Dover and McCord.   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 2605 Registered: 02-2006 Posted From: 208.81.157.86 Posted on Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 06:23 pm:    Julia: Welcome to the Board! If you have not yet done so, please familiarize yourself with JohnD's SpaceA Pages (link top left), the general layout of this site and the Search Function (magnifying glass at top center) of this site. Nearly all questions can be answered from those three sources. Having read thru the FAQs is a great start and I would suggest reading thru the other sections on JohnD's site as well. In relation to your proposed trip, traveling SpaceA to/from Ramstein (or anywhere in Europe) to BWI (or anywhere in the CONUS) in the summer will be very challenging. We try to avoid the Summer (15 May to 15 Sep) as this is typically one of the busiest times (Christmas (15 Dec-10 Jan) being the other) with a lot of competition for spacea. Please ensure that you are prepared to spend more time in terminals than you can imagine. Also be prepared for additional food, lodging and expensive, last minute commercial tickets should you be time restrained upon your attempted return. As stated often on this site, experienced SPATS avoid Christmas and Summer travel whenever possible. In sum, can it be done??..Yes, Just be mentally prepared for things to not go as smoothly as you might be expecting...and be pleasantly surprised when they work out. Happy travels, John   Jennifer Kirk New member Username: Jenk Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 68.50.45.111 Posted on Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 05:30 pm:    I did this as a Cat 4 two summers ago. It took me about 5 days of trying to get out of Ramstein (in mid-June) and I didn't even make it on a BWI flight. I ended up taking the first flight I got called for and that was to a Navy base in MD. I returned end of July and it took about a week of trying for me to get back. I eventually gave up on BWI and drove up to McGuire and caught a flight from there (after waiting around for 2 days). Being a single does help. At McGuire there was one seat left on the flight and 7 families above me on the list had to decline it so I got to take it. Also leaving Ramstein at the beginning of June may be easier then mid/end of June. Basically it can be done but it may involve a lot of waiting around and you may want to think about being open to flying in or leaving out of airports other then Ramstein and BWI.   Mike Schukert Senior Member Username: Mike_s Post Number: 500 Registered: 03-2004 Posted From: 71.11.207.98 Posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 09:26 pm:    Definitely easier for singles (regardless of category), and especially during summer travel! Speaking of category, what's yours? As you probably know already, the BWI-bound Patriot Express transits Ramstein after an enroute stop at Aviano on its way back from downrange. This would be your best bet--if space-a seats are available.   Julia Ingold New member Username: Milolove Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 93.212.26.136 Posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - 08:55 pm:    How hard would it be for me (1 person) cat 5 to get a flight from Ramstein to BWI and from BWI back to Ramstein in June/July? I figured it might be easier for just one person vs. a family of 6. Is this true? Has anyone done this?