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Hickam to Travis and back, mid-June, ...

Pepperd.com » General Space-a Forum » Hickam to Travis and back, mid-June, first timer? « Previous Next »

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Carole G
Advanced Member
Username: Greengal

Post Number: 191
Registered: 01-2010
Posted From: 68.205.151.181
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 05:59 pm:   

Hickam flights to Travis have been limited recently. Consider looking at Kaneohe Bay MCAS. They have flights going to North Island frequently. Then you could fly up to Travis on Southwest or sometimes North Island flies up to Travis. Also consider getting out of Hawaii to McChord or Elmendorf and back door into Travis. Just a thought.
Good Luck.
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John D.
Moderator
Username: John_d

Post Number: 4543
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 95.208.80.143
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 05:49 pm:   

Correct, you do not need a passport to travel to Hawaii and having a passport anyway, just in case the flight is diverted would be a prudent thing.
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jimmy
New member
Username: Jrowland

Post Number: 2
Registered: 05-2010
Posted From: 66.8.198.193
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 04:47 pm:   

Thanks for the help thus far. Yes, I do have backup plans in place - my brother lives in the area and is prepared to pick up my kids if I'm not in the area for whatever reason. If I'm not able to get out of Hickam, I'm just going to buy a 1-way to SFO. As well, I'm prepared to buy 1-ways to Honolulu if we can't get a mission out of Travis. These 1-ways, of course, defeat any purpose of saving money by space-a'ing it, but that's okay -- lots of potential savings, and if I didn't do the SPAT thing, I'd be paying that money anyway.

I have looked into the other airports in the area. SFO is cheaper than OAK or Sacramento for the commercial flights.

Another question, that sounds stupid, but I'm only 99% sure on:

Hickam is considered "overseas". Everything I've read says, "have your passport ready for ALL overseas destinations". I'm going on the ass-u-me factor that I do NOT need a passport for Hawaii. True??? I do have a passport, but my kids do not. Should I have passports anyway, just in case we're diverted?
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William Standage
Senior Member
Username: Charlie13

Post Number: 1133
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 75.172.58.8
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 04:24 pm:   

Jimmy,
Another suggestion. Be flexible.
Check to see if your kids can get a cheaper flight into Sacramento, or Oakland. These airports add options for you.
Be prepared to hop into or out of North Island NAS, and Miramar if Travis is backed up. Even Reno wouldn't be OK too...!
I second Johns suggestion to have an alternate plan for someone to pickup your kids in CA if you are delayed or diverted.
Good luck.
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John D.
Moderator
Username: John_d

Post Number: 4540
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 95.208.80.143
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 03:42 pm:   

Jimmy, yes, you can sign-up at the Travis terminal (or any location) as soon as I enter into a Leave status. As soon as you depart from Travis you'll need to signup again if you want to travel from Travis on a subsequent date.

Your children need their Military IDs to accompany you Space-A.

I'd recommend a contingency plan for the scenario when your kids arrive at SFO on the 14th in the event you are still stuck at Hickam.
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jimmy
New member
Username: Jrowland

Post Number: 1
Registered: 05-2010
Posted From: 66.8.198.193
Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2010 - 03:16 pm:   

I'm about to attempt my first space-a flight, and I've been pouring over these boards and the info at spacea.net. I think I've got the gist of it all, as well as learning some hard lessons the easy way (i.e. through other people's talking about it). I'm wondering what advice might be out there for me, other than what I might talk about below:

Here's my story... I'm active duty AF stationed at Hickam, going on ordinary leave (Cat 3). My 2 (non-command sponsored) teenage children who live in North Carolina are coming out for their summer visit. Tickets are over $1000 each; however, I can book them into SFO for about $400. So, my thought is to hop over to Travis, meet them at the end of their commercial journey, and then hop back to Hickam with them. The reason that I'm choosing Travis is because I have family in the area, and they can help with my children in the event that I don't get in on time (or, lord help us all, get diverted). Plus, that saves us from lodging costs if we need to spend the night(s) while we're awaiting travel back to Hawaii. I plan to fly them into SFO on the Monday 14th, while I spend Fri/Sat/Sun attempting to get up to Travis via Space A. I will not be on leave until Friday, so I will be at "day zero"(?) when I show up at the pax terminal.

After arriving in Travis, we plan on seeing family and spending over a week in the area before attempting to catch a hop back down to Hickam. I'll need to be back here to end my leave at the end of June.

My lingering doubts are the peak travel period, and what I'm seeing about the lack of flights from Travis to Hickam (maybe 1/week???). I had originally thought it was a heavy flight load between the two. Am I wrong on that, and the Travis --> Hickam schedules are now sparse?

To dip my toes into the water, I went down to the AMC terminal this morning and watched the roll call process for today's mission to Travis. It sure seemed like there were a lot more people in the terminal than actually got on board a plane, adding more anxiety to my already nervous state. There were a few people who got excited when, halfway through the Cat2 people, the PTA announced an unexpected mission to Reno, NV, and they had 6 seats NOW, first come first served (I guessed, by the bum rush to the counter). After they got their 6 pax to Reno, they resumed the roll call for the Travis mission.

Based on history of the past 2 weekends, there has been 1 mission to Travis each Friday, and 2 or 3 each Sunday. I'm not sure what the Travis -> Hickam schedule has been.

So, if I understand correctly, I can sign-up at the Travis terminal as soon as I enter into a Leave status. Even though I won't be needing to come back to Hickam for almost 2 weeks. In theory, this should bump me up the list of other Cat 3s so that when it's actually time for us to try to get a Travis to Hickam flight, our odds will be that much better??

So, that's my story thus far. Is there any advice (other than try to avoid these 2 terminals during this peak time? lol) for this newbie? Do my 2 teens (13 & 15) need their military IDs?

Thanks,
Jimmy

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