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Hawaii to Mchord

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Nelly
Senior Member
Username: Nelly

Post Number: 1000
Registered: 07-2005
Posted From: 90.202.205.40
Posted on Friday, June 18, 2010 - 06:08 am:   

Elizabeth,

"Direct flights are always easiest. So, first choice Hickam to McChord, second choice K'Bay to Whidbey, third choice Hickam-Travis-McChord."

Good advise from John R Garrison. I think you are ready for your travel especially just the two of you Cat 3.
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Jack Wanless
Senior Member
Username: Jack646

Post Number: 1957
Registered: 02-2007
Posted From: 99.194.52.9
Posted on Friday, June 18, 2010 - 05:58 am:   

Liz, (if I may call u so)

Whichever category u r being active duty wife with hubby not deployed...... getting from HI to West Coast should be a piece of cake in the time frame you mention..... I as a Cat VI would think it as easy....

I once turned down 4 or 5 fligts to the mainland in that timeframe in one day while waiting for the perfect mission. I opted for the next to last near perfect mission over the exact perfect flight becuz they hadn't given a seat release.. I found out later that it indeed did go where I needed but que sera sera.....
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jimmy
Member
Username: Jrowland

Post Number: 19
Registered: 05-2010
Posted From: 66.8.198.193
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 10:38 pm:   

If you have the time, as a contingency plan (or even a small vacation), the drive from Travis to McChord is only about 12 hours straight up I-5. If you can only get to Travis, it might just be quicker to drive the rest of the way.

If you wanted to turn that into a mini vacation, You can take the highway all the way up the coastline, instead of the freeway. One of the most beautiful drives in the world, in my opinion. You would drive from Travis over to San Francisco, and start the coastal drive at the Golden Gate Bridge. Follow highway 1 for a while until it becomes Highway 101, then go through the Redwood National Park, and then follow the Oregon coast until you get to Astoria, OR, and then cut over to Ft Lewis in Tacoma.

A good place to overnight your first night is Crescent City, at the CA/OR border. This gives you time to sight see in Frisco, if you want, as well as play in the giant Redwoods. If you do any of the MANY sights along the Oregon Coast, you can overnight again in Astoria, or push on the extra 2 to 3 hours to Tacoma.

Anyway... food for thought. If I had 2 weeks of leave to burn, and had to go to Seattle for house hunting, this is what I would do. ;)
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John R Garrison
Senior Member
Username: Majorg

Post Number: 2763
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 208.81.157.86
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 08:45 pm:   

Elizabeth:

Google Maps says it's 124 road miles from McChord AFB to Whidbey NAS (It's North of Seattle, McChord is South).

Is it easier to travel Hickam to Travis to McChord? No. You'd need to plan in several days (usually) lay-over at Travis. Direct flights are always easiest. So, first choice Hickam to McChord, second choice K'Bay to Whidbey, third choice Hickam-Travis-McChord.

Happy travels, John
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elizabeth collins
New member
Username: Eliz222

Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2010
Posted From: 70.95.82.117
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 08:26 pm:   

I was thinking about trying to go sometime in October or November. Is it usually easier to try and go from HI to Travis and then to Washington? I'm not familiar with the west coast, how far is Whidbey from the McChord area?
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John R Garrison
Senior Member
Username: Majorg

Post Number: 2759
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 208.81.157.86
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 06:41 pm:   

Elizabeth:

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 Hawaii to McChord in the summer even as a Cat III, 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

PS: Also consider flying the Navy Route: K'Bay to/from NAS Whidbey.
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jimmy
Member
Username: Jrowland

Post Number: 17
Registered: 05-2010
Posted From: 66.8.198.193
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 06:33 pm:   

Hi Elizabeth. I'm also AD stationed here in Hawaii - been trying to get to McChord all week for a family reunion this weekend. Looks like I'm going to be a bit late, if I make it at all.

You'll find a lot of good advice on this site, as well as the other sites linked at the top. Be sure to read all the FAQs. This is my first attempt at a Space-A flight as well, and the info here and those other sites has been invaluable.

You don't mention when you'll be trying to go... you'll get lots of advise on not traveling during the summer months when families have their kids out of school and the PCS season is underway. If you can wait until August or later when the kiddos all get back to school, I think you'll have good luck.

I've been watching the boards for flights to McChord for the past month. You can get a history of what the flights on this route look like by going into the forum where they post the Hickam Departures everyday. Read down the list for the month, and even go back in time over the months, and see how often the flights are going up to McChord. It normally looks pretty good with at least 1 or 2 flights a week. This week has been pretty dry - a couple of the flights to McChord that I was hoping for were canceled.

Good luck on your trip, and be sure to read everything over on spacea.net, including the FAQs!!
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elizabeth collins
New member
Username: Eliz222

Post Number: 1
Registered: 06-2010
Posted From: 70.95.82.117
Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 06:19 pm:   

We've never tried space A before but was thinking about trying it later this year to to go house hunting at Ft. Lewis. Does anyone have any experience or advice on this route? It is just the 2 of us, my husband is AD and not currently deployed.

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