4 people, Cat 5 from Atsugi to Guam

Author Message   Crystal Culp Member Username: Crystalkei Post Number: 24 Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 198.134.98.12 Posted on Sunday, March 07, 2010 - 04:39 am:    Glad to hear you made it back Sara! We're headed back now, but I wondered if you had made it back okay. Out of all our travel that c130 to Kadena was one of the best legs of our trip.   Wesley and Sara Kluckhohn Member Username: Wkluckhohn Post Number: 14 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 203.205.123.85 Posted on Sunday, March 07, 2010 - 04:04 am:    A bit late with the update, but things have been busy since we got back. We started watching the boards on Wednesday, but my husband's command was heading back to Atsugi on Sunday and we thought we had decent chances of getting on one of their flights. We extended our hotel and enjoyed the sun and surf for a few more days. On Sunday, a C-9 and a C-40 were on track to come from Atsugi to pick up the command and all their stuff and head back immediately, a quick one hour turn around. We got to the terminal early and checked in with a few hours to kill before the planes arrived. They were both delayed 2 hrs and then only the C-9 showed. That was the flight with open seats and we scored 4 seats with no problem. When we left Andersen, the C-40 still hadn't showed up. 30 minutes into flight time and the captain turned on the seatbelt sign and the active duty passengers started buzzing that we were going back to Guam. Sure enough, we had some mechanical errors and found ourselves on the runway at Andersen again. The crew said the wait would be at least 24 hours before they'd be able to leave again. While were waiting for the terminal bus to come and get us, news came over the radio that the C-40 was headed back to Atsugi, also with mechanical problems. The whole detachment was stuck, for at least one night. I managed to get a rental car at the last minute and we got a room at the same hotel that the detachment had booked so we would be close by when flight news came in. On Tuesday, we all trooped back to the terminal for two planes again. This time a C-130 that was going to stop on Kadena before heading to Atsugi, and the C-9 from Sunday that was offering direct service. The C-130 was boarding first and my husband got on that flight. The pilot on the C-130 decided not to open the available seats for space A passengers and then the flight was gone. The C-9 boarded and was full with duty pax so no room for us. That flight took off and then we were alone. I started calling hotels since it was 4 pm and there were no more flights that day. 30 mins later and the C-9 was back again, down for another 24 hours. There was a chance we might be able to get seats the next day because the command was sending a few people home on commercial flights, but I was tired of waiting and found cheap seats on Continental. The C-130 finally made it home with my husband on it, so he was able to come pick us up at Narita. A very eventful and crazy trip with some major surprises, but so worth it. The kids did great, as always, and adapted at each turn. Always have to be flexible and know when it's in your best interest to leave military flights behind and just go commercial.   Molly Alptekin New member Username: Missmolly Post Number: 5 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 71.143.3.139 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 05:44 am:    Hello Wesley, I have a question: Are there chartered flights- Patriot express from bases in Japan to states? I am planning a trip to Japan, I just want to know the bases that have flight back to states. Do you live in Japan? Thank you. Molly My e-mail: melahatmolly@msn.com   Wesley A Kluckhohn Member Username: Wkluckhohn Post Number: 13 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 202.128.3.2 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 02:05 am:    I am a command sponsored spouse, that was traveling alone with my 3 kids (9,5, and 19 mos) to go visit my husband while he was TDY in Guam. I considered buying commercial tickets, but it was going to be at least $1600 for 4 round trip tickets, Space A had to be cheaper, even if it was more difficult to do alone. Atsugi usually has a fair amount of flights to Guam, but this last week, there were none scheduled before Saturday. I watched the schedules and decided that my best bet was a Thursday PM flight on a C-130 to Kadena, as Kadena was showing a Thurs, and Fri flight to Guam. There were 44 seats available and only 8 of us showed up for the flight. We left on time and got to Kadena with no trouble. Upon arriving, it was after 6 pm already and the Friday flight to Guam was no longer on the schedule. The pax representatives called us a cab to take us to the Shogun Inn. I hadn't realized that the lodging was so far from the terminal. Because I was traveling with kids, our room was in a separate building across a busy main road from the main lodge building. $41.50 per night got us a one bedroom "family room" that was pretty tiny with no internet in the room. It did have a full kitchen which made our stay easier and cheaper as we waited for the Sat night flight. I called all day on Friday but nothing new came up for us. Shogun Inn gave us a late check in at noon with no extra cost, which was very much appreciated. On Saturday morning, the mission plan changed twice, but I was determined to get off of Kadena that day and Guam was still listed as a stop, so the kids and I packed up and started hiking to the BX to get a taxi to the terminal. A nice couple stopped and gave us a ride all the way to the terminal, which we were very thankful for. We were 3 hours early for show time and the seat count was still pending. We checked in and found the family room which was the best we have seen so far. Slowly a bunch more families trickled in. At this time, the flight was going to Guam, Hickam, and then on to Travis. 2 hrs before the show time, they announced that the flight was now only going to Guam and roll call was starting in 2 minutes. Yay for us! Then they said there were only 11 seats and since there were 3 families that appeared to be traveling with their sponsors, I knew our chances were slim. Two active duty AF guys walked in with orders and that took the seat count down to 9. Taking Hawaii off of the itinerary removed most of the Cat 2&3 families off of the roll call and we were first on the list under Cat 5. We got the last 4 seats on that flight and left 2 hrs before schedule on a KC-10 for Guam. Our 2 day "layover" in Kadena only cost us $188 so we came in well under budget. Flight time was supposed to be 3.5 hrs and we made it in just over 2, though once we were on the ground, it felt like we taxied forever. Hubby was waiting for us, and he had managed to get a rental car and a hotel room even though we unknowingly flew in over the Chinese New Year (oops!). We are staying at the Leo Palace hotel and watching the schedule for a flight back this week.