Space-A Scout

Military aircraft fly whether or not every seat is full. When seats are left over, eligible travelers can fly on them for free or close to it. That is Space-Available travel: you are cargo that walks on after the mission is set. The mission always comes first, which is why the deal is this good and why nothing is ever guaranteed.

Active duty on leave, retirees with a blue ID card, Guard and Reserve members, 100% disabled veterans, and in many cases their families. Everyone is sorted into six categories, and the terminal fills seats from Category I down. Retirees, veterans and Guard members are Category VI, the last called. That sounds bad, but our records show Cat VI still gets a seat most of the time on most routes. Answer four questions and see exactly where you fit.

Flights on military aircraft are free. The Patriot Express, which is a chartered airliner running set routes, collects small fees on some legs, usually under forty dollars. There is no ticket and no booking. Your costs are getting to the terminal, feeding yourself, and being able to wait or change plans.

• Sign up with the terminals you might fly from, ideally 45 to 60 days before you want to travel. It is free, it just puts you in line, and your place in line is your sign-up date. Every terminal takes an email, AMC terminals also take an online sign-up, and this site writes the emails for you.
• Watch the schedule. Terminals only post firm flights about 72 hours out, so a quiet board weeks ahead is normal, not bad news. Set a free watch here and we email you when your destination posts.
• Show up and mark yourself present before roll call. That is the step first-timers miss, and it is covered in the flight-day guide below.
• Make roll call. Seats are announced, names are called by category and sign-up date, and if yours comes up you are flying. If not, you are still signed up and tomorrow is another flight.

Space-A rewards flexibility and punishes deadlines. Flights change, fill, and cancel on hours of notice. If you must be somewhere on a date, buy a ticket. If you can say "this month, roughly," Space-A can take you across the world for lunch money. Search any destination above and the site shows what actually happened on that route: how many flights, how often people like you got on, and which months were easiest. That is the whole reason this site exists, so you can decide with a record instead of a rumor.

• Mark yourself present. You can do this up to 24 hours before the flight, at a terminal kiosk or with an agent at the counter. This is the step people miss. Being on the sign-up list is not the same as being marked present for a specific flight, and only marked-present travelers get called.
• Park in long-term. Do it before roll call, not during.
• Pack to the limits so nothing gets pulled apart at the counter. Limits are in the baggage section below.
• Have a way home. Space-A has no guarantees, so plan the return trip as if the flight might not happen.

• Retired: your retired ID card (DD Form 2 Blue, or the newer USID).
• Guard or Reserve: your Reserve ID (DD Form 2 Red) and a signed DD Form 1853 from your unit. Without the 1853 you will be turned away.
• Active duty: your CAC and your leave authorization. Carry the actual leave form, not just an app.
• Family travelling with you: their ID cards, and you have to be with them.
• Going overseas: bring your passport, and check whether the destination country needs a visa. Ask the terminal what that specific country requires before you fly.
• Money for a commercial ticket. This is not advice, it is part of the official definition of travel ready.

• Two checked bags per person, 70 pounds each, up to 62 linear inches (length plus width plus height).
• Families can pool their allowance, so a party of three shares six bags.
• Carry-on: one bag plus one personal item, up to 45 linear inches, that fits under the seat or overhead.
• A standard B-4 duffle may go to 100 pounds and still counts as one piece. Only one of those.
• Over 70 pounds or over 62 inches counts as an extra piece. Paid excess baggage is only for people travelling on official orders, so a retiree cannot buy their way past the limit.
• Never in any bag: firearms, ammunition, explosives, flammable aerosols, fuels, corrosives, radioactive material.

• Be travel ready when roll call starts. That means documents in hand, bags ready to check, everyone in your party there, car already parked.
• Seats get identified late. Anywhere from about three hours before departure to as little as thirty minutes. That is normal, not a bad sign.
• Selection runs by category, then by the date and time you signed up. Inside Cat VI, the retiree who signed up in March beats the one who signed up last week. That is the whole reason we tell you to sign up 45 to 60 days out.
• Your sign-up time follows you to your destination, so it keeps its value on the onward leg.
• Once you are marked present for a flight, another Space-A traveler cannot bump you off it.

• You keep your place in line. Not being selected does not reset your sign-up date and time.
• Try the next flight, or a different terminal. This is exactly why the game plan ranks more than one gateway for you.
• Know the terminal's hours before you count on waiting there. Some are open around the clock, plenty are not. Call and ask.
• Set a watch so the next opportunity finds you instead of you refreshing a page.

We would rather point you at the phone than guess. Meals on board (some missions sell a box lunch, many have nothing, so bring food and an empty water bottle), pets, terminal hours, showers and lodging, and the dress code all vary by terminal and by aircraft. Every terminal card on this site carries the phone number, and the recording is often more current than anything published.