For military members and certain qualified civilians, Space-Available travel, also known Space-A, is a great option to save money and travel to locations all over the world, but flexibility and planning are key. 

Not all aerial ports are created equal. “Superports” like Ramstein, Dover, Travis, McChord and Charleston will have more space available seats per week on cargo aircraft. Bases that primarily support fighter aircraft operations will have fewer available seats. For example, at Hill Air Force Base in fiscal 2014, only 58 Space-A passengers were processed due to very limited opportunities. 

There are two locations in the local area to obtain Space-A travel: the 75th Air Base Wing at Hill AFB and the 151st Air Refueling Wing at Salt Lake City International Airport. 

For available flight information, Hill AFB provides two avenues: the “Hill AFB Passenger Terminal” Facebook page or a telephone call-in number at 801-777-3039. For the Salt Lake City International Airport, the 151st Air Refueling Wing’s telephone call-in number is 801-245-2415.

While Space-A travel is a great option, it is location and mission dependent. Air Mobility Command mandates the maximum use of all aircraft, to include Space-A travel, in accordance with their regulatory requirements. If you would like to learn more about Space-A travel, visit Air Mobility Command’s travel website at www.amc.af.mil/amctravel. Space-A travel form requests, frequently asked questions, eligibility, and multiple brochures and handbooks are available at this site.

If you have questions, contact your local aerial port passenger terminal or visit the Facebook page for updated flight information and question and answer sessions. Additionally, there are many nonmilitary affiliated Space-A sites that provide tips and tricks to traveling Space-A from seasoned veterans available through various web search engines.