Today our European adventure begins and my husband and I are taking our first trip using military Space A(vailability).

Space A or MAC flights, as they are also known, are one of the many wonderful perks of being or having served in the military. Both active duty and retirees have access to Space A flights, although I think using Space A as a retiree will be a bit better because you don’t have to be on military leave to access flights.

Space A flights are mission flights to various destinations which have room to take on passengers. If that is the case, seats are opened up to personnel on a first come, priority basis. There are six categories of passengers, Cat 1 thru Cat 6…. Retirees, like me, are classified as Cat 6, which is the lowest priority and within those categories, hopeful travelers are ranked according to their signup date for travel. Retirees can sign up 60 days in advance of their travel, which really helps when there are a bunch of folks in the same category trying to complete for limited seats.

So what’s the big deal you ask? Space A flights are FREE! Eligible personnel can travel the U.S. and the world for free. Well… it’s free on military aircraft. On civilian planes that are chartered by the military, you may have to pay up to $35…. But heck, that’s not a bad deal either! You just have to be willing to take a chance and perhaps spend a day or two waiting to get a seat on a flight. Another obstacle? Flight schedules are only posted 72 hours in advance, so we’re not talking a lot of planning here. I guess that’s why it’s an adventure!

It’s not all roses though – we’re not talking the Ritz here. Remember it’s military aircraft, so think webbed jumpseats along the side of the plane, cold temps and limited, if any snacks, and absolutely no entertainment. But still, the pros outweigh the cons…. Think hundreds, if not thousands of dollars saved.

So today, hubby and I are going to try to use MAC flights to head to Europe for little to no cost. We’ve been signed up for several spots in Europe since June 18, so we are in a good position with seniority to catch a seat if they are opened for our category. Watching the various departure locations and their flights over the past few weeks, I’ve figured out that Memphis ANG has flights every other Friday to Dover, Delaware. So, that’s the first flight. Roll call is at 10:30am and there’s a possibility of 53 seats, so we shouldn’t have an issue getting on that flight. If we make it to Dover, it has flights to points across the U.S. and to Europe, mainly Germany and Spain. On Friday, there are flights to both, Spain and Germany, so we’ll sign up for both and hope we get one of them! Fingers crossed, we’ll be in Europe by the end of the day!

This is totally an off-the-cuff vacation. No hotel reservations at all (can’t book if you don’t know where you’ll be! LOL) and we’re only taking backpacks! Heck, we may even stay in hostels! I plan on blogging about our adventure and where we go while in Europe. So, follow along if you want to see where this adventure takes us!