Embedded Files
My Family and I recently took a military Space Available flight from Baltimore to Ramstein, Germany and returned 19 days later through Andrews AFB, There have been quite a few people that asked me about the trip, so I thought this would be a good way to share the experience. Space A opportunities do not get much better than this, there a lot of flights leaving from the east coast to Ramstein and returning. We were bumped a few times, but through contingency planning it worked out well and my family and I definitely want to try it again.
OK Let’s get started.
Signing up:
Use the AMC website to sign up from each base you want to depart from to as many locations you want to go. https://www.amc.af.mil/AMC-Travel-Site/
I signed up twice a week, up to 60 days in advance for a retiree (Cat 6), from BWI, Mcguire, Dover and Andrews to Germany and the UK. I also signed up for return flights from Ramstein, Spangdahlem and Mildenhall to the USA. If you are active duty you can sign up when your leave starts. You are Cat 3 and are ahead of the lower categories 4, 5 and 6 regardless of their sign up date.
I saved a pdf copy of my signup form on my google drive so I could use my phone to prove when I signed up. Make sure it is time stamped to show when you actually signed up or it will not be recognized.
For Example: 3/21/24, 11:24 AM on the upper left margin of the form.
There are times of year to avoid. Last year we tried flying Space A in June after school let out. There was not much space available, especially for a cat 6 customer, so we did not make it. This year we flew in May and had better luck. The flight out from Baltimore we competed for 27 seats with around 50 people and made the cut. They also released more seats because some did not show up for the flight, so stick around after roll call there may be more seats available,
On the day of our return flight there was 131 people competing for seats from Ramstein back to the East Coast. They posted flights to Andrews, Dover and Baltimore in that order. We jumped on the first flight to Andrews and made our way back to Baltimore to pick up our car. We did not want to get stuck in Germany and have to buy commercial tickets back to the States. The previous Tuesday we competed for a BWI flight with 63 customers and they release 9 seats. You don’t want to wait for the perfect flight, take the first flight that is available and close enough then rent a car at the destination.
Below is the roll call results from Ramstein to Andrews. I was forth competing for the CAT 6 seats. Later that day 83 people showed up to compete for the BWI flight. Surprisingly, they all made it, but usually there is not that much space available. Like I said, take the first flight available. Also, call the terminal or listen to the recording for up-to-date information.
Arrival and Departure:
Get hotel reservations you can cancel, because you need to be flexible on your arrival and departure dates. On arrival we stayed in a civilian hotel which was really nice and less expensive than the military hotel at Ramstein. We arrived a day late and modified the reservation with no cost. Poppinsmoke has a list of good local hotels. We did stay at Ramstein on our departure because of the convenience, it is across the street from the terminal. The Ramstein Inn only allows you on a space available basis without orders so you cannot make reservations in advance anyway.
If you decide to rent a car Hertz and Sixt are two companies to consider. We had a bit of a glitch with Sixt because the web site allows you to reserve a car from Ramstein AFB. However, they are only allowed to rent to soldiers on orders because of special rate and taxes. Fortunately, the agent at the desk was able to arrange for a vehicle at an increased cost for us to use. Next time I will try Hertz to see if they are competitive. They both had drop boxes for the keys at the terminal. When you are leaving for the flight you park your car in the rental car lot next to the terminal and just drop the keys in the box, very convenient.
Rental Car:
We rented a plug-in hybrid BMW 530E wagon. We needed room for our bags, I guess we overpacked. Anyways, my goodness that thing was fast. Electric and gas together is a good thing. The car also has good gas mileage. (Fuel cost 1.8 Euro a Liter) I was looking for a place to plug in but didn’t find one without a special stop. I would not recommend full electric because of scarce chargers.
Where to Stay:
This is the order of our itinerary. I tried to keep driving time less than four hours between our stops. We basically went from West to East across Southern Germany through Triburg and Garmisch to Salzburg, Austria and back to Ramstein again but a little north through Rothenberg and Mainz.
Triburg, DE, A nice town for buying cuckoo clocks, a park with a waterfall and a rather weird local folklore museum. We stayed at a German Best Western that was nice.
Garmisch It is close to Neuschwanstein Castle and other attractions.
https://www.armymwr.com/travel/armed-forces-hotels-resorts
We booked three days at Edelweiss in Garmisch. Wow, it was expensive, but the Zugspitze was out our back door. Well worth it.
Saltzburg Austria. Lots of stuff to see in Saltzburg. It is also close to BerchtesGaden where you will find the Eagles Nest and Salt Mine Tour.
We booked a week in Austria through the Armed Forces Vacation Club for 600 bucks. Not only was it inexpensive, but it was comfortable and we could make our own meals.
Rothenburg ob de Tauber. Enroute we stopped by Dachau Concentration Camp just north of Munich. That was an eye opener. Guess who Hitler threw in the concentration camps initially before the Jews? His political opponents. Somber example of how "absolute power corrupts absolutely". (Lord Action)
Rothenburg is one of our favorite towns. My wife liked the Kathy Walfart Christmas store I liked the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. Apparently, the Iron Maiden isn't just a rock band.
Mainz: We visited the Gutenberg Museum and saw two Gutenberg Bibles. The picture is another book outside of the vault where they keep the Bibles. It looks like a Gutenberg Bible but you cannot take pictures of those. I wanted my kids to know the importance of free speech and the impact the printing press had on society. We also went on a Rhine River Cruise for a day. Very nice.
Trier: While waiting for our flight home we had a free day and went to Trier to see the Roman Ruins of a bath complex and Amphitheater. Trier is fairly close to Ramstein and is a good time filler at the end.
Back home on a C-17. We took the first available to the East coast (Andrews AFB) and drove a rental car back to Baltimore. EOM
So how much did all this cost?
Food: Be prepared to spend a lot on food if you are eating out. I spent over 160 dollars a day on food for the four of us to eat. I figured hey it only cost 88 bucks for us to get here…HAVE FUN! For four people we spent around 3000 dollars. It would have been more but we were able to make our own meals at the Armed Forces Vacation Club condo in Austria. That is a lot of money, but check this out.
Lodging: Around 2,700 dollars or 142 a night. The Armed Forces Vacation Club condo only cost 600 dollars for a week. We could have saved money by having two locations through the Armed forces vacation club but we wanted to move around more to see more areas. We left Austria two days early to visit Rothenburg and Mainz, which was the highlight of the trip.
Tours, Museums, and Souvenirs: 2,300 dollars. The Rhine River cruise was the best deal of the bunch. I think we spent more on food than on the tickets through KD Tours. Museums and Castles was the heart of our activities. The Eagles Nest and Salt Mine in Berchtesgaden was a highlight. We even did a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg. Just use Google maps and search for attractions.
Transportation: 2,800 dollars. The BMW 530E cost 2000 dollars for our trip. Their were cheaper cars but we needed the room and the car performed well on the autobahn. We spent 200 dollars on parking at Baltimore. If we had left a military base we would have saved money, they have free long term parking. We also rented a car for a day to get from Andrews to Baltimore. So that leaves a little over 400 dollars for gas. Gas is more expensive in Europe (1.8 euro a Liter or 6.80 dollars a gallon). The electric Hybrid helped a lot. I did not find a convenient place to plug in. So I would not suggest a Tesla.
Grand total: 10,800 dollars. Interestingly, roughly the same as roundtrip airfare for four alone.
References:
The Air Mobility Command Website is necessary for observing schedules and rollcall results and most importantly to sign up for destinations from different bases.
https://www.amc.af.mil/AMC-Travel-Site/
We booked a week stay in Austria through the Armed Forces Vacation Club. RCI is one of the major timeshare exchange companies that has permission to sell extra weeks to the military at a reduced cost. I have used this a few times and you just pay for the time you spend there, no catches. They may ask you to go to their presentation, but will probably leave you alone because why would you want to pay for all the fees of a time share when you already have access to their inventory?
The Edelweiss Military Resort in Garmisch was a little pricey dependent on rank but it was very nice. They also had a buffet open all day for meals.
https://www.armymwr.com/travel/armed-forces-hotels-resorts
The Poppinsmoke.com website has some great information.
Google Sites
Report abuse