Today I’m bringing you a guest post from my friend Stephanie who is going to talk about flying Space-A after retirement.
Stephanie Montague is the founder of Poppin’ Smoke, a website designed to encourage members of the military community to use their military benefits to travel. Stephanie and her husband have been traveling and living abroad since he retired from the Army in 2015.
How Military Space-A Flights Help You Travel on FIRE
Many people on the path to FIRE have travel on their agenda when they reach financial independence. Whether they plan to be fully retired or start their own (location-independent) business, exploring the world figures into many FIRE-seekers’ plans. For some FIRE adherents, traveling or living abroad (aka “geoarbitrage”) is a fundamental part of their strategy for maintaining a low cost of living.
Travel can be even less expensive when your flights are free. That’s where Space-A comes in. If you’re an eligible veteran, military Space-A flights could be a key component in your plan for life after FIRE!
What is Space-A?
When military missions have extra seats after accommodating all space-required passengers and cargo, they often allow eligible passengers to “hop” the flights – free of charge – on a space-available basis. In these circumstances, the military mission is always the priority, and the Space-A passengers are along for the ride.
Eligible travelers can use seats on any mission that is accepting Space-A passengers. While most flights travel from one U.S. military base to another, there are many exceptions, and in theory, you could see a Space-A flight to just about anywhere.
Space-A is an incredible privilege earned through military service, but it’s not as simple as calling a military passenger terminal and “booking” a flight. For starters, you won’t know the flight schedules and number of Space-A seats available until 72 hours prior to a flight. Here is a detailed explanation of how the Space-A flying process works.
Who is Eligible to Fly Space-A?
Three main groups of veterans can fly Space-A after leaving the military:
- Retirees (including medically-retired service members) and their dependents
- Retired members of the Reserves who are not yet old enough to receive a military pension, (generally speaking, those under the age of 60)
- Veterans with a disability rating of 100%
The latter two groups can fly Space-A to any location in the United States and to U.S. Territories outside of the continental U.S. (OCONUS), but not to foreign countries. Their dependents are not eligible to fly Space-A.
How to Make the Most of Space-A Travel Post-FIRE
If you fall into one of the three categories above, you are eligible to use a privilege that could save you thousands of dollars per year on airfare.
Space-A works best when you have time and flexibility, as you are likely to have when you reach financial independence!
For example, let’s say you want to spend a few months exploring Southeast Asia. You take the first Space-A flight you can get to Asia, probably to Japan or Korea. From there, you purchase cheap commercial airfare (often less than $100/pp) to wherever you want to start your journey!
When you’re ready to return to the U.S. or travel somewhere else in the world (Australia anyone?), you simply go to a U.S. military base that has Space-A flights, and make your way to the next location.
One of the great things about flying Space-A is that you can stay where you are until you feel like leaving. You aren’t beholden to a set schedule or itinerary that seemed like a good idea when you booked it several months ago but no longer makes sense.
Similarly, if you’re thinking of moving abroad post-FIRE, the option to fly Space-A makes it much more affordable and feasible to return to the U.S. as needed. For example, if you choose Portugal, a very popular expat destination at the moment, you can easily fly in and out of Rota, Spain, which is less than a 3-hour drive from the Portuguese border.
Space-A is most useful for traveling to and within Europe, the Pacific, and of course, the United States. Flights to destinations in Central or South America are infrequent, so if your FIRE plans involve lots of travel to Latin America, you won’t be able to take advantage of Space-A very often.
Are Space-A Flights Really Free?
When flying on a cargo plane, yes. You pay nothing unless you want to purchase a box lunch for less than $10.
If you’re flying Space-A on the Patriot Express (aka the “rotator”), you will pay up to $35/pp for head taxes and fees.
Those are the only direct costs associated with a Space-A flight. The indirect costs include lodging, transportation, and meals while waiting for a flight. Given that Space-A flights are mission-driven, you could be waiting several days or more to get a seat in the direction you want to travel.
You can minimize the amount of time you spend waiting by avoiding travel – especially to/from OCONUS locations – during the busiest times of year: summer PCS season (generally from May to early September); during year-end holidays; and, to a lesser extent, during Spring Break season.
Ready to Travel the World?
If you’re a military retiree headed for FIRE and you love to travel, Space-A travel is the perfect way to stretch your budget and maintain the lifestyle you envision! It also gives you the flexibility to come and go as you please without worrying about losing money on changes fees or missed flights.
I know these strategies work because my husband and I have been FIRE since 2015. Using our privileges to fly Space-A has saved us thousands of dollars in the past four years.
The next step is to learn everything you can about how Space-A flights work so that you will be travel-ready when you hit your FIRE target!
I look forward to seeing you at a Space-A terminal somewhere in the world!
Many thanks to Stephanie for sharing her knowledge on Space-A travel as a retiree and FIREe!
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