I am wanting to go back to the states around Sept. sometime.  Does anyone have any info/tips on Space A travel? 

Is this for a PCS or leisure?

The summer months (and Holidays) everyone and their brother attempt to get them so there will be a tremendous amount of folks for just a few seats here and there.

If it's a PCS move you could do it because you would have a higher priority than the 10,000 people on EML leave  in Korea, Japan, Okinowa too, and Guam trying to get out at the same time.  My experience is that it's a great benefit as long you have the "time" to be delayed somewhere and the "funds" in case you get stuck somewhere.

Category I:
Emergency travel on a round-trip basis in connection with serious illness, death, or impending death of a member of the immediate family of the following:

United States citizen civilian employees of the DoD stationed overseas.

Full-time, paid personnel of the American Red Cross serving with United States military services overseas.

Uniformed service family members whose sponsors are stationed within the Continental United States (CONUS) and the emergency exists overseas.

Family members of United States citizen civilian employees of the DoD when both sponsor and dependents are stationed overseas at the same location.

Category II:
Sponsors on environmental and morale leave (EML) and accompanied family members.

DoD Dependent School (DoDDS) teachers and their accompanied family members in EML status during school year holiday or vacation periods.

Category III:
Members of the uniformed services in an ordinary or reenlistment leave status and uniformed services patients on convalescent leave. Members on convalescent leave may not travel overseas unless their leave form is so annotated.

Military personnel traveling on permissive temporary duty (TDY) orders for house hunting.

If the permissive TDY is for the purpose of permanent change of station house hunting, the member travels in Category III and can be accompanied by one family member.

Bona fide family members (up to age 23 with a valid identification card) of a service member of the uniformed services when accompanied by their sponsor who is in an ordinary leave status within overseas areas between overseas stations and air terminals in the CONUS.

This privilege does not apply to travel of dependents to or from a sponsor's restricted or unaccompanied tour location or to travel in a leave status to or from TDY locations. It applies only to round-trip travel to an overseas area or the CONUS with the sponsor. DoD 4515.13-R restricts use of these privileges to establish a home for family members in an overseas area or the CONUS.

Foreign exchange service members on permanent duty with the DoD, when in a leave status.

Category IV:
Unaccompanied family members (18 years or older) traveling on EML orders. Family members under 18 must be accompanied by an adult family member who is traveling EML.

DoDDS teachers or family members (accompanied or unaccompanied) in an EML status during summer break.

Category V:
Students whose sponsor is stationed in Alaska or Hawaii.

Students enrolled in a trade school in the CONUS when the sponsor is stationed overseas.

Military personnel traveling on permissive TDY orders for other than house hunting.

Category VI:
Reserve components/members.

Retired military members who are issued DD Form 2 and eligible to receive retired or retainer pay.

Family members (up to age 23 with a valid identification card) of retired members when accompanied by a sponsor.

NOTES:
A. Space available (Space A) eligible travelers may not use their privilege for personal gain or in connection with business enterprises or employment. Space A travel may not be used to establish a home or when international or theater restrictions prohibit such travel.

B. Family members may not travel within the CONUS except as follows: Family members may travel on domestic leg segments of international flights during the beginning or end of their international flight. For example, if a flight originates in Texas, stops in California as part of the mission, and then continues overseas, family members eligible for travel may fly from Texas to the overseas area on the flight. They may not, however, travel just simply Texas to California.

C. Remember Space A seats are normally identified as early as 3-4 hours and as late as 30 minutes prior to departure. Recommend you check with the passenger service center for the space available show time for your flight prior to departing the terminal. Be ready for immediate processing and boarding.

Thank you so much for that info! I am a spouse just traveling for leisure to visit family back in the states. Do you have any information on traveling from Iwakuni? Someone told me they think a flight leaves from there on a weekly basis to Washington. Is the month of September one of those "extremely busy months"? Is there a flat fee for a space A seat or is the fee determined when you actually get the seat? I am very unfamiliar with the way this process works. I apoligize if any questions seem silly.

Space-A means "Space Available" the plus side is it costs you nothing.... Except for the box lunches which are a good deal anyway. The down side is you only get on if there's room and no one in a higher category bumps you. It's similar to airline employees getting to fly stand by in many ways except they have many flights to try to get on.

What you are doing is hitch-hiking on an airplane where ever it's headed. I took a few out of Korea and went to Japan, Ak, Hi on my way to the East coast, then you have to figure out how to get from that point to your destination.

You can call the AMC terminal and check on weekly flights.

Yes, there is a weekly flight from Iwakuni to Seattle. It makes stops along the way such as Yokota, Misawa & Anchorage. Therefore, the total flight is pretty long. The route & schedule changes sometimes, but I think the flight leaves Iwakuni Saturday morning each week. It's called the Patriot Express, or Freedom Bird to some old-timers (like me). This is a charter airliner.

There is a fee for any Space A to/fm the States, but very minimal. Something like $22 to cover customs fee. Sept is the tail end of the peak season; I would guess Cat II or III passengers have pretty good odds. In general, if it's not during summer/winter/spring holidays, you've got good odds.

The #1 rule for flying Space A is: Stay flexible. Nothing is guaranteed! You could call Iwakuni & they have 20 seats, and when you get here you don't get on. So don't buy non-refundable connecting tickets from SEATAC; it's too risky. There's also no guarantee you can catch a Space-A flight coming back, so be prepared to pay for late-notice, full fare return tickets which can be crazy expensive. If you are flexible, it's all fun. Good luck!

Thank you very much for all the great information! I have a much better understandng of how things work now! :-)

Um, if you're in Sasebo though, the problem becomes a matter of getting from here to anywhere with a runway set up for Space-A.
The Blue Bus can get you to Fuk for free, but that's a major city, not a base with an airfield.
Getting from here to Iwakuni is a pain in the butt.

I remember seeing flights from Yokota to Fukuoka on the AMC screens at the MAC terminal. Are those flights available for space A travel?

The local channel we get on Yokota will list each flight and the seats available for Space A so if there is a flight going anywhere all you have to is look at the seats part to figure it out.

You can always call the terminal and ask them too, things change all the time with them.  I noticed they have become much more restrictive for Space A these days.  At one time you could jump on anything headed nearly anywhere now you have to narrow down your destination and connecting countries when you sign up which limits the unknowns some.  As an example if you are going from Japan to the US and you didn't select Korea as a possible stop over country they may not let you board a flight from Yokota to Travis if has a stop over in Korea, make sure to ask them about that when you sign up.  Where that would really get you is if you were on EML and your supervisor signed your paperwork in Yokosuka saying you could transition through Japan and the US and now you show up on Sunday for that flight out of Yokota.

If you see a flight headed to Diego Garcia you won't see any seats on it for Space A, the only people authorized on that flight is personnel assigned there.

Any Space A from Iwakuni to Camp Zama or near it?

Atsugi is right by Zama and yes, there are regular flights from Iwakuni to Atsugi. For one thing, Iwakuni has only a medical clinic, not a hospital. So people needing more advanced health care are medivac'd to Yokosuka on a fairly regular basis. This means a short-notice flight to Atsugi. Plus many other types of flights as well.

Also, there are even more frequent flights to Yokota. From there, you can get to Zama by train in an hour or so.