Military Airfare Reduction Program (Petition - please sign)

Blue Star Mothers of America WebSite ^ | April [?]. 2003 | Blue Star Moms

[boxerblues]

Just for curiousity sake.. do they tell the soldiers this is available? or is this just suppose to be common knowledge in the military. I know this was mentioned on FR not to long ago, but my son was clueless as to what I was talking about when I asked him if he knew anything about it.


The cost of flying him to Atlanta was within a few dollars as flying him to Seattle, so no savings there

[armymarinemom]

My sons have never been able to catch SATO flights during block leave. MAC flights are next to impossible to catch.
For the past couple of years leave times are changed more often and alerts occur more frequently than they used to occur. That makes it risky to purchase non-refundable tickets which are usually cheaper. This leaves most of the military paying for full booking prices when they travel.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Zavien Doombringer]

No, I don't suppose they do, it is one of those things that you have to search. To Airmen it is common knowledge, but to soldiers, I don't know.

[Zavien Doombringer]

For the past couple of years leave times are changed

I suppose they have. I have checked out a few things related to this. MAC Flights have increased on AF bases, but dwindled down from Naval bases. Because Space A has gotten more popular, the availability is dependant on the time of year. Christmas and Holiday seasons, you will never get a flight unless you have EMR leave. That puts you in a higher category for a seat. But at those time, everyone is using EMR leave. EMR during the rest of the year you pretty much can get a seat. Another way to get a seat is ask for unscheduled flights. I got on a KC-10 from Clark AB to Guam that was unscheduled. Plus the Load Master announced the Flight is an Inflight refueling mission and it would take 5 hours to get to Guam, and the Lavatories didn't work. The line went from 150 to 25 people. I was one of the 25. The lavs worked and after a 30 min refuel of a Blackbird from Okinawa, we were in Guam in one and a half hours. You just have to have time and patience for the system to work for you. In the event of an emergency, you can go standby on an airline and get preference for an emergency.

[TruthNtegrity]

Ping!

[MeekOneGOP]

Freeped and bumped !!

	Name	Address	Political Party
9224.	R. Meek		Republican /Proud Member VRWC

[Long Cut]

Thank you VERY much for doing this. The cost of airfare on short notice, both for leave and some family emergencies not covered under the Red Cross sometimes smashes a young serviceman's wallet up good. For example, next year I will be stationed in Maine. My wife and baby will be living in Florida! Thus, I'll be grabbing as many weekend hops home as humanly possible, but I will need to take commercial air at some points, and the cost is brutal.

Any airline willing to give us a break like this would, trust me, recieve our UNDYING loyalty and gratitude. It would be great for them in the long-term!

Hell, we'll even agree to wear our uniforms to make everything look nice, and we'll take care of any terrorists who pop up just for fun.

Believe me, the airline that eventually does this will have military vets using it forever, and their kids, too.

We ALWAYS remember who supports us.

Thanks again for the efforts. It's appreciated.

[gcruse]

Seems to me that we, the American People, are already providing vast subsidies to the airlines.

I don't think we are subsidizing Southwest but we might have to if we force them to lose money on military fliers.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Signed and Bumped!

[NonValueAdded]

"I don't think we are subsidizing Southwest but we might have to if we force them to lose money on military fliers."

IMO, Southwest is probably one of the better airlines for a soldier to choose and not get gouged in the process. With respect to your comment, it depends on the meaning of the word "lose" to borrow a phrase.

As near as I can figure it, the difference between a seat sold 21 days in advance and one sold in the last 24 hours before flight is the "cost of money" or the interest that could be earned on the advance payment. At a generous 4% rate of return, this is about 65 cents on a $250 airfare.

Granted, there might be other savings having advanced headcount, etc., but I don't think anyone is saying to sell the seats below the airline's cost. The only "loss" I can see is the loss of gouging a last minute customer on a seat that could fly empty.

I remember belonging to a program Eastern Airlines had that offered seats at a deep discount 3 days prior to the flight. I think it was the "weekender" program and it made a lot of sense for them to fill unreserved seats for a great price yet still at a profit over the incremental costs of one more passenger. Isn't that more or less what the Mom's are asking for here?

[gcruse]

Last heavy travelling I did was the Thanksgiving after 9/11. There were not empty seats. What is being suggested here would be either have troops waste their leave waiting at airports for empty seats that might not exist, or make the airline sell them cheaper tickets. I don't support either of these. AAMOF when I was in service, I paid whatever the fare was and never gave it a second thought. But that was then.

[shezza]

SATO quoted me their "cheapest" flight in early August (3 months out) from Baltimore to London at nearly $1600. Same dates directly from the airlines were below $500, some as low as $300 round trip. I have ALWAYS found cheaper flights for darling husband's TDY by going through airline internet portals, but his arrangements are nevertheless made through SATO for a few hundred more dollars. Go figure.

I think the STANDBY (read: for empty seats, not bumping high-paying passengers, gcruse) at the advance-purchase price fare for military passengers would be terrific.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

May 9 Spouse Appreciation Day - 2003

Thank You to all the military wives and husbands reading this.

Proclamation 5184 -- Military Spouse Day, 1984

April 17, 1984 By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

Since the early days of the Continental Army, the wives of our servicemen have made unselfish contributions to the spirit and well-being of their fighting men and the general welfare of their communities.

Throughout the years, as the numbers of our married men and women in uniform have grown and as their military missions have become more complex and dispersed, their spouses have made countless personal sacrifices to support the Armed Forces. In many instances, they subordinated their personal and professional aspirations to the greater benefit of the service family. Responding to the call of duty, they frequently endured long periods of separation or left familiar surroundings and friends to re-establish their homes in distant places. And there they became American ambassadors abroad.

As volunteers, military spouses have provided exemplary service and leadership in educational, community, recreational, religious, social and cultural endeavors. And as parents and homemakers, they preserve the cornerstone of our Nation's strength -- the American family.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 23, 1984, as Military Spouse Day, in recognition of the profound importance of spouse commitment to the readiness and well-being of service members on active duty and in the National Guard and Reserve, and to the security of our Nation. I invite all the Armed Forces, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, the Departments of Defense and Transportation, the Governors of the several States, the chief officials of local governments, and the people of the United States to observe this day in an appropriate manner.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:22 a.m., April 18, 1984]

[lilylangtree]

Doesn't the active duty military have access to any military transports that fly?

[lilylangtree]

Done with 9,264 signatures

[Republican Party Reptile]

Yield management, airlines count on able to charge low rate for advanced booking to fill certain seats, and also count on last minute full fares to book certain other seats - the mix of differnt seats bought at different price points is suppsoed to yield the optimal mix of able to attract passengers (at lower price points for advanced purchases) as well as flying at a positive revenue (depending on the yield mix, the much fewer numbers of higher fares sometimes actually make up the bulk of revenue/profit generated for the flight).

[The Mayor]

Thanks for the Ping Tonk!

I signed it, it is a worthy cause they don't get paid enough to begin with and this just makes it harder.