AMC/MAC Flight Follow up - from Yokota

Since I know some military people read my blog, I thought I'd jot down some helpful AMC/MAC flight trips for flying out of Yokota....this is for Yokota only since it's all I have experience with:

- Prepare to be there for a long time. We spent anywhere from six to twelve hours at the air terminal each day. They have a terrible wifi, two Internet computers, a small lounge and a small playroom. They have an eatery that is open until 3pm and closed on Sundays and Mondays

- Come up with a back up plan. Decide how long you are willing to wait for a military flight. Some people have waited for 20 days. Maybe your back up plan is just to go back home.

- Don't listen to the rumors. You will hear A LOT of rumors about where a flight is going and how many seats are available. Don't listen to any of them. Get your official information from the check-in counter. Put in earphones to block out rumors.

- Only trust the information that comes from the front computers. The airmen working there can't give you anymore information than they can see in the computer, but they certainly try to act like they know more. Take anything they say with a grain of salt. I found that most try to draw from past experience to predict the flights. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

- Everyone is trying to get back to the US. Most of the people flying Space Available from Yokota are trying to get back to the US. Competition is strong even in the off season. If you're not Category II, expect to wait a week or more. If you're flying with a large group, expect to wait a week or more. The family of six ahead of us in Category two waited 9 days before giving up.

- Weather plays a big factor. These planes aren't the newest and the best. Some of them have been flying since the 1970's. Any bad weather can ground them and cut flights from the schedule.

- Plan for the Kanto Air Force Lodge to be full. Almost everyone I talked to said they did not have a problem getting reservations at the Kanto Lodge when they just showed up at their doorstep. The Lodge has 3,000 rooms. However, we DID have trouble getting a reservation. They were full the entire time we were there due to air crew coming up from other parts of Japan to avoid a typhoon. Even if they had empty rooms they were not allowed to give them out. Staying out in town costs twice as much as the lodge.

- Don't expect to get on the Seattle flight. Even in the off season every Space A person wants on the Seattle flight. I mean, why not, it goes directly to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. However, this plane and route was designed specifically to take people on orders back to the US. The military fills this flight FULL of people with orders, even in the off season, simply because it's cheaper than flying these people with a commercial aircraft. The most seats that were available on this flight while we were there was 4.