If you're considering using military Space-A travel to go home for the holidays, you'd be wise to consider the pro's and con's before your trip. As one of my First Sergeants used to tell me, “Forewarned is forearmed”. Having a solid picture of the holiday travel situation is a necessity before making a decision on the method of travel to go see grandma.

There are a number of key planning considerations to review that can help you feel a little better about your final decision.

Develop alternatives -- There are a number of different planning considerations. Incorporate all available information into a few different contingency plans, in other words, what if you become stranded enroute...  If it makes sense and you are well prepared then go for it.

Consider your category -- Just as with summer travel there will be a number of eligible space-a travelers including spouses of deployed service members, dependants and others that are also trying to get home for the holidays. If you are a retiree, Reserve or National Guard in category 6, take that into consideration. (For more information about travel categories follow this link).

Research -- The more research you do the better prepared you can be to decide the best course of action. I would suggest reading Spacea.net and research on my site, Pepperd.com to get a better idea of the big picture.

Reduced operational tempo --Keep in mind that when possible DoD activities will do everything they can to reduce operations to a minimum manning situation enabling flight crews to spend the holidays at home.

Time vs. Money -- Holidays or not, one of the major decision making factors is the time versus money continuum. How much leave (or vacation time) am I willing to give up to have a safety buffer allowing me to use space-a? Of course when you consider the cost of 4 commercial tickets from Europe or Japan to CONUS you could be talking about thousands of dollars.

I'm not going to tell you not to travel using space-a travel during the holidays, just be careful you don't wind up sitting around the Christmas tree, in the terminal this year.