One of the main reasons I joined the US Air Force was to have the chance to travel the world and so far, I haven’t been disappointed.
Last week, our management informed me that I was going TDY (temporary duty) to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany for advanced training for 2 1/2 weeks! I was pretty excited as it gave me a chance to travel some more and see parts of Europe I’ve never seen.
They gave me the option to book my own flights so I decided to look for routings that would take me to other places that lead to Frankfurt Main Airport. I checked several websites and found that there were cheap flights with KLM and Air France, two airlines that I have yet to try. The routing would give me a 1-day layover in Amsterdam on the way there and 10 hours in Paris on the way back. Most importantly, the ticket was below my allotted allowance so I was able to go ahead and book it. The other cheap and more common alternative was flying with RyanAir which is a popular low-cost carrier here in Europe. Since KLM and Air France are SkyTeam members, I will be able to leverage my Skyteam Elite Plus status since I am a Delta Platinum Medallion. This would enable me to use SkyTeam lounges, get Priority Access/Boarding, free checked-in luggage and get better seats. The best part is that I earn a 100% bonus on all the miles earned because of my status!
I then reserved a roundtrip shuttle service from Frankfurt Main Airport to Spangdahlem Airbase. Since we were required to stay in base lodging, I called up Spang and reserved a room for the duration of my class.
I then looked up travel options in Germany. Like most bases, Spang runs a travel agency on base and with research, I found out that they were doing an overnight trip to London in one of the weekends I was there. Since I haven’t been to London, I figured that this would be a great way to get introduced to the sights of the city. I’m also going to visit my friend Dan and Simon in the other Air Base in Germany over in Ramstein. Other than that, I plan to visit Luxembourg and the oldest city in Germany, Trier, while I’m there.
Long story short, it’s going to be a pretty hectic travel schedule for me for the next three weeks. It’s times like this when I appreciate all the travel opportunities that military has afforded me through the years. I’ll post more about each destination in the coming weeks! Stay tuned!
TravelhackRR 