Space-A Scout beta
Fly Space-A like you've done it a hundred times. Live boards, real roll-call results, and alerts from Scout, your guide on this journey.
Where do you want to go?
Type a base or a whole region (Ramstein, Germany, Japan, Hawaii) and see every flight heading that way, plus the roll-call history behind it.
New to this? , then through AMC's portal or by email. All free, all quick.
New to Space-A? How the game works in 3 steps
- Sign up early. Get on the list at every terminal you might fly out of. It's free, no commitment, and good for 60 days, so do it 45 to 50 days before you want to travel. AMC terminals now take an online sign-up; every terminal takes an email, and the email leaves you a dated record. Fill your traveler profile once and we write the email for you.
- Set a watch. Tell us where you want to go and we'll ping your phone and inbox the moment a matching flight hits the boards.
- Compete at roll call. Schedules only firm up 72 hours out. Mark yourself present (you can do it up to 24 hours ahead), show up early, and when they call your category, you're flying. .
Your alerts
Search a destination above and hit Watch, and Scout pings you the moment a matching flight posts. Push on your phone, email everywhere else. Free while in beta.
Am I eligible, and what category am I?
Two taps. Your category decides when your name gets called at every roll call, so it is worth knowing before anything else. Nothing here is stored anywhere but your own device.
Your traveler profile: auto-fills terminal sign-up emails
Fill this once and every "Sign up by email" button writes the whole email for you: name, category, party size, the works. This stays on your device. I don't store your profile on my servers, and that's on purpose.
Sign up at multiple terminals in one shot
Sign-up is free, no commitment, good for 60 days, and you can be on every list at once. There are two ways to do it, and the smart move is both.
2. Email the terminals directly, as your backup. Pick the terminals you might fly out of below and we will write one email, sent from your own inbox, so confirmations come straight back to you and your details never touch our servers. It works at every terminal, AMC or not, and it gives you a dated record in your sent folder if the portal loses you. Other tools send it for you from their system; a scout keeps his own comms.
Flight day: what actually happens
The part nobody explains until you are standing there. Everything below comes from AMC and terminal guidance, and where it varies by terminal we say so instead of guessing.
The day before
- Mark yourself present. You can do this up to 24 hours before the flight, at a terminal kiosk or with an agent at the counter. This is the step people miss. Being on the sign-up list is not the same as being marked present for a specific flight, and only marked-present travelers get called.
- Park in long-term. Do it before roll call, not during.
- Pack to the limits so nothing gets pulled apart at the counter. Limits are in the baggage section below.
- Have a way home. Space-A has no guarantees, so plan the return trip as if the flight might not happen.
What to bring
- Retired: your retired ID card (DD Form 2 Blue, or the newer USID).
- Guard or Reserve: your Reserve ID (DD Form 2 Red) and a signed DD Form 1853 from your unit. Without the 1853 you will be turned away.
- Active duty: your CAC and your leave authorization. Carry the actual leave form, not just an app.
- Family travelling with you: their ID cards, and you have to be with them.
- Going overseas: bring your passport, and check whether the destination country needs a visa. Ask the terminal what that specific country requires before you fly.
- Money for a commercial ticket. This is not advice, it is part of the official definition of travel ready.
Baggage, in numbers
- Two checked bags per person, 70 pounds each, up to 62 linear inches (length plus width plus height).
- Families can pool their allowance, so a party of three shares six bags.
- Carry-on: one bag plus one personal item, up to 45 linear inches, that fits under the seat or overhead.
- A standard B-4 duffle may go to 100 pounds and still counts as one piece. Only one of those.
- Over 70 pounds or over 62 inches counts as an extra piece. Paid excess baggage is only for people travelling on official orders, so a retiree cannot buy their way past the limit.
- Never in any bag: firearms, ammunition, explosives, flammable aerosols, fuels, corrosives, radioactive material.
Roll call, and how they pick
- Be travel ready when roll call starts. That means documents in hand, bags ready to check, everyone in your party there, car already parked.
- Seats get identified late. Anywhere from about three hours before departure to as little as thirty minutes. That is normal, not a bad sign.
- Selection runs by category, then by the date and time you signed up. Inside Cat VI, the retiree who signed up in March beats the one who signed up last week. That is the whole reason we tell you to sign up 45 to 60 days out.
- Your sign-up time follows you to your destination, so it keeps its value on the onward leg.
- Once you are marked present for a flight, another Space-A traveler cannot bump you off it.
If you do not get on
- You keep your place in line. Not being selected does not reset your sign-up date and time.
- Try the next flight, or a different terminal. This is exactly why the game plan ranks more than one gateway for you.
- Know the terminal's hours before you count on waiting there. Some are open around the clock, plenty are not. Call and ask.
- Set a watch so the next opportunity finds you instead of you refreshing a page.
The things that vary, so call and ask
Eyes on the ground: every scout makes the network stronger
Some terminals never post their schedules online. Facebook only, or just a slide taped up behind the counter. That's where you come in. Standing in one of those terminals? Snap a photo of the schedule board, or forward the terminal's post, to fly@spaceascout.com and tell us which terminal. We'll get it on the boards with a "traveler-reported" tag, and the traveler coming through behind you gets intel they couldn't find anywhere else.
This community has always run on exactly that: somebody ahead of you marking the trail. A thirty-second photo from you might be the reason a retired Marine and his wife make the Germany bird next week. Be the scout who called it in.
Send schedule intelThe Scout Report: free intel drops
I read these schedules every day so you don't have to. Drop your email and I'll send occasional dispatches: route trends, PE calendar changes, and hard-won lessons from the terminals. No spam, no selling your address. Marine's word.
What's free, what's Premium
Free, now and after beta
- Live 72-hour boards, all terminals
- Patriot Express 30-day outlook
- Roll-call receipts & Scout's read (seasonality + weekly rhythm)
- Watch alerts (push + email)
- Traveler profile & one-click sign-up emails
- The Scout Report
Premium: $49.99/yr (or $35 your first year, see below)
Nothing is paywalled during beta. Going Premium today backs the build, and buys what's coming:
- Trip Finder ranked game plans from a full year of roll-call results (live now, free for beta testers)
- Saved routes & multi-terminal trip watches
- Sign-up expiration reminders (60-day & Navy 45-day)
- First crack at every new feature
Share the hop, save $15: give us two Space-A-eligible friends or family to invite and your first year drops to $35. Every scout was told about Space-A by somebody. Be that somebody, get the discount.
Space-A words, in plain English
| Roll call | The moment at the terminal when staff call names and hand out that flight's seats. Be there early and marked present. |
| Category | Your place in line, Cat I through Cat VI. Emergency leave is Cat I and goes first. Retirees, veterans and Guard/Reserve are Cat VI, called last. |
| Sign up | Emailing a terminal to get on its list. Free, takes a minute, good for 60 days, and costs you nothing if you never show. Do it at several terminals. |
| Seats released | How many empty seats the crew freed up for Space-A on that flight. It can change right up to departure and often grows. |
| Made the cut | How far down the category list the terminal got before seats ran out. If they reached Cat VI, retirees got on. |
| Gateway | The terminal you fly out of. Some are far better than others for the same destination. |
| 72-hour board | The schedule a terminal posts about three days ahead. Earlier than that, plans change constantly. |
| Patriot Express | A scheduled military charter with a published 30-day calendar. Seats are unknown until about 72 hours out. |
| PCS | A permanent change of station, a military family moving. PCS season in summer fills a lot of seats. |
Reading a 72-hour schedule: seat codes
| F | Firm: that many Space-A seats are expected to be released |
| T | Tentative: seats possible but not confirmed; always show up and compete, even at "0T" |
| TBD | To Be Determined: seat count unknown until near departure (can turn into 80+) |
| SP | Seats Pending: awaiting confirmation |
| VRC | Via Roll Call: seats announced at roll call |
Remember: sign up ~45–50 days out (email is fine, it's free) · one active sign-up per terminal · schedules firm up only 72 hours out · mark yourself present before roll call · two checked bags, 70 lb each · as of Oct 2025, BWI–Ramstein is the only Patriot Express to Europe.