Marine Highway System policies ease travel for service members

  • Published
  • By Airman Valerie Monroy
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Recently, changes to the Alaska Marine Highway System's policies have caused stress for service members.

In an effort to assist them, Alaska Marine Highway System officials have exempted military members from their new pay-in-advance policy.

Though personal travel on the popular transportation method will still fall under the pay-in-advance policy, military members making a permanent change-of-station move can call the AMHS Juneau Reservations Central Office to avoid these charges.

In a letter to installation leadership, Alaska Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Michael Neussl said once a reservation is made, AMHS will hold the reservation until 60 days prior to the sailing date without payment.  At 60 days before the sailing date, unless other arrangements are made, unpaid reservations will be canceled to allow AMHS to sell the space in an effort to improve capacity utilization. 

"Before the new standards were implemented a customer could potentially make and break as many reservations as they desired without any fees," said Tech. Sgt. William Sousa, 673d Comptroller Squadron flight chief.

The AMHS noticed individuals making numerous reservations because they didn't know exactly when they were going to move.

With so many reservations going unused, AMHS lost revenue and other travelers were unable to travel when they needed to. This led to travelers needing to book their ferry itinerary up to six months out.

The intent the new policy was to limit lost revenue due to late cancellations or no-shows and free unused space for additional travelers. However, because ferries are often booked months in advance, this made PCS booking with a government travel card nearly impossible.

In the letter, Neussl explained they wanted to continue to ensure Alaska remained a military-friendly state.

For this reason, military members can book official travel by providing the service member's name and phone number, as well as the phone number of the service member's first sergeant, company commander or executive officer, or another senior leader who can verify their status during AMHS spot checks. 
Though military members cannot receive orders six months out, they should be able to meet the new 60-day requirement.

"We asked Air Force Personnel Center if it is possible to get orders earlier so military members may legally charge their GTC for the ferry reservations," said Sousa.  "AFPC replied that members may have their orders up to 120 days in advance if they complete all requirements in a timely manner. We have confirmed with the MPF that the primary reason for delay in obtaining PCS orders is not completing all requirements identified when notified of an assignment."
Exempt reservations cannot be made on-line.

Military members must call the AMHS Juneau Reservations Central Office at (800) 642-0066.