JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The Air Force offers free airfare for spouses and dependents attending college in the Lower 48 through the Student Dependent Travel.
The spring college semester ends in May for most colleges, which means now is the time to file for student dependent travel.
“If someone has command-sponsored dependents in the Lower 48 for college, they can get a round-trip ticket to fly them up here and back down on the government’s dime,” said Master Sgt. Michael Wildt 673d Force Support Squadron, noncommissioned officer in charge of customer support. “The only catch is they have to be command-sponsored on the orders and have come up here on the government’s dime.”
With this program, one round-trip flight is authorized per dependent, per fiscal year. However, the dependent doesn’t have to use both legs of the flight all at once. Furthermore, the dependent does not have to be a child, spouses may also apply.
“They’ll fly them back on student dependent travel, and they still have that one-way ticket back up here later on in the year,” Wildt said. “So they could fly them up twice, but only pay for one one-way out of pocket.”
The allotted time frame resets on the fiscal year, not the calendar year. This is important to account for so as to not lose a flight when planning for a long delay between trips, Wildt said.
“It’s not really that difficult to apply for,” Wildt said. “They just fill the worksheet out, take it by [scheduled airlines ticket office] to get a [price] then over to finance for a quick verification. That’s about it.”
Participants should speak with the military personnel unit before making any travel plans as the process can take some time depending on the workload of the various units in the approval chain.
Wildt recommends planning at least 30 days out to allow for processing to ensure a successful venture.
“When I was a senior master sergeant at Yokota [Air Base], my daughter went to [college] in Ohio; they paid for her to fly over there and back when the school year was over,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jason Morgan, 703d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron superintendent. “It was relatively easy.”