So for months I've been telling the outprocessing folks that I wanted to leave from Seattle instead of Norfolk, VA for Korea. No problem until I go to pick up my tickets. They had me leaving from Norfolk, I went into the ticket folks to get it changed, and they tell me the AF will no longer allow you to pick you port call location, they will only pay for travel from the departing duty station to the new duty station.

I say "but this will save the AF money!!" but they say there is nothing they can do. Since I have unchangeable plans for my leave in route in WA, I would have to fly from Spokane, WA back to Norfolk on my own dime, just to get back on a plane and fly across the country in the other direction to get to Korea. 31+ hours traveling. No thanks.

I looked into the tickets anyway, it would be only 40 dollars more to fly from Seattle to Seoul than it would be to fly from my leave location to Virginia. So - I purchased my own ticket to Korea. I know I won't get reimbursed for it, but what would you do? $40 = 20 less hours of travel.

This whole PCS has been a mess, totally different from past PCS's. When I get to Osan, I think I will be putting in a Fraud, Waste, and Abuse complaint. I can see denying a port call change if it would cost the gov't money or would disrupt a mission, but since thats not the case, they should welcome cost savings.

Ok, thanks for listening to my rant. Hope it helps someone in their planning if they are taking leave enroute.

I understand what you're saying. I wanted to fly from LAX or Seatle, the same as I did back in '99, but was told no. I had to leave out of Atlanta or purchase my own ticket and only be imbursed $753.

Sorry that they are giving you a hard time. We went to from Hill to Pittsburgh before coming to Korea. Hubby had to pay from his ticket from PIT to SFO which would be reimmbursable up to like $40 or something. I guess just like with any other organization on base it's all about who you talk to.

I drove from Albuquerque to CA for TDY and leave enroute. I flew out of SFO with no problem. Don't know why your MPF give you such a hard time.

You SHOULD be able to turn your unused gov't plane ticket in. Gov't tickets are always fully refundable. From there, since the gov didn't buy your ticket, you should be able to get reimbursed for your own travel expenses, up to the cost of a gov fare.
Might want to look into a circuitous travel request while you're doing your homework...
And, oh yeah, get your commander involved: that's some BS from your MPF.