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City Pairs travel for dummies

Buffmeyer

Buffmeyer

Member
...I'm the dummy.

Travelling long distance for drill. I'm on a sweet memo called "City Pairs authorized" but Navy customer service is par for the course and I have to pull down some know-how.

Memo: "Make travel arrangements through a local CTO or directly through the airlines." Uncontactable my first few tries (SATO HI). They have their standard welcome mat out on the recorded message, "Don't contact us unless it's an emergency or <24 hours to travel."

Surfing around, found: Ref.: https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/transportation-airfare-pov-etc/city-pair-program-cpp
- Implies one uses DTS to get tickets, is that the truth? Or do you just contact the airline directly and use the GTCC?

Pls fill my brain if you've done any city pairs wrangling.
 
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
My knowledge is rusty, but when I was an AO, the CPP was just a method the USG used to reduce the cost of travel for its members. AFAIK, you should still book travel in DTS, or use your normal method of USG travel booking. The CPP rate will be used, if applicable- it's fairly transparent to you.

I never ran into trouble when booking travel for myself or others through DTS. Can't speak to any changes in the past 3 years or so, however.
 
devilbones

devilbones

Arashikage トーマス・嵐影
CPP you book through DTS and pay for it yourself. You can use your GTCC but you are on the hook to take care of the payment.
 
Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Are you on orders (for that drill) that authorize travel? If not, don’t bother with the DTS mess.
 
Buffmeyer

Buffmeyer

Member
Griz882 said:
Are you on orders (for that drill) that authorize travel? If not, don’t bother with the DTS mess.
Click to expand...
No. It's just the standard IDTs - I'm stacking a few/flex drilling. So no, not anything with NROWS-generated orders. The only proof I would have is the ol' NSIPS EDM printout.

Thanks for the clarity, I use DTS once a year and I get rusty. Hated it while on AD too.
So far it looks like 1 vote for use DTS, and 1 against...

Edit:
Aaaaand I finally got a human at the NOSC... they are saying use DTS, find and book a flight. It would be my pref not to use it but - So begins my latest chapter of e-hell. I'll try SATO again just to see what they say, if I can actually get through.
 
Last edited:
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
If it’s your dime, I’d just pick the method that’s most convenient for you and your budget to make it to drill. Why bother with city pairs?
 
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
Buffmeyer said:
Save $$$, hopefully.
Click to expand...

In your shoes, I'd probably give DTS a try, but if it gets painful, skip it for a favored airline/credit card rewards combo. CPP savings depends on where you're going- sometimes I actually found DTS more expensive than Travelocity (this is occasionally true in the corporate world, too!)

Good luck!
 
snake020

snake020

Contributor
Buffmeyer said:
...I'm the dummy.

Travelling long distance for drill. I'm on a sweet memo called "City Pairs authorized" but Navy customer service is par for the course and I have to pull down some know-how.

Memo: "Make travel arrangements through a local CTO or directly through the airlines." Uncontactable my first few tries (SATO HI). They have their standard welcome mat out on the recorded message, "Don't contact us unless it's an emergency or <24 hours to travel."

Surfing around, found: Ref.: https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/transportation-airfare-pov-etc/city-pair-program-cpp
- Implies one uses DTS to get tickets, is that the truth? Or do you just contact the airline directly and use the GTCC?

Pls fill my brain if you've done any city pairs wrangling.
Click to expand...
I have been using this program for the last year. Email the CTO at SATO New Orleans, as they're the prime contact for Navy Reserve.

What I do is look up the commercial flights on the site of the carrier that has the contract for point A to point B, and then I ask the CTO to book those flights under the GSA contract.

It was a bit of a pain to get set up with them as they need your GTCC and the best way is to pass it over the phone, but one of the reps there worked with me and called me rather than my having to wait hours and hours in that queue of madness. Once they have your GTCC and the memo, you can work with them via email to book your trips:

NewOrleansCTO@cwtsato.com

As some of the other posts have suggested, the prices may be cheaper than commercial fares, but for some routes they are more expensive. Research before booking:

Airline City Pairs - Search Awards

cpsearch.fas.gsa.gov cpsearch.fas.gsa.gov
 
Buffmeyer

Buffmeyer

Member
@snake020

Super bro-fist. Thanks. I will have to ask them for help with one alternate "Other Government Rate" flight as the GSA contracted ones take a massive detour before U-turning to my destination.

I've always put my best foot forward but there are so many DTS showstoppers (glitches, greyed out boxes you can't uncheck, etc.), no less the original "how do I even get started" aspect. I don't think it's ever gotten easier - and yes, the hours at a time to get through one critical wicket is bananas. I don't feel valiant trying harder, just dumber. Love doing all this $H!+ in the middle of the night too.
 
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