Hope Reeves
New York Times
...bargain seekers ...looking for a quick last-minute getaway
may find courier travel a rewarding way to get where they are
going.
Courier travel, which has been around since the 1970's and is
regulated by the F.A.A., is a way for companies to assure the
timely arrival of goods. Some courier companies only do business
with shippers like United Parcel Service and Federal Express,
who use the service when it's not practical to send a whole
plane, others do business with ordinary companies that need
items ferried from here to there as fast as possible--which
means as checked luggage, because items shipped as cargo can sit
around for days waiting to go through customs.
In exchange for giving up some or all of the checked baggage
allowance, a passenger can buy a ticket for 40 to 85 percent off
the regular fare, depending on the time of year and destination.
Flights can usually be booked up to three months in advance; the
closer to departure, the cheaper, and last-minute tickets can
even be free, with spending money and hotel thrown in to sweeten
the deal. Most tickets are round trip and allow for stays from a
few days to six months - and usually passengers can keep the
frequent flier miles. The deal is for one person, so a travel
companion must buy an ordinary ticket or, with some of the more
regular flights, fly in the next day or two as a courier. (On
the return flight, when the passenger is usually not acting as a
courier, the two travelers can often fly home together.) The
company, not the passenger, is responsible for the goods being
shipped, mainly documents or computer-related gadgets, and most
companies X-ray all packages before accepting them.
To qualify, you must be at least 18, in some cases 21, and have
a valid passport. It is the traveler's responsibility to obtain
any necessary visa.
Stop wasting time counting frequent flier miles: Air courier services let you travel for next to nothing.
So you want to go to Bangkok...There's still hope. If you're willing to leave at a moment's notice and limit yourself to carry-on baggage, you can get there and back for as little as $60.
Harvey Chipkin
Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel
Kelly Monaghan, the author of a book on air courier travel, says that when he was in San Francisco last fall, "if I had been able to leave for Singapore in two days, I would have been able to fly for free."
Monaghan says the best way to get a free flight is to be a regular courier. Make no mistake; deals are available--and with highly reliable air courier outfits.
Frommer's Pick for Top Courier Company
Michael McColl
trips
Once you've flown as a courier, you may never pay regular over-the-counter fares again.
Michael Kanellos
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Flying as a courier costs 50 percent to 85 percent less than the lowest book-in-advance fare.
Jay Clarke
Chicago Tribune
Joe Pita has the courier bit down to a science. With 10 days off a couple years ago, the Miami man arranged a round trip courier assignment to Hong Kong. His cost: $395.
That’s really cheap for a trip to Hong Kong, but Pita wasn’t through. When he reached Hong Kong, which he’d visited before, he asked if the courier company had any short assignments available and got a last-minute assignment at no cost to him to Bangkok.
He spent three days there, flew to Bali on his own for $70 for a three-day stay before latching on to a courier trip through Singapore back to Hong Kong. The trip to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Bali and Singapore cost him just $615 in air fare. And as a bonus, he was able to use his courier ID to get sizable hotel discounts.
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