The Question?

We’ve all heard the legends. New York to Amsterdam - $100, London to Cape Town - $150, Los Angeles to Bangkok - FREE! Back in the day (about 10 years ago) these were the airfares commonly taken advantage of by a very “hush, hush” crowd called air couriers. They got their savings by giving up their checked baggage allowance and transporting mail for an international courier company. For anyone that could be flexible with their travel plans, and didn’t mind traveling light, it was an amazing deal.

Unfortunately, however, all things change. Global shipping companies have made great advancements in efficiency, pricing, and speed of shipping. Also, in the post 9/11 world, courier companies face much stricter regulations and a have a lot more red tape to bypass to accomplish their job. This makes it much more difficult to move goods quickly, and makes it harder for them to effectively provide their services. So, the big question is: Is it still possible to fly for pennies as an air courier, or has this opportunity gone by the wayside in today’s modern world?

The Answer:

The answer to the question is YES, it is still possible to find great savings on air travel by traveling as an air courier. I’ve spent the past week doing a lot of research on this topic, and it seems clear that this is hardly the industry that it once was, but it is still out there, and still possible to find very discounted flights. Through my research, I found that the majority of companies that were involved in the air courier business in the late 1990’s have now either closed down, or switched their focus to another aspect of the transport industry. This tells us one thing: today there is far less demand for their services. However, not everyone has closed up shop, so there is still some demand out there, which means that it is still possible to use courier flights as a great way to save.

The big problem with courier flights for prospective couriers today, is there just aren’t as many opportunities as there used to be. Basically, the opportunities to fly courier are from the US to Asia, or from London to Asia, with occasional flights between the US (mainly the East Coast) and Europe (mainly London). You are usually allowed to spend up to 30 days in your destination, and then are expected to return on another courier run. Obviously you must be very flexible in planning flights, must be able to travel light (as you will lose your checked baggage allowance as shipping space for the courier company), and you have to be willing to wait for an open opportunity to present itself (which you may have to take advantage of with last minute notice). If you think you meet these requirements, you should be able to find what you are looking for in a courier flight, if not, you would probably be better off just searching consolidators and online sites for the best fares.

How much can I actually save?

While there aren’t as many courier opportunities out there as there used to be, the ones that ARE available, still pass great savings on to the courier. The following are standard courier fares that I found in contacting a few courier companies that are still in business:

All fares are roundtrip and are current for the Summer of 2007. They also, supposedly, include taxes and fees, but I have not yet been able to verify that statement.

• New York - Bangkok: $450

• Los Angeles - Hong Kong: $250
• Los Angeles - Singapore: $250
• San Francisco - Manila: $450

• London - Bangkok: £420

• London - Tokyo: £450
• London - NY: £220
• London - Miami: £265

How to get more information?

If you are interested in learning a little more about courier flights, I recommend you contact a few of the companies that offer them, so you can get a little more information specific to your particular situation and needs.

There are a number of agencies out there that work as booking agents for courier companies. In my research I only found one that is still involved in this field of work, and that is reputable: International Association of Air Travel Courier (IAATC). They charge a $45 annual fee for their services. In my research I joined the IAATC to find out first hand what they had to offer. While they do maintain an up-to-date list of courier flights currently available, and their prices, they do not actually do any of the work in arranging said flights. They just offer contact information for the courier company itself, so that prospective couriers can arrange the flight directly with the company. Also, with the reduced demand for courier flights these days, they only list flights for a handful of courier companies. For this reason, I would recommend against joining a booking organization like the IAATC, and just contacting individual courier companies on your own, for free.

As I have said above, there are really just a few courier companies still out there. My recommendation is to just contact them directly, tell them what you are looking for, and stay in contact with them for a few months to see if anything pops up.

Here are two to get you started:

Jupiter Air
1-310-670-1197
courier@jupiterair.com
*Operate out of the US

British Airways Travel Shops
00-44-(0)-870-606-1133
*Operate out of Great Britain

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