Fly Free: The Courier Route

Did you know that international corporations will

pay for you to fly to Zurich...or Paris...or Rome? All
you have to do in return is agree to carry time-
sensitive business cargo (it could be files or computer
discs, for example) to your destination. You may never
have to touch, let alone actually carry, the bags.
Representatives of the firm that has hired you will
take care of all the dirty work. All you have to do is
check the cargo as your luggage.
It's called traveling as an air courier. And it's
perfectly legal. Thousands of travelers do it every
year. As an air courier, you fly like any other
passenger on the plane, enjoying the same comforts and
amenities. There are only two differences. First, you
don't have any checked luggage (just your carry-on
bags). And second, you don't pay full fare for your
ticket. In fact, you may not pay anything at all.
But more than that, there is something exciting,
even romantic about traveling as an air courier. You
can be called up for duty with little more than a day
or two notice -- like a foreign correspondent or an
international spy. What an adventure, to receive a
telephone call asking if you can leave for the Far East
in 24 hours...or if you're interested in flying to
London in the morning.
Of course, it can be much less spontaneous, if you
prefer. Some courier services allow you to make
reservations weeks or months in advance.
Making The Connection
You want to fly to Sydney, Australia, and then
take off for a grand adventure Down Under...exploring
Queensland's rain forest...sailing the Great Barrier
Reef...maybe traveling northwest from Sydney to Mudgee,
a little, undiscovered town cradled in the Cudgegong
Valley on the western side of the Great Dividing Range,
where you can visit stud and sheep ranches, go
prospecting for gold, and marvel at Frog Rock (a huge
sedimentary amphibian that crouches beside the road)...
But the cheapest round-trip ticket to Sydney
you've been able to find costs US$1,500 -- considerably
more than your pocketbook can afford.
Don't give up on your trip. Pick up the phone and
call a courier service. Explain where you want to
travel and when and ask if the service has any packages
going to that destination at that time. Most services
require that you call not more than 60 days in advance
of your trip.
If it is your first time looking for work as a
courier, it might be better to make the initial contact
by letter rather than telephone. Tell the service a
little about yourself, include a resume, and assure
them that you are flexible, available, eager to travel,
and accustomed to packing light (remember, you'll only
be allowed your carry-on luggage). Then follow up on
this letter with a phone call, requesting a specific
assignment.
But before you accept an assignment, verify the
terms of the arrangement. Some services no longer
offer free tickets to their couriers; some offer only
deeply discounted tickets. In fact, as the occupation
becomes more popular, it is becoming harder and harder
for couriers to travel free. Years ago, courier
services not only provided couriers with free airfare
to their destination, but they paid them a fee as well.
Today, this is unheard of.
It is still possible to get free airfare, though,
but you may have to shop around. And you probably will
have to settle for a last-minute booking. Even if you
can't get your ticket for free, you will be able to get
it for about 70% less than you could buy it anywhere
else.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you can
bargain for a fare. If you're interested in flying in
two months to Buenos Aires, you may not be able to find
a free ticket. (Remember, free tickets are usually
associated with last-minute bookings.) But neither do
you have to settle for the first fare quoted you.
Haggle. Bide your time. The closer it gets to the
date of departure, the more eager the courier service
will be to make a deal.
The only red tape involved is an application form
that the courier service will ask you to fill out.
Some services also charge minimal annual registration
fees.
The reason for couriers
More and more businesses are using courier
services. The reasons are simple. First, nearly all
major businesses now operate internationally. When
someone says, "I want it on my desk by 9 a.m.," he
doesn't care that the person he's speaking to is
halfway around the world. If packages or documents are
shipped by traditional methods, they can take hours,
even days to clear customs. Not so with material
shipped with a courier. It clears customs within
minutes of landing at the airport, just like any other
passenger's luggage.
Second, material shipped with a courier flies on a
scheduled airline, and, because of that, it usually
flies on time.
So, when a marketing manager in Des Moines wants
to send the results of his most recent studies to his
affiliate in Hamburg -- and ensure that they reach
their overseas destination by 9 the next morning -- he
picks up the telephone and calls an international air
freight company.
The major freight companies, such as Federal
Express and DHL International, fly their own planes and
therefore have no need of couriers. Smaller
operations, however, must rely on courier services to
arrange for the transport of their parcels. These
freight companies contact a courier service, which in
turn tries to find a free-lance courier who wants to
fly -- immediately -- to Germany, for example. If you
happen to call the courier service that same afternoon,
you're on your way to Europe.
For your part, the work involved is minimal.
Always check in the day before you are scheduled to
depart to make sure the time or the flight or the
carrier has not been changed. This is not a formality;
it is a safeguard. It is not unusual. In fact, it is
common for courier flights and times to be changed at
the last minute.
Once you're sure of your flight, simply arrive at
the airport about an hour ahead of your departure time.
A representative from the freight service will deliver
the material to the airport and check it in as the
baggage for your ticket. You'll then be given the
ticket, the baggage claim check, and a form detailing
the contents of the baggage.
When you arrive at your destination, another
representative from the freight service will meet you
at the airport, where you'll retrieve the baggage,
clear it through customs, and then take off to enjoy
your trip. The service is responsible for making sure
that the contents of the baggage are as they should be
and that they are delivered where they are supposed to
go. Your only responsibility is walking the parcel
through customs.
The courier service will have given you a sheet
with instructions for your return flight. Don't lose
it. And the day before you are scheduled to return
home, again check in with the courier service to verify
your flight time.
Finding a service
To find a courier service, you could simply open
your local yellow pages, look under "Air Courier
Services," and then call each firm listed to see if
they use free-lance couriers and if they provide free
tickets or only discounted tickets. But you'll
probably be disappointed. The services that advertise
in the yellow pages rarely use free-lance couriers and
never give free tickets.
A better way to start is to contact Now Voyager,
74 Varick St., Room 307, New York, NY 10013; (212) 431-
1616, a large courier service that deals with a lot of
different freight companies and uses a lot of free-
lance couriers. Call between 6 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. to
hear a tape recording detailing all available flights
and prices; call in the afternoon to book flights.
Other courier services that use free-lance
couriers and that sometimes offer free tickets to their
couriers include:
Airhitch, 2790 Broadway, Suite 100, New York, NY
10025; (212) 864-2000
Courier Network, 295 Seventh Ave., New York, NY
10001; (212) 691-9860
Halbart Express, 147-05 176th St., Jamaica, NY
11434; (718) 656-8279 or (718) 656-8189
 International Courier Travel, 5757 W. Century
Blvd., Suite 700-26, Los Angeles, CA 90045; (505) 758-
7911
TNT-Skypak, 38 E. 29th St., New York, NY 10003;
(212) 532- 5777
World Courier, 137-42 Guy R. Brewer Blvd.,
Jamaica, NY 11434; (718) 978-9552 or (718) 978-9400
Courier Travel Services Ltd., 346 Fulham Road,
London SW10 9UH, United Kingdom; tel. 71-351-0300. Polo
Express Services Ltd. (a subsidiary of British Airways)
2 Fitzharding Street, London W1H 9 PN, United Kingdom;
tel. 81-759-5383
Air Facility, Esmeralda 634, 4oB, Buenos Aires,
Argentina; tel. (54-1) 322-7720.
Jupiter Air Ltd., Ground Floor, Block 2, Tien Chu
Centre, 1 E Mokcheong St., Tokwawan, Kowloon, Hong
Kong; tel. (852) 761-1303, fax (852) 761-1029.
Jupiter Air Oceania Ltd., Unit 4 154-166 O'Riordan
St., Mascot, NSW 2020, Australia; tel. (61-2) 317-2113;
fax (61-2) 317-2238.
Jet Services Roissy, Batiment 3416, Module 700,
Route du Midi, 95707 Roissey, France; tel. (33-14) 862-
6222, fax (33-14) 862-6246.
Discount Travel International, 169 W. 81st Street,
New York, NY 10024; tel. (212) 362-8113, fax (212) 362-
3236.
Way to Go, 6679 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028
USA; tel. (213) 466-1126, fax (213) 466-8994.
For more information
For more on traveling as a courier, read Air
Courier Bargains by Kelly Monaghan, available from
Inwood Training Publications, Box 438, New York, NY
10034-9959. The cost is US$14.95. Another good
reference is Fly There For Less by Bob Martin,
available from TeakWood Press, 160 Fiesta Drive,
Kissimmee, FL 34743 USA. The cost is US$8.95.
Steve Lantos is the publisher of Travel Unlimited,
a monthly newsletter on international courier travel
from the U.S., Canada, and Britain. The address is P.
O. Box 1058, Allston MA 02134 USA.
Contact the International Asssociation of Air
Travel Couriers (IAATC), 8 South J Street, P. O. Box
1349, Lake Worth, F: 33460 USA; tel. (407) 582-8320.
The IAATC charges an annual fee of US$35.