We first heard of traveling this way through an acquaintance.
Being the curious and adventurous types we are, we explored further and it wasn’t
long before we were veterans of the most fantastic way to travel since the invention of
the airplane. This is how it works.
The industry was created to satisfy the rigid demands of clientele that ship time
sensitive documents and merchandise out of the country. Items that need to be received on
a next day basis and not tangled up in customs often have to be hand carried. To spare the
different organizations the time and expense of transporting the items themselves, the on
board courier was invented.
The company shipping the parcel or baggage hires the Courier Company to ship the item
for them, guaranteed same or next day delivery. The Courier Company advertises for or
contacts a known traveler to transport the items, and a deal is struck between the two.
The shipping company pays a premium to have the items delivered in this way; the courier
company makes a deal with the air line, especially if they ship on a regular basis, and
the on board courier gets a fantastic break in his or her air fare. It’s a
win-win-win situation all the way around. Even the airline makes out, as they are
guaranteed so many seats sold over a given time period. We traveled by courier so often,
we joined a group that made the process much easier.
To spare ourselves the time and trouble of having to locate and contact many of the
courier companies, we joined a very active (at the time) clearing house organization that
provided information on a regular basis on courier companies all over the world that used
on-board couriers. The name of that organization is International Association of Air
Travel Couriers (IAATC). courier.org
They published two newsletters every two months to all members. The first contained
informative and pertinent information, along with features written by members describing
recent experiences on trips. I was a contributing Editor to that publication (The
Shoestring traveler).
The second publication listed all the upcoming scheduled courier trips for the
following two months, both in and out of the U.S. They also listed many foreign points of
embarkation. This gave members as much as two months time to plan their trip, and schedule
hotels and such.
All the trips were priced well below the going rates for coach class tickets, and
often-incredible savings could be realized depending on how many couriers were needed. For
example, $200 or fewer round trips from New York to Hong Kong were frequently advertised.
Another one we took advantage of many, many times was $50 r.t. to Mexico City. There were
also many more choice destinations. However, at this point I think I should explain the
down side of courier travel (if it can be described as such).
There are several rules that must be adhered to in order to take advantage of this
system. First, you can’t just go when and where ever you wish. You have to fly to a
destination that a courier company needs to make a delivery to, when and where they need
you; and those destinations can change frequently.
Secondly, there are only a few locations around the country that these companies use.
On the East Coast, New York and Miami are the only regularly used bases, except one that
flies from Boston, but not really as a courier. Chicago, and a couple on the West Coast
are all there are. The courier must get to the point of embarkation at his own expense
(usually). I’ll explain that one later on.
The third "drawback" is as I said above, that you go when and how they want
you to go. We always got the 6:00PM flight out of Kennedy to Mexico City, arriving around
11:00. We were usually late, and the company representative was always late, so it made
for a long day. We knew we were getting the flight for pennies on the dollar, sometimes
free, so the little inconvenience was well worth it. You also need to know that if you
screw up as a courier with a company, guaranteed you will never get another flight.
One other item – only ONE courier can go on at a time. Thus, if both Peg and I
want to fly courier, we have to travel separately. We found that not to be a problem at
all. I always went first, and met her in a pre-arranged location when she arrived. For
instance, we usually arrived in Mexico City around 11:00 P.M. I would take the subway out
to the airport, meet her, and take a taxi back to our hotel. In Singapore, we met at
Raffle’s Hotel for an emotional reunion.
These items may seem restrictive, but they are not really, unless you have a definite
destination in mind that nobody goes to. Then you are out of luck. Peg and I flew courier
time and time again, and only had a handful of problems: problems by the way, that could
have happened on any flight.
The system usually works like this.
You contact a particular company that has a destination you want to go to. For example,
a few years back Peg and I decided to fly out of the West Coast and explore some of the
zillion destinations across the Pacific. We had gotten a dream fare (free) with Southwest
on a special promotion, so our trip to the West Coast was all taken care of. We contacted
a courier company that flew out of San Francisco, and for around $320 round trip, got
tickets to Singapore. We had to fly as couriers to Narita Japan, and then on to Singapore.
All we had to carry with us was baggage tickets that we turned in at the airport, and
then we were on our own. The company, a world renown reliable firm (much like UPS or DHL),
was shipping something that had to be delivered overnight, so the only way to do it was by
an on board courier.
Once in Singapore, we even took another side trip to Thailand as couriers.
Now, above I mentioned that the prospective courier has to get to the embarkation point
on their own (usually). This brings up one of the most fantastic aspects of courier travel
– last minute deals.
Occasionally a company needs a courier ASAP. Even more rarely, they need one RIGHT NOW!
Those flights can be "dream" trips. To entice couriers to respond, the companies
will offer nearly free, and often free flights to the destination. If they are really in a
bind, I have even seen them offering monitory compensation in addition, and often a couple
of nights hotel accommodations free. You can’t beat those rare deals, but obviously
you have to be ready to go on a minute’s notice.
Strangely, Peg and I haven’t flown courier since September of ’01. In fact
our last trip was to England, France and home after 9/11. All of our trips since have been
to non-courier destinations, so we haven’t keep up with the industry, but we
understand that there have been devastating repercussions due to 9/11.
IAATC has change hands at least twice, and the publications are a ghost of what they
used to be. However, the web site is still active, and most of the information on the
industry is still available there. In addition, they still post last minute flights, and
lots of other interesting tips and information. For example they have a publication called
"recommended Lodgings Worldwide" that now is exclusive on the web site that
gives recommendations by members on inexpensive places to stay all around the planet.
Some companies are still using on board couriers, but not as many as before 9/11. Will
it pick up? Who knows, we certainly hope so. Traveling by courier, coupled with home
exchanging, was certainly the apex of inexpensive travel. In short, what a way to go!
