azmmza

has any one tried to hook up with a courier service to help pay for a mr?
from what i have seen on the web you can sometimes get them to pay for up to 85% of you ticket. but you need to pay 20 bucks to get the info

this would be great for an end of the year mr.

i would do it even if they paid 20%

1KChinito

Often times, you do not have a choice of airline. So the courier dictates which airline you will fly. Sometimes there is also a minimum stay, you cannot do an immediate turn around. For MRers, we should try to contact these couriers and see if we can work something out with them.

tom911

I've flown courier once before to London, and the contract did not allow me to accumulate miles (on United). The boarding pass actually had "no miles" written in where my account number would go. I didn't find the prices to be that much better off-season, though they were pretty decent in high season. The fact that I could not acumulate miles, though, was the major factor in never doing it again. Make sure you're going to get miles if you opt to go courier. There may be some companies out there that offer miles.

cmccool

My courier experiences are from the 1990s. I have not followed changes in air courier, but I have heard from others that courier flights have "dried out" since 9/11/2001. The company that I flew with has definitely dropped out of the business.

My best experience was a $300 LAX-HKK flight with an overnight stop in Seoul (they pais for the hotel room). The flight earned FF and bonus points. It helped that I was bumped on the return, receiving $400 cash and $600 travel voucher. ^ ^ ^

Indeed, historically, courier companies either do or do not have flights with FF earning possibility. However, you do know what carrier you are flying (that is not an unknown). People have told me that the courier company flight (as they booked it) would not offer FF points but the passenger later received the points. Always ask!

Generally, courier companies do not have websites. Potential couriers (on-board couriers) need to call to set up flights. You can fax paperwork. Basic gateways are JFK, LAX, and SFO. There used to be one courier flight a day from IAD to LHR for $400 through Halbart Express. MIA, HOU, YVR, and ORD are other NoAm departure cities I have heard of having courier flights. One company offering courier and non-courier flights is http://nowvoyagertravel.com/non.htm

There are associations (like Aircourier.org) that charge annual fees and say that they will find courier flights for you. I have no experience with them. Oh, courier flight are only to international destinations.

Feel free to send a Private Message if you crave more details.

EmailKid

I've looked at courier flights in the post, but never found out out of IAH / HOU. Seems like a good way to gains some miles, if the miles are available.

EmailKid

RustyC

I have flown courier thrice (all to either Bangkok or Manila) with the last one about 10 years ago. Also followed it for 4-5 years afterward but didn't book. The advantages to the passenger have eroded to the point where it's rarely worth it these days, IMO. The arrangement had its day, but no more.

Miles are now the exception rather than the rule, with courier companies often doing deals with airlines that exclude those. Meanwhile, paid fares have dropped quite a bit to Europe and Asia except during the really peak times, so that the old cost differentials are largely gone. And the companies are aggressive in trying to get as much as they can from you for the ticket.

The only cases now where I think it *might* be useful are if you live in NYC, LAX, MIA or SFO and can fly last-minute with a local company for either nothing or next to it, or if you're trying to do something like Europe at the peak of summer and are getting persistently high quotes and can't use miles.

idealflyer

I have flown as courier about 5 times and it is true, in advance you can get better deals on the Internet. However, last minute, courier companies used to be so desperated that they would only charge you taxes on the flight. Reason no mileage was earned was because name was not printed on boarding pass, only courier company.

I was recently offered $300 tax inclusive on JAL NYC-BKK 2 weeks ago. I declinced because no mileage and 20 hours in coach is no fun. Even if submitting ticket later in hopes of earning miles, it would not earn bonus or count towards AA status thus only base miles. Plus 9 days in BKK is not a mileage run but a mileage drain after a few days.

Bottomline, use a combination of resources when looking for the best deal. Also flexibility is key, as I have seen anouncements of courier companies using NW to Asia from DTW for $200-400 roundtrip all inclusive. Only problem, must live in Detroit metro area and can be at airport with as little as 2 hours notice.

I prefer the mileage runs you can plan in advance and not have to scramble last minute to book 6 nights in Hong Kong which I did on my last courier flight and raised my price considerably. Do your math before booking. Some deals are out there but remember it is coach and you might not earn miles. Now if there was a courier flight to Colombo, I might be very interested as I could purchase a great value J fare coming back.