<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ErthCrclr:
I have sporadically traveled as a last-minute courier out of LAX for almost a decade. I have always known which airline and flights I'd be on, and all of my runs have been to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, or Seoul, all via NRT. Sometimes I have had a one-bag luggage allowance in addition to the carryon. My shortest return time was five days and my longest was two weeks.
The gravy days of being a courier are pretty much over, but it is still possible to do last minute runs for little money.
When IBC was still using couriers, mileage could be racked up on UA. It used to be quite the adrenalin rush to get a phone call from them saying, "Can you go to Bangkok tomorrow?" Then I'd negotiate the best deal I could wrangle...sometimes free, close to it, or even get paid for it. My carryon was always ready to go. ::sigh::
Jupiter/Micom, the remaining bigshot out of LAX, uses JL, and sometimes they say you can't get miles. You can, though. 
The problem is that Jupiter and others like them have turned the courier business into something resembling a travel agency. They now charge relatively high fares for dates that you arrange in advance. They only give deals when they are desperate, such as when someone cancels and there's a load that must go out. Consolidator tickets can be a more attractive option. And of course with consolidator tickets there aren't luggage or advance-arrival-at-airports issues.
IMHO, the two courier organizations in FL and CO aren't all that useful for someone based in SoCal. This is because I can personally call Jupiter to learn what's available out of LAX. Since they are the main game in town, I don't need to pay IAATC or ACA for what I can just check myself. New York offers more opportunities as a last-minute gateway, and there is something to be said for the convenience of daily computer updates when a variety of choices is available. If I were living in New York and had the time and inclination to be a last-minute courier over the course of a year, then I'd join IAATC. Otherwise, it may be just as productive to simply call the courier companies in your gateway of choice, and see what they've got going.
It is common for the travel sections of major newspapers to occasionally have an article about being a courier. If you can access such an article in the archives of your own paper on the net, then you can save yourself some time, as they usually list names and numbers of local courier companies.
With luck, some of them might still be in business.</font>
could you possibly post the contact info for jupiter?
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The three words I never want to hear: 'Full Y Fare'