I've flown courier before to London (Jupiter/Micom from JFK, on UA). I signed a contract that specifically excluded frequent flyer miles. The box on the ticket where you would ordinarily see your FF# instead said "NO MILES". Although I saved about $100, the savings did not make up for the loss of the miles (or, in my current case, double miles). I have not flown courier since. My understanding is that some courier outfits offer miles, and others don't. You just need to check before booking something.

The better courier deals are for those that can fly last minute, as they are heavily discounted (I've seen some for free, or $100).

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.

Earthcrclr:

I did several gigs with IBC in the early 90s but lost touch with them. What happened that they no longer use casual couriers?

As with all mileage runs, do your own research first!!

I flew courier twice several years ago between Miami and Madrid on Iberia. Worst flights of my life and only saved about $100-200 (charged 2 different prices in same month). Although miles could be eanered, the passenger name on the ticket was LHS Courier and not in my name= thus no miles on second trip and only 30% AA miles on first.

What to watch out for:
Some couriers disclose which airline you will be on and others tell you whether or not you earn FF miles.
In other courier flights, upgrades only come if overbooked so don�t expect it as a right.
Best courier deals are to Asia, ie. the article mentioned the person got to travel JAL with a paid overnight in Tokyo. The free layover and paid hotel is worth $$$ as you generally can�t put this in on a discount mileage run.

If you are flexible and looking to save money, go courier. If you are looking for multisegments and prefer flying JFK-MIA-LHR r/t instead of JKF-LHR as courier, go with booking online. Great deals are out there, you are not restricted to carry on luggage and can return with your dates instead of say a 21 day stay.

I may not be a good fan of couriers however I still keep it in my list of mileage run opportunities just in case as occasionally an offer to good to resist may pop up. It is all about supply and demand and when they can�t put people in seats, they offer incentives- ie. drop price, waive registration fee, allow 1 piece checked luggage, change of return date, etc.
Good luck and happy flying.



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"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

If you live in or near LAX, SFO, MIA or NYC you're in luck, as the vast majority of courier flights go from there and you almost have to be in those areas to go last-minute.

Used to be that you almost always earned miles, but more companies in recent years have yanked them away. Definitely check first.

I've flown courier 3 times, all to Asia on conventional, fixed length vacations. It's been awhile, though - last one was in 1994.

Comparing now to then I find the couriers offer about the same or even slightly worse deal than 8 years ago, while other deals (paid tickets or mile awards) have slowly but steadily improved.

I have only flown as a courier once, JFK-LHR
and it was on Concorde! I sat two seats behind Steve Martin. I did get my mileage in
my BA Exec. Club acct. and I got to keep my
ticket receipt showing full fare paid. They
flew me back on 747. Total cost: $600

(When it absolutely, postively has to be there before it left!)

If you are in WAS, you can fly IAD to LHR on Virgin. But that's it.

Uggh. I wanted so badly to go to other cities and I wanted to do it on a Star Alliance airline.

I'm so disappointed.

And the fare of around $400 isn't really all that cheap.

I was told that they had worked out a way to do "internal contracts" with UA about two years ago.

I see. What they told me was they did not want people traveling from outside the LA area because they were likely to miss flights. That said I did have trips to Japan, Taiwan, and HongKong that are firmly rooted in my memory banks and have been the basis of later trips.

could you possibly post the contact info for jupiter?


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The three words I never want to hear: 'Full Y Fare'

I have flown courier many times out of LAX in the 1990's to all parts of Asia until I stopted flying COACH!!!! Had a few upgrades and aved money on flights. Even make Gold Elite on NW. With so many miles, I prefer to upgrade to BF, now.

Here I sit at the new JW MArriott 5 Star rsort on Phuket Island for their soft opening. Wonderful Tropical setting with many palms, rocks, and Marine Naitional Park ocean beach 60 km from Patong. Only 20% occupancy, so very private and relaxing. Many complimentary drinks and sushi treats at cocktail hour. Wonderful sunsets and points for Timeshare intro. This would be the one, if you have 80 years to use it or will it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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The above is more like a classified ad than a discussion of courier flights. IMHO, not suitable for this thread.

And, the offer to pay on arrival sets off bells. With all respect to the offering party, couriers generally get their tickets paid for up front and, sometimes, pay for some portion of the ticket, before departure.

How do we know that there are actually hats in the packages? I suspect that this offer could lead to big problems at security. ("Did you pack all the bags yourself").

And, on a slightly different topic, I looked into courier flights a while ago and concluded that it was pretty much a dead end, in large part because international fares have gone down so much that it just wasn't worth it. The glory days of courier flights were when prices were controlled at high levels.

This person is not a courier company so it would be easier for them to pay where they can meet.

Given the FT community and this poster's FT reputation, I would have no doubt of getting paid.

I wonder what the TSA would have to say about this these days.