Courier Passanger
 

Anyone have experiance travelling as a courier.
How does the practical side work: do you handle the bags? at check it? to pick it up? to deliver it? are you responsible for the contents? what do you tell customs officials? how much extra time is involved, before and after?

Any info on ways of flying from JFK (or NYC) to MEX (Mexico City) as a courier?

Try This or this to begin with.

[This message has been edited by akhullar (edited 08-26-2003).]

[This message has been edited by akhullar (edited 08-26-2003).]

You just have to meet the courier rep and you may or may not get an evelope of papers to deliver at the other end. That's it. Oh yes, take your seat on the plane. You might be disappointed that you are getting that plane ticket and have VERY little to do, other then fly.

The only waste is the early checkin they request making you wait for the rep to show up at either end. Not nice when it is at 3 AM for a 6 AM flight to the Orient.

If you are the only courier for your courier company onboard, you need to carry an airway bill of lading while onboard. You do not need to carry any bags for the courier company since they are carried in the cargo area. You then need to wait at the customs area at your arrival city until a courier rep arrives and the bags clear customs. Sometimes, that takes awhile. Sometimes, there is more than one courier for the same company, and only one needs to go through customs at an interim stop (NRT), and then each goes on to a different city (SIN, HKG, MNL, etc.). I have never been required to carry a bill of lading on my return flights to the US, but you still need to be onboard or you get fined your deposit and you need to buy your own return ticket if you miss the flight. Usually, you can only take enough baggage of your own to carry onboard the plane, but sometimes the deal allows you to check baggage. The airfares are a very good deal, but in the past few years the companies have cut down the number of flights and the destination cities.

I took a NOW Voyager courier flight some years ago (TWA #800 as it turned out) from JFK to CDG. At that time the savings was substantial, particularly as I put the trip together a week before departure in peak summer season.

These days courier flights are less appealing, as one can - with enough advance notice - generally find a fare sale to your destination of choice that often times is not significantly higher than the courier fare. Plus, there is no guarantee that you will get FF miles for a courier flight although I had no problems there (you will have to provide your # at checkin since the courier co won't do it).

As for you "job" responsibilities, they are almost nonexistent. You meet the courier rep at the airport, grab an envelope, and go. You hand the envelope to the courier rep at the other end and you're done. It's a big plus knowing you won't be waiting for luggage from a packed 747.

All-in-all, an experience I would highly recommend if you will save a few hundred $$. But for $100-200, it's probably not worth it due to the inflexible rules on flight bookings (e.g trip must be often be exactly 7 or 14 days) inability to make changes. The best bargains are for last minute trips booked within a week of departure - and you should feel free to negotiate fares down.

Do you have to be part of somesort of Air Courier's association to be able to fly?
Does anyone have info speciffically on JFK-MEX courier's?

Amen to that. I flew three times to Asia in 1993 and 1994 as a courier, but since then the courier situation has worsened while the paid-ticket situation has gotten better. Those few companies that still use couriers are offering fewer deals upfront, and getting miles is now the exception. Supply of flights is down, demand is up as more people have found out, and courier companies have exploited that pretty ruthlessly. About the only cases where I could recommend the flights are if you live in NYC, LA, SF or Miami and can fly on very short notice somewhere and are hard-nosed at bargaining.