Courier Travel News offers information on how to save up to 85% on international airfare by flying as a courier.

"A site where you can order a list of courier companies for about $6, which isn't too bad considering you could save big bucks on airfare. You can purchase flights for much less by doing this, and you can even make ticket plans several months in advance." - The Complete Idiots Guide to Planning a Trip Online

 WHAT'S A COURIER COMPANY?

Courier companies have overnight shipments to cities such as London, Rome, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore,  Caracas, Stockholm, Jamaica, Madrid, Bangkok, Milan, Frankfurt, Rio De Janeiro, Paris, Melbourne, and several other locations in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.  These companies have flights booked every single day of the year.   What do they do? They are in the business of providing a courier, an individual who buys only the seat space, for companies who are sending luggage on commercial airlines. They simply purchase a coach class ticket and use the allotted luggage space to ship their packages.

What do they do with the seat?  That's where you come in.  The company will sell the seat space to individuals at extremely low prices.  In other words, You fly as the passenger, a courier as they call it, checking in their luggage.  Many companies will send a courier because it is cheaper than shipping freight by air cargo.  Also, shipping material as luggage clears customs hours, even days quicker than by cargo freight.  They cannot send their important luggage without you, so they offer the seat for very low prices.  Interested yet??  If you wanted, you could probably be on a flight to some exotic country with the next 24 hours.

WHAT ABOUT LIABILITY?

Are you liable for the packages that you are shipping? No!!  A  representative from the courier company will meet you at the departing airport.  They will give you the manifest and all the shipping instructions.  At your destination city, you will be met by another courier  representative.  You give them the manifest and your courier job is over until you return.  You generally are not allowed to even touch the luggage.  You never even have to see the packages they are  shipping.  And don't worry, you won't be sending drugs and any illegal material like that.  First of all, we're dealing with reputable companies.  The individual shipments are inspected prior to being  manifested as to assure no dirty play.  Secondly, you authorize some paperwork from the overnight company that says you are not responsible for what's in their packages. Relieved? Great!!  If you need more  assurance, speak with the courier company before you fly to verify with the company what precautions they take on behalf of couriers such as bonding and insurance.  

HOW CHEAP ARE THE FLIGHTS?

Flights through the courier package are cheaper than one might believe.  For example, a flight to London will cost around $300.00 round trip.  Madrid Spain around $250.00 round trip.  Mexico City, $150.00 round trip.  Milan and Rome for $250.00 round trip.   Singapore for $300.00.  Paris for $339.00 etc, etc, etc!!!

When flying by "regular" fare prices, booking through an agent or airline, for example, the farther away the flight date the  better the deal.  When traveling as a courier, however, the opposite is true.  The closer you are to the departure date, the cheaper the price.  Why?  Because the courier company cannot send their information without filling the seat with a courier.  So they get nervous and drop the prices.  If you are a spontaneous traveler, you can simply call a courier company and ask what they have leaving within the next few weeks.  You can get incredible deals.  Couriers have flown to Brussels for $99.00, Mexico city for $25, and Copenhagen for $50.00.  And these are Round Trip Flights.

Sounds great right?  Well, it even gets better.  When it gets extremely close to flight time, the courier companies begin to get very desperate.  I just called a courier association and found out that if I would  have flown today, I could have gone to Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei, or Hong Kong from $100.00 to $200.00 round trip! At times, they have waived the fare completely just to get someone to take the seat.  Oh yes, you get to keep the frequent flyer mileage except in rare cases.  Always ask the company you are traveling for if frequent flyer miles can be applied to you.  Each ticket is different so there is no standard.

IS THIS ALL LAST MINUTE BOOKING?

No!  Although the closer to departure date you book, the cheaper the flight.  You can book several months in advance and have the flight guaranteed if you like.   Your length of stay is determined by the day of departure however, most tickets are for at least 7 days.  Others allow 10 days, 14 days, 21 days, and up to 6 months if you desire. 

CAN I TAKE ANY LUGGAGE?

Yes you can take luggage, 2 pieces of carryon baggage.  Some courier companies allow only one piece.  However, if you are flying for 1/5 the price, you can see how great the tradeoff is.  Quite often, your return flight will not have courier  obligations.  In other words, even though you're receiving the discount, the extra luggage space is yours for the return flight.   

DOES THIS MEAN I MUST TRAVEL ALONE?

No!  Although courier companies only book one courier  per flight, you can contact other courier companies and try to coordinate the flights.  Occasionally they fly on the same days.  If you can't fly on the same flight, however, you can still coordinate your  dates in order to arrive at your desired country during the same time.  Remember, even if you don't fly on the same plane, you're getting up to 85% off the regular airline prices so it's a great tradeoff!

ARE YOU INTERESTED YET?  LETS SHOW YOU HOW TO DO IT!!!

To get instant access to the full listings of courier companies, where they fly to, the average cost per flight, and the name of the contact person you want to speak to when setting up your flight, for only $5.95, press the button below!

(* All U.S. courier flights depart from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Miami, New York, Orlando, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.  Connecting flights can be made to each of these cities.)

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