Hello There! What Would You Like To Do Today? Improve My Health Improve My Wealth Improve My Home Improve My Cooking Improve My Hobby Improve My Sex Life Improve My Garden Trace My Family Tree Make Me Smile Let's Take a Vacation Send a Message to President Bush Send a Message to MY Congressman Send a Message to MY U.S. Senator Look at the Very Best Senior Sites on the Web Search the Book Shelves of Amazon.com		Here are some bargain, and even free flights to the exotic and romantic cites of the world with courier companies. These facts are little-known to the general public. Following are a few recently listed "air courier" bargain airline ticket prices to some great overseas destinations. How about round-trip air fares from the USA to: Bangkok Thailand for only $495 Hong Kong for only $495 (In some cases, even as low as $195) Manila Philippines for only $400 Seoul Korea for only $400 Singapore for only $495 Tokyo Japan for only $400 (Maybe even as low as $100) Sometimes you can get airline tickets from courier companies free... but in most cases you will have to pay a small amount for them. Whatever you pay will always be much less than the same ticket would cost you directly from the airline or a travel agency. Perhaps you're asking, "Just what is an air courier?" Many large corporations have very important paper work traveling to their overseas subsidiaries, customers, and/or suppliers every day. Many times this paper work is so time sensitive or security sensitive, that the company does not want to send it FedEx, UPS, or such. Also, FedEx and UPS shipments sometimes take two or three days to clear customs in foreign ports. Your checked aboard luggage is usually able to clear customs in a matter of minutes upon arrival. In such cases, the corporation contracts with an "air courier" company to have a reliable person to personally accompany their shipment of documents. The corporation pays the air courier company to arrange this. The air courier company in turn will assign you as a courier to accompany the shipment and sell you a ticket for such a bargain price as above. Low cost and/or free airline tickets from courier companies are most often available only for flights to foreign destinations. You will seldom see them offered for flights within the USA... or even from one city to another within other countries. Acting as an air courier is an excellent way of traveling to exotic overseas destinations at a pittance of regular airline ticket prices. About the only disadvantage is this... you must be able to travel with "carry-on" baggage only. The company's document shipment will travel as your "checked" baggage. Courier companies give you, or sell you a low cost ticket in exchange for you giving up your privilege of checking luggage for the flight. They provide the luggage which is checked in your name. You can still carry aboard one or two pieces of luggage. When flying as a courier, you must first learn to be a real "packing artist" in order to pack every thing you will need for the trip in one or two carry-aboard bags. Other than giving up your checked baggage allowance, there is really no other serious down side to this method of getting bargain air fares. You check the corporation's document package as your baggage at the beginning of the flight. You then claim it at the foreign port. A representative of the shipping corporation or air courier company will meet you in the destination airport and take care of all paper work, customs clearances, etc. The representative will then take charge of the shipment for final delivery within the foreign country. Some people are afraid to act as an air courier for fear they will unknowingly be accompanying illegal cargo... drugs, etc. This is not a problem. The corporations shipping documents via air couriers are usually very responsible ones whose names are household words. They wouldn't ever jeopardize their reputation by attempting to ship anything illegal. Also, as a security precaution, airlines scan, X-ray and/or search all checked baggage on international flights these days to determine its contents before it's loaded on their planes. There is much comradarie among air couriers. Once you are "in the club" you will meet many others doing the same thing you are and be able to swap stories with some very interesting world travelers. Flying as an air courier also has a certain amount of mystique. Many friendships and even romances have begun with an air courier telling his or her seat mate that he or she is a courier. Free and bargain courier flight tickets are available for departure from only a few large cities. It will be your responsibility to get to the city on the day you are to depart. Unless you live in one of these cities, you may of course, use other methods you learn in this book to fly to the departure city free or at a low cost. Having a current valid Pass Port is your responsibility. So is a Visa to the country to which you will fly if one is required. Be sure you have your Pass Port before you even think about booking a courier flight. Check out the Visa requirements as soon as you have a flight booked. Many courier companies require you to put up a "security deposit" at the same time you book your flight. This deposit is usually in the $500 to $1,000 range and insures that you actually show up for the flight you are agreeing to make. After you fly out and back on your return flight, the courier company will refund your deposit. Most courier companies allow you to accrue the frequent flyer mileage for the flights you make for them. These miles can add up quickly on many of the long distance flights you can make as a courier. Fifteen to twenty thousand frequent flyer miles is "a cup of tea" on many of these trips. With most programs requiring only 25,000 miles for a free round-trip domestic ticket... one trip as a courier can almost earn you a free flight! The majority of the courier companies will allow you to travel with a spouse or friend. In many cases, your companion will be able to fly for the same company to the same destination city. In other cases, you may fly for one company and your companion another. If flights can not be arranged to the same foreign city, you may be able to fly to one city and your companion to a nearby city and then you can get together. In still other circumstances, your companion may be able to depart the day after or before you and meet you in your destination city. All discounted air courier flights should be booked sixty to ninety days before your desired date of departure. As mentioned earlier in this book, courier companies can also sometimes be the source of free airline tickets to exotic foreign cities. To take advantage of this, you should be very flexible where you'd like to travel, and be able to travel on a moments notice. Here's how this situation arises. Courier companies have contracted for a flight sixty to ninety days in advance... and have usually sold a discounted ticket to a courier to accompany their shipments on that date. Things do happen however, to upset this perfect scenario. Maybe the person who is to accompany a scheduled shipment gets sick at the last-minute... dies... or is otherwise unable to depart on schedule. If you're flexible enough to accompany such flights, tell the courier companies. Many times they will call you to take the place of a cancellation by one of their ticket holders.... and you will fly absolutely free. A few courier companies will ask some low token amount for their last-minute tickets.... something like $99.00 Los Angeles to Bangkok... which is certainly, of course, "almost" free. Following are several air courier companies and/or booking agencies which will arrange air courier travel for you. Discount Travel International Phone 212 362-3636 for flights from Chicago to London, Hong Kong Phone 212-362-3636 for flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne, Sydney Phone 305-538-1616 for flights from Miami to Buenos Aires, Guatemala, Santiago Phone 212-362-3636 for flights from New York to Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, London, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo Now Voyager Phone 212-431-1616 for flights from Houston to London Phone 212-431-1616 for flights from Los Angeles to Sydney Phone 212-431-1616 for flights from New York to Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Puerto Rico, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Stockholm, Tokyo. (Note: As this book went to press, Now Voyager was offering last-minute courier flights New York to Hong Kong for only $199!) Halbert Express Phone 718-656-8189 for flights from Los Angeles to Sydney Phone 305-593-0260 for flights from Miami to Sao Paulo Phone 718-656-8189 for flights from New York to Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Manila, Milan, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Singapore, Stockholm, Tokyo, Zurich UTL Travel Phone 415-583-5074 for flights from San Francisco to Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore Courier Travel Headquarters Phone 708-409-1600 for flights from Chicago to London, Mexico City International Bonded Couriers Phone 708-699-3324 for flights from Chicago to Bangkok, Tokyo Phone 310-607-0125 for flights from Los Angeles to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo Phone 305-591-8080 for flights from Miami to Buenos Aires Jupiter - Micom America Phone 708-298-3850 for flights from Chicago to London, Hong Kong Bridges Worldwide Phone 718-244-7244 for flights from Los Angeles to London Phone 718-244-7244 for flights from New York to London Phone 718-244-7244 for flights from San Francisco to London East West Express Phone 718-656-6246 for flights from Los Angeles to Sydney, Melbourne Phone 718-656-6246 for flights from Miami to Sydney, Melbourne Phone 718-656-6246 for flights from New York to Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo Film Freight International Phone 310-568-8403 for flights from Los Angeles to Mexico City Phone 310-568-8403 for flights from Miami to Mexico City Jupiter Air Phone 310-670-5123 for flights from Los Angeles to Sydney Phone 718-656-6060 for flights from New York to Hong Kong, London, Singapore Phone 415-872-0845 for flights from San Francisco to Bangkok, London, Manila, Singapore Midnight Express Phone 310-672-1100 for flights from Los Angles to London International Business Couriers Phone 809-623-4231 for flights from Miami to Port of Spain, Trinidad Phone 310-607-0125 for flights from San Francisco to Bangkok Linehaul Services Phone 305-477-0651 for flights from Miami to Madrid, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Guatemala, Guayaquil, La Paz, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo TransAir System Phone 305-592-1771 for flights from Miami to Buenos Aires, Guatemala, Quito, Santiago Air Facility Phone 718-712-1769 for flights from New York to Caracas, Madrid, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo Courier Network Phone 212-691-9860 for flights from New York to Tel Aviv Rush Courier Phone 718-656-6050 for flights from New York to San Juan F.B. On Board Courier Services Phone 514-631-7925 for flights from Montreal to London Phone 514-631-7925 for flights from Toronto to London Phone 604-278-1266 for flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong, London Jet Services Phone 514-331-7470 for flights from Montreal to Paris Return to The Senior Center Airline Bargain Page Return to The Senior Center