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THE FIVE BIGGEST MYTHS ABOUT AIR COURIER TRAVEL

by Kelly Monaghan

I have been traveling as an air courier for over a dozen years and writing about it for nearly ten. Yet in spite of my efforts to spread the word about this low-cost travel strategy, some myths about air couriers still persist. Let's try to put them to rest once and for all.

Myth #1: Air couriers "carry" and "deliver" packages.

Air couriers accompany time-sensitive business cargo being shipped by reputable freight companies as passenger's baggage aboard regularly scheduled commercial airlines. The key word here is "accompany." Many times, the air courier will never even see the cargo he or she is accompanying and the courier is never called upon to actually handle it.

The air courier system has been designed by the freight companies, the airlines, and customs agencies around the world to be as safe and secure as humanly possible. Keeping the courier from handling the cargo helps maintain that high level of security.

The air courier's sole role is to sit in a seat on the plane, thus allowing both the airlines and the customs people to treat the cargo as "passenger's baggage" rather than "ordinary cargo." This may seem like a subtle distinction but it means the freight company's cargo gets through customs a lot faster. And that, in essence, is why air couriers exist and why they get such a break on the fare.

At the most, the air courier will hand-carry an envelope containing the paperwork for the shipment, but increasingly the courier is relieved of even that minimal duty.

Myth #2: You have to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

For some reason, many people think that being an air courier means registering with an air courier company and agreeing to be on call to fly off at the drop of a hat, whenever they call you. Not so.

Today, air courier travel is much like other forms of leisure travel. That is, you call a courier company, book a flight to the destination of your choice up to three months in advance, and pay with a credit card right on the phone. There are exceptions, of course, but many courier flights are booked just this way.

It is true that if you are available to fly on short notice, you can pick up some dazzling bargains. I've flown to Chile for $100 roundtrip and to Bangkok for just $148. It's even possible to fly for free if the freight company is really desperate for a courier.

Myth #3: You can't bring any luggage.

This is only partially true. You can always bring the normal carry-on allotment and for many modern travelers this is as much as they want to bring anyway.

Some courier companies, on some routes, restrict their couriers to carry-on only. But more and more companies are allowing couriers to check one or two bags. Once you've flown with a company several times, you can always ask them to make an exception to their carry-on-only policy. As a courtesy, they might agree. And you can always check a bag if you must, by paying the airline's standard excess baggage fee. If you've saved hundreds of dollars on the fare, that could make economic sense.

Myth #4: You have to join an association to be an air courier.

Several self-styled "associations" and "organizations" have set themselves up to "represent" air couriers. These are not non-profit organizations but money-making enterprises. They tell their members how to fly as an air courier and provide lists of courier contacts -- for a fee.

Their marketing material can make it sound an awful lot like the necessary first step to becoming an air courier is to pay their hefty annual membership fee. This is simply not the case. Anyone can be an air courier. All you need is a valid passport. There are no qualifications, no tests, no bonding, no background checks.

Joining an association will not get you cheaper fares or preferential treatment, just information. The same information can be found elsewhere for a lot less money. You can even go to your local public library, look up "air courier" in the card catalog, and get it for free.

Myth #5: Air courier travel is on the way out.

I first heard this in 1991 and air couriers are still going strong. It's true that the patterns of courier travel shift with the winds of global commerce. There's less traffic to Scandinavia and more to the Far East, for example. But reports of the demise of couriers were premature, to say the least.

In theory, it is now possible for freight companies to gain most of the advantages of air courier shipments without the presence of a courier on board the plane. Shippers, however, have come to expect that a human being will accompany their expedited shipments; it makes them feel special. Courier companies, for their part, find the airlines are much more receptive to their needs when they are buying tickets for on-board couriers.

"The airlines ship a lot of cargo," Craig Wooten, a Hong Kong-based courier exec told me. "But at the end of the day, they're in the business of selling seats. And as long as I'm buying seats, I get better service than the bloke who's just chucking cargo into the hold."

So rest assured, air courier travel will be around for a good long while yet. But why wait? With fares discounted anywhere from 30% to 50%, air courier travel is too good a deal to pass up.

Kelly Monaghan is the author of "Air Courier Bargains: How To Travel World-Wide For Next To Nothing," and other books on budget travel. He can be contacted through his web site at http://www.intrepidtraveler.com

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