Couriers Fly Cheaper But With Restrictions

Three times in the past year, Dr. Woodrow Goss, a 76-year-old retired physician from Ashburn, Ga., has hopped aboard cheap, last-minute flights to foreign cities. On his last trip, he actually managed to fly free from Chicago to Hong Kong and back.

How does he do it?

Goss is one of a small group of penny-conscious but adventurous travelers who fly as international air couriers - probably the cheapest way to get to Europe, Asia, South America and Australia unless you are cashing in frequent-flier miles. An earlier trip this year to Hong Kong out of New York cost Goss just $350.

Goss is a new initiate into this form of cut-rate travel, of which from 10,000 to 40,000 Americans take advantage annually (estimates vary on the number of U.S. courier flights). And so far he’s enthusiastic. “It’s a nice way to travel for those who have the time,” he says.

While air courier flights are not new, the International Association of Air Travel Couriers, a fee-based courier information service, reports “a marked increase” in the need for couriers in the past year, particularly to and within the Orient. An association survey indicates the number of worldwide courier flights has jumped by 15 percent. “That’s good news for travelers looking for cheap fares overseas,” says association president William C. Bates.

This rosy outlook is disputed by Julie Weinberg, owner of Now Voyager, a New York organization that has been dispatching couriers on cheap flights for the past 12 years. In her view, the number of courier flights has been stable for many years or may even have decreased somewhat. Still, about 3,000 travelers - roughly 10 a day - find inexpensive courier flights through her service. “If people plan reasonably ahead,” she says, “they can usually get what they want.”

Almost anybody with a valid U.S. passport can be a courier, although there is a minimum age requirement of 18 or 21, depending on the courier firm. To fly to some countries, such as Brazil, you may also be required to obtain a visa.

As a courier, your responsibilities are minimal. In exchange for a reduced-price (or - rarely - a free) round-trip ticket, you are not permitted to check any baggage. You can tote aboard a single carry-on suitcase, however. The courier firm uses your luggage allotment to send packets of mail and other documents abroad for overnight delivery. As checked luggage, the packets pass quickly through immigration and customs. If shipped as cargo, they might be delayed for hours or days.

Typically, the courier will be given a receipt or manifest for the checked items, and it is handed over at the arrival airport to a representative of the courier firm who meets the plane. The representative retrieves the items from the baggage area, and the courier is free to become a tourist until it is time to repeat the process on the return home.

The operation is legitimate, and if you are flying for a legitimate courier company that makes shipments abroad regularly, there should be no need to worry whether you are delivering contraband. When accepting a courier assignment, ask about insurance or security bonds to protect you in case of a problem.

Obviously, the big reason anybody would fly as a courier is to save money. Typically, a courier firm will ask the courier to pay about one-half the prevailing advance-purchase fare for a round-trip ticket, according to Byron Lutz, editor of the Shoestring Traveler, a newsletter published by the International Association of Air Travel Couriers.

Generally, courier flights can be booked up to one or two months in advance and sometimes earlier. But in an emergency situation - for example, if the originally scheduled courier drops out at the last minute - the courier firm may lower the ticket price or offer the ticket for free. That’s how Goss flew free from Chicago to Hong Kong. As he explains it, he was checking upcoming flights with the air travel association about noon one day. “We’ve got a call for Hong Kong,” he was told, “but you have to go this afternoon.” And so he went.

But his trip wasn’t entirely free. To get to and from Chicago, he had to purchase a round-trip ticket out of Atlanta on Delta. On each leg, he used one of the carrier’s discounted coupons for seniors. While in Hong Kong, he caught a $200 round-trip courier flight to Shanghai for a three-day side trip. (Courier flights can be found out of major foreign cities, particularly London.)

On Dec. 4, the association was quoting round-trip fares out of New York for same-day departure to Copenhagen or London for $50 each for seven-day stays. The same-day departure fare to Paris was $159. For a next-day departure (Dec. 5), both the association and Now Voyager were quoting a price of $159 for a round-trip ticket to Rome, Madrid, Copenhagen, Milan or Dublin. All were for seven-day stays. With a two-day advance notice (Dec. 6), Now Voyager offered a round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, for $499 for a two-week stay.

Flying as a courier does have its drawbacks.

Departure gateways are limited. Currently, most courier flights from North America operate out of New York, Newark, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, British Columbia. There are no courier flights to domestic destinations.

You must go where couriers are needed. Fortunately, this includes most of the capitals of Western Europe and South America as well as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Guatemala City, Panama City and the major business cities of Asia. Currently, there are few if any flights to Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, India or Pakistan. But flights to Israel and South Africa may be available soon.

And the association asks its subscribers to adhere to certain dress and behavioral standards. Many courier firms do not allow travelers to wear T-shirts, jeans or shorts on flights, and alcohol may be a no-no. “The whole idea is that you’re not supposed to attract attention in customs,” says Lutz. “You don’t want customs to hassle you, which would delay you and delay the shipment. We want you to look like a good, upstanding citizen.”

Some sources of information about courier flights:

The International Association of Air Travel Couriers monitors courier firms and publishes a bimonthly bulletin of their scheduled trips and rates for the next two months. For details: IAATC, P.O. Box 1349, Lake Worth, Fla. 33460, (407) 582-8320.

Now Voyager, located in Manhattan, is a booking agent or broker for air courier firms. You call the service, and it handles the flight arrangements. For details: Now Voyager, (212) 431-1616.

UTL Travel, a San Francisco booking agent, offers courier departures out of San Francisco to Singapore, Manila and Bangkok, and departures out of Chicago to Hong Kong and London, according to spokeswoman Rosella Thieu. For details: UTL Travel, (415) 583-5074.

Discount Travel International, another New York booking agent, offers courier flights to Mexico, Europe, South America and Australia. It expects soon to have flights to Tel Aviv, Israel and Johannesburg, South Africa, according to president Dawn McCaffery. For details: Discount Travel International, (212) 362-3636.