Air Courier Travel (cont.)

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What’s a typical Air Courier’s day?

Typically you’ll be given all the instructions that you need when you make your booking as an Air Courier and pay the fare (if applicable). Essentially you’ll be told a time to be at the airport (normally an hour or so earlier than usual), and you’ll be met by the representative of the airline or agency that you’re dealing with. You’ll be given a manifest for the cargo that you are taking aboard and you’ll be checked in with your luggage and the extra cargo as normal. That’s basically it at that end. You never get to touch the cargo, and your only obligation at this end now is to actually get on board the aircraft. On-board the plane everything is as usual. As an Air Courier you are entitled to all the comforts and amenities of regular passengers (actually, I’ve flown business or first-class more often than not courtesy of whoever I was carrying the cargo for), and there will be nothing to differentiate you from any ordinary fare-paying passenger.

Once you land you’ll be expected to pick up your luggage and the extra cargo from the carousel (if it’s simply documents or other carry-on cargo then you simply walk straight to customs) and then go to a designated customs area where the paperwork for the freight you are accompanying is processed. This is the worst part of being an Air Courier because it can take a little while for the paperwork to be processed and you have to watch all your fellow passengers leave you behind. Still, you’ve saved lots of money, so it doesn’t feel too bad! Once the paperwork has been processed you will be free to leave the customs area. You will be given specific instructions where to take the cargo once it has been cleared by customs, but in most cases you will be met by someone who will take it from there. You are then free to go about your holiday, but remember that meeting the cost for the duration of your stay will be your responsibility. In most cases you will not be required to act as an Air Courier on your return leg of your journey, so your entire baggage allowance can be filled up with shopping.


So how do I become an Air Courier?

The simplest, and believe me, the most effective way of finding Air Courier work is to simply ask your local airlines. While there are so-called directories of Air Courier agencies that you can buy over the Internet, such directories are simply rehashed versions of the same information that has been sold to thousands of people the world over, meaning that there are thousands of people all chasing the same good deals. This means that you’re likely to be left with extremely restrictive flights and not much of a discount for your troubles. It’s far better in my view to do a little bit of the leg work on your own and carve out your own suppliers of great discount air courier travel. While only a few airlines have in-house Air Courier departments, many others use the services of an Air Courier broker or agent. The airline should be able to tell you if they have their own system or who they use if they don’t. Additionally, you should contact your local freight agents (concentrate on the bigger agencies) and see if they have an Air Courier program.

One thing to keep in mind though is that many agencies and airlines will look to their own staff first when it comes to allocating cheap tickets and staff members will therefore be reluctant to divulge any good information if it means they themselves might miss out. You may need to be persistent in your enquiries to get the good information.