Introduction to Air Courier Travel

Air courier travel is one of the easiest ways to travel free -or at very low cost -and there’s a growing need for couriers, meaning more chances for more people to travel to many more places than they ever thought possible.  Courier firms -those recruiting air couriers -deal in time-sensitive material, items that must be transported from one location to another, in the shortest possible time.

Some courier companies operate on purely domestic routes, say between major towns and cities in the UK, and often use road couriers or domestic airlines involving little hassle and few delays.

It’s a case of handing the package over to a delivery driver, or having a member of staff accompany a package on a short flight. There are few security hassles, few likely delays possible, and most items reach their destination in a couple of hours.

But items being transported between countries are an altogether different matter, mainly due to rules and regulations enforced at Customs at airports on route.

The reason firms use couriers to accompany items abroad centres around whether packages are classed as cargo or baggage.

Cargo travels alone, overwhelmingly on ‘cargo only’ flights since the Twin Towers tragedy and it can take several days to pass through Customs to allow thorough checks of paperwork and package. Cargo must arrive several hours ahead of flight time meaning even more delays for sender and recipient, and there’s no priority for cargo, unlike people, to gain access to a particular flight.

Even worse, the sender’s package may be bundled with many more items into huge storage containers which must be full before travelling. More delays, sometimes long ones.

The problem continues at destination, where cargo can again take hours to be inspected and cleared for collection.

All totally unacceptable -and very unnecessary -for firms dealing in urgent contracts, life-saving medicines, perishable goods.

For delivery companies it’s not just a question of making sure time-sensitive items actually reach their intended destination, they also have to do so as quickly as possible, and ahead of rival companies.

Courier travel is the solution. Items classed as baggage, specifically ‘personal baggage’ arrive with the passenger, typically an hour or so before the flight, and generally pass quickly through Customs at airports on route. Additionally, a passenger seat can be reserved on a specific flight at a definite time. Now what might take days for cargo to reach it’s destination can take hours with a courier.

Very few firms have sufficient workload to warrant employing full-time staff couriers to accompany articles abroad, with all the hassles of employment law and contracts, not to mention full-time wages, holiday pay, sick pay to consider. Hence the preference for most companies to use freelance and standby couriers. And also the point at which you now come into the picture.