First I’d like to start with some of the more basic tips on how to save money on airfare. Some of these you may already know. Not everyone knows these though, with that said here they are.

1.       Probably obvious but Non-stop flights always  cost more than a flight where you have to connect to another flight. Nonstop flights are much more convenient plus there is no risk of you missing your connecting flight. (Note when purchasing tickets with connecting flights ALWAYS take the weather into consideration. This really applies in the winter. Certain cities like Chicago are notorious for getting snowed in. The northeast is this way too. Try as much as you can to pick flights with connecting cities that run along the I-10 corridor. (Follow interstate 10) if you’re flying east to west or vice versa.

Another thing you should be aware of, more and more airlines are simply cancelling flights. Because of the new law that costs them prohibitive fines for stranding passengers on the runway, now they just cancel the flight. It could leave you stranded. Weather can be a huge factor so make sure you take that into consideration when booking your flight.

2.       Round trip flights are always cheaper than two one way flights.

3.       Booking ahead of time will always save you money. Book as early as you can.

4.       Booking your flight sometime NOT between 9AM and 5PM can save you money. These are the most common times for business travelers. For this reason these flights are always more in demand.

Another point, business travelers usually don’t stay over the weekend. They almost always fly M-F. For this reason you often times can save by booking your flight on the weekends.  If you do have to fly during the week. Monday and Friday are usually the most expensive. Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest.

5.       Do not fly near major holidays if you can avoid it. Airline prices go through the roof around big holidays. Christmas and Thanksgiving being the two most expensive holidays to travel.

6.       If you buy a ticket and later find that the fare has been reduced. Call the airlines and ask for a refund of the difference.  Many times they will do just that or even offer you free vouchers for a future flight.

7.       Alternate airports can definitely save you money. Flying into Ontario or Long Beach instead of LAX if you’re flying to Southern California is a good example.

8.       If you’re a student you can book your flight through a service called StudentUniverse. Many times you can save on the cost of a flight by doing so.

9.       Calling the Airline direct to try and save on your flight will not save you any money. In most cases you’ll end up paying more.  Stick with established online ticket brokers. Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheaptickets. Etc…

10.   The secret day to book your flight. This is usually Tuesdays around 6 PM Eastern time. This is when airlines normally update their systems with new fares. Many times if you’re one of the first to jump on a ticket you can save a lot of money.

11.   Bargain of the week. This little known site offers up the best 20 deals for that  week. Top 20

12.   There are always various promotions that airlines run every day. An easy to way to get access to such promotions is at: http://www.webflyer.com/deals/bonus_promotions/

13.   Avoid delays: The best time to fly in order to avoid delays is to get one of the first flights out in the morning.

Flying Free

Believe it or not there is a way to fly for free which very few people know about. Although it used to be very popular in the late 90’s and early 2000’s it’s still a way to fly for almost nothing or even free if you know how.

Air couriers also known as on board carriers are those who accept the responsibility to carrying time sensitve documents with them on their flight for another third party. People who do this are known as air couriers, on board couriers or freelance couriers. The people who do this are able to fly on the most reputable airlines to some of the best locations in the world for almost nothing and sometimes which in not totally uncommon to fly their free of charge. There are also people known as professional couriers who not only fly free but also charge for their services.

There is a little bit of a catch 22 to getting a totally free flight as a courier. It depends on the airline your flying with and what kind of packages your taking with you, how urgent they need to get to their destination and how close to the departure date you agree to be a courier for them.

The closer the departure date the more demand there is for a courier. In this case you’ll be able to get a really good rate or even get your airfare for free. Basically the more familiar you become with operating as an air courier the better your chances are of scoring a great deal. It is not uncommon at all to get up to 80% of your ticket discounted and it is certainly not out of the question to fly for no charge at all.

What’s the catch?

The catch to all this is that what you’re doing is basically selling off part of your baggage allowance for your flight, as well as your time ( there isn’t a lot of time involved but in the case of international flights there is the added time of going through customs. The other catch is that you need to stick to the specified flight so you don’t have really any flexibility in this option. Courier agents as well as airlines have full lists of departure dates and destinations where an air courier is needed. As the departure date gets closer the greater the discount you’ll receive. Due to this, the more flexible you’re able to be in regards to your travel the greater the deal and your chances of scoring all or almost all of your flight for free.

One of the other drawbacks is that you normally aren’t able to fly with a partner. They obviously can purchase their own ticket for the flight but won’t get the discounted fare. You can if you plan, get adjoining seats. For any given destination there are usually very limited shipments for that given day or flight. It would be very unusual to have two air couriers on the same flight. If you both want to travel at courier discount you can consider going on different airlines or traveling at different times. It’s not totally undoable but is difficult to arrange. Once your get to know the system and how it works you’ll better be able to determine if you’re able to make it happen or not.

Here are some other restrictions you should know about:

The destinatins are almost always limited to major business routes. Due to this you pretty much need to live near a major international airport. You might be able to find a courier company that will allow you to purchase connecting flights but not likely. You also may have to expect long layovers to avoid any chance of missing the main flight if you are able to do this.

Since your going to be giving up a part of your allowed baggage, you’re own personal baggage will be limited to usually carry on only. Sometimes on the return flight you my be able to get a full baggage allowance but on the return only. If so and you plan on buying things at your destination you’ll have to buy a suitcase or other form of luggage once you get there. If it’s an international flight, you’ll also be subject to customs duty fees so don’t over buy.

For popular routes and seasons you’ll have to book your flight well in advance which may in turn lessen the amount of the discount.

You have to pay the fare or at least a deposit on it at the time of booking. You then get a refund of that after your flight.

Most courier tickets are round trip with a stay of between 7 and 30 days.

If you need to cancel your flight close to the flight time, you shouldn’t expect to get a refund.

All travel documentation such as visa’s and passports etc.. are your responsibility. Couriers are so common however that there are very few if any that require a visa just because your acting as a courier.

Once you get to customs tell the officer that you flew in as a courier. There is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about this as these folks see couriers everyday.

Because the courier company has booked the seat on a daily flight months in advance on one airline, you won’t be able to change anything about it. It is what it is.

Depending on the airline you may or may not be able to count your trip toward your air miles.

If traveling with a friend or spouse, only one of you will be able to travel as a courier and get the dicounted or free rate. However is you split the cost of the paid ticket it is still much cheaper than flying full price.

Next Page – Links For Drastically Reduced Airfare Tickets So how does this work?
Especially with overseas travel if you’ve ever done it, you’re aware that once you get to your destination you have to go through customs where your baggage is checked through. With cargo however it’s a different story. It can sometimes take a number of hours after the plane has landed before the cargo agents are able to get their hands on it and sort it through. Even express cargo can sometimes take hours before this happens. The reason for couriers is that there are many, many companies who will gladly pay someone the cost of a plane ticket to get their items cleared through customs in an expedited manner.

This is all the courier really does. They sell off a certain portion or all of their baggage allotment which goes to the company needing to transport documents or goods. Every situation is different so you really don’t know how much you’re going to have to give up. Sometimes it’s just some paper documents and other times its goods which take up your baggage space.

No matter what it is you take though you still have to clear it through customs. This takes a little longer than normal baggage but not that much longer.

Legal issues?
The first question that invariably pops into someone’s mind, is, is this legal or what if someone sends contraband that I don’t know about? In the first place you’re only dealing with reputable companies that couldn’t stay in business if they were doing that and second you also get to sign a disclaimer that you’re merely acting on behalf of the courier company or airline. In most cases customs agents will have already inspected the goods and will have issued paperwork to go with the items you’re taking with you.

Airlines know how much couriers are needed for businesses and as it’s good business for them, you are looked after all the way through. Just remember there are many, many instances for these companies where a few hours mean everything to them and that’s why they are willing to pay for this. It could be something like an important part for a large piece of machinery which is costing thousands of dollars and hour in downtime. It is very much worth it to them to pay for the few extra hours they gain.

Paying for someone to courier it through is real small change in those circumstances and those kinds of situations occur way more often than you would think they would.

Another example is I heard of someone who had a regular courier route between the US and London and various points in Europe completely free and flying business class. They were carrying semi conductor parts which were so important to the manufacturing lines that the added expense was peanuts for them. They needed an air courier to whisk the items through customs instead of being delayed by paperwork.

What happens the day I fly?
When you book your flight and an air courier and pay the fare, if you have to, you’re usually given all the instructions that you’ll need. Basically you’ll be told to be at the airport, usually an hour or so earlier than normal, and a representative of the airline or courier agency will meet you there. You’ll be given a manifest of the cargo you’re carrying with you and you’ll be checked through with your personal luggage and extra cargo just like you normally do. That’s pretty much it on the departure side. You don’t ever get to touch the cargo and your only requirement is to simply get on the plane. During flight everything is normal, it’s just a regular flight and depending on where you sit, sometimes you even get to fly first or business class, you get whatever regular passengers get.

Once you land, you need to pick up your personal items and the extra cargo from the baggage claim area ( if it’s just documents or a small carry on, just go straight to customs) once you have your stuff head over to customs where there will be a designated area where the paperwork for the freight you’re carrying is processed. This is the worst part of the exchange because it can sometimes take a little while for this to happen. You have to sit and watch the others that were on your flight zip on through before you. Flip side though is it didn’t cost a dime to get there. Once the paperwork is done, you can leave customs. You’ll be given instructions on where to take there cargo once it clears customs or as in most cases you’ll be met by someone who will take it from there. That’s all there is to it and you’re now free to enjoy yourself. On the return flight you rarely will be asked to courier anything back on the return flight so if you want to buy a cheap set of baggage and fill up with shopping it’s totally fine.