The Courier Air Travel Handbook: Learn How to Travel Worldwide for Next to Nothing (8th ed) (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

By acting as a courier or escort for important packages, travelers can obtain significantly reduced airfare to just about anywhere in the world. This book shows how easy saving money on travel can be.

Product Details

• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Perpetual Press; 8th edition (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881199045
• ISBN-13: 978-1881199045
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #552,464 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Out of time and out of place, July 1, 2004

By	"philipmargolies" (Alameda CA USA) - See all my reviews

The author is less than honest with the reader. Here?s why. You cannot travel when you want to because travel dates are set by the courier company, which of course is not practical for the average traveler. Other hassles involve not going directly to your desired destination. For example, if your destination is London you may wind up being transferred first at Amsterdam before going on. Most courier packages are ?one-way? ? and a return flight is not easy to book. If you chose to courier a package you ?must meet a representative upon arrival?, and in some cases this can take hours before the item is ?back-tracked? and deemed ?clear to proceed? (as happened to me once in Ireland); not to mention the many forms that you will be forced to fill out. The author does not bother to mention that most courier companies request that you ?become a member? for an average annual fee of $45. Or the fact that it is next to impossible to travel with a loved one because the odds of finding two packages going to the same place at the same time are astronomical. But the worst is yet to come. Courier packages are not widely available as they were before 911 because private security companies are now picking up the slack. When they are available, they are subject to new and evolving international laws which may bring the courier ?under suspicion?, even though, as the author misleadingly claims, ?He never touches the package?. Courier traveling is based on a gap in international law which authorities are currently attempting to close. Couriers may soon be held liable if it can be demonstrated to some degree that ?proximity? or ?association by proxy? can be established. Many people have been questioned or held ?under suspicion? on Money Laundering charges and some have even been arrested. Many illegal items are shipped through courier packages often not to the knowledge of the courier company, but as a matter of fact to the authorities. The companies themselves are covered by insurance and by various disclaimer laws that do not apply to the courier. Shipping companies courier their packages through customs faster and cheaper as luggage. But this expediency sacrifices security for the sake of saving money. In a post 911 world this simply should not be allowed. Under international law, any given country is allowed to hold packages for hours or days and in some cases for weeks at a time. It is not worth the hassle or the risk! This is the kind of book someone can paste together in a few days, or hours from readily available sources on the Internet. The author is verbose; writes with a hustler?s mentality; and does not bother to give the reader more than a few pages of his own writing. It is a waste of paper.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 21, 1999

By	"med9" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews

You can get much more of the same information from the internet: pros/cons of courier travel, courier companies, destinations, how to set up a trip, and reference prices.

The 152 pages of large type, photos and unneeded banner separators created the impression of lot of fluff. The same text could be contained in 1/2 as many pages.

Save your money!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This can be a VERY useful book!, June 9, 2000

By A Customer

When I purchased this book I knew nothing about traveling as a courier. This book explains just about everything that you need to know to get to where you need to go for so much less (I flew to London for 1/2 price). It is true that a lot of the info in the book can be found on the net, but there is also info about each individual company that I have not seen on the internet (or at least not for free). Courier companies vary widely in their practices and proedures, this is why this book is helpful. You will find a run-down of a lot of the questions that you would need to ask with answers already. Things such as "can I check luggage?" or "will I accrue travel miles?" and so many other things that can be so useful when deciding which company you should choose to contact. Knowing this information makes you a truely informed consumer and it also helps that the book is reputable (unlike so many internet sites). If you are going tofly as a courier buy this book!