anyone flied as a courier before? (also, about 'grievence airfare')

[andylawcc]

i have to see my dying grandmother before its too late, this means I have to take a few days off and fly back to HongKong, but i also want to save a couple of bucks in the mean time.

someone told me about flying as a "courier" (which means take some packages and bring it abroad the flight from a company and deliver it, in exchange they will provide some discount for the airfare.)
my question is, is it safe to do so? (like, what if the package contain illegal material or what not)


also, I remembered a Looong time ago one of the anandtech member has to fly back home for a funeral too and someone here told him/her can get a "grievence" discount directly from the airline over the ticketing counter at the airport.... can anyone elaborate on that?

 

[Orsorum]

I am sorry about your grandmother. If I have time tomorrow, I'll call a family friend who works for Alaska and see if they have any information.

 

[amnesiac]

Courier - you take parcels for a company in lieu of your luggage. That means you can only bring carry-ons.

Grievance airfare - only valid *after* someone in your family dies

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Courier - you take parcels for a company in lieu of your luggage. That means you can only bring carry-ons.

Grievance airfare - only valid *after* someone in your family dies

Only bringing carry ons is a PAIN now that you can only have one.

 

[vi edit]

Grievance airfare - only valid *after* someone in your family dies

Unfortunately, that is true. 🙁 And even then it's a huge hastle.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Grievance airfare - only valid *after* someone in your family dies

Unfortunately, that is true. 🙁 And even then it's a huge hastle.

and its not that big of a help (at least with my experience)
when my grandmother passed away, my bro in law tried to get tickets for him and my sister to come to texas from st louis and were told it'd be $2000 for both. The grievence airfare was around $500 for both
they ended up using some spare miles they had

 

[vi edit]

and its not that big of a help (at least with my experience)
when my grandmother passed away, my bro in law tried to get tickets for him and my sister to come to texas from st louis and were told it'd be $2000 for both. The grievence airfare was around $500 for both
they ended up using some spare miles they had

Not that big of a help? You just saved 75% off the "normal" price. When my fiancee got a grievance fare back in November, she got a $1000 plane ticket for around $333.

 

[FoBoT]

the problem is that the discount for a family death is off of the regular price

you can often get the same or lower price from orbitz or priceline or straight from a special on the airlines web site

the final price with the family death discount is rarely a "good deal"

 

[vi edit]

you can often get the same or lower price from orbitz or priceline or straight from a special on the airlines web site

Maybe, only if you are flying from a major airport to another major airport. Not so if you are flying from a small regional airport to another small regional airport. The grievance fair that we got from the airline was a couple hundred less than what orbitz or hotwire could do.

 

[Armitage]

priceline.com is a good place to look for very short notice tickets.
Did this when my grandmother was dying this past fall, and paid about $100 for what is normally a $350 fare (or $1000+ for short notice ticket via normal channels). Bought the ticket on about 12 hours before departure.
Not sure if they do international travel though.

 

[rudder]

I dont think you would qualify for the bereavement or "grievence" airfare since your grandmother is still living.

And for the courier flights, they may be a good idea, but the schedule is not set. Meaning if you want to go to Hong Kong you may have to sit around and wait until there is a demand for a package to go there.

 

[Freejack2]

Your profile says you are in Los Angeles. Based on that I'd say you have a pretty good chance of getting a package soon. In the interim as a price example Orbitz says it's $604 on Asiana airlines round trip to go from Fri Feb14th to the 19th. American based airlines like Northwest are $780
As for "courier" if you can live with only a carry on I'd say just be wary of what you are carrying on. Probably wouldn't hurt to check around about any courier company. I doubt you want to end up getting busted because some courier company was trying to sneak something illegal.

 

[andylawcc]

hey, thanks guys, I just booked my ticket through an agent already, leaving this Thursday and coming back on Monday night (thank God monday is a holiday)

as far as the grievence thing goes, I will still want to get it since I MAY fly back AGAIN for the second time for the funeral. but I can ask that question directly at the airport over the counter. I will also inquire about StandBy flying while I am there.

also, I abandon the Courier idea already coz
1) I cannot find any courier agency that have shipments to HongKong
2) its too risky
frankly I would take the risk of carrying unknown baggage/luggage abroad, but everyone I know advise me NOT to do so, so I don't want them to say "I told ya" if something bad did happen.