230 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
230 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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Fly Free: The Courier Route
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Did you know that international corporations will
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pay for you to fly to Zurich...or Paris...or Rome? All
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you have to do in return is agree to carry time-
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sensitive business cargo (it could be files or computer
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discs, for example) to your destination. You may never
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have to touch, let alone actually carry, the bags.
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Representatives of the firm that has hired you will
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take care of all the dirty work. All you have to do is
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check the cargo as your luggage.
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It's called traveling as an air courier. And it's
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perfectly legal. Thousands of travelers do it every
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year. As an air courier, you fly like any other
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passenger on the plane, enjoying the same comforts and
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amenities. There are only two differences. First, you
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don't have any checked luggage (just your carry-on
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bags). And second, you don't pay full fare for your
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ticket. In fact, you may not pay anything at all.
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But more than that, there is something exciting,
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even romantic about traveling as an air courier. You
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can be called up for duty with little more than a day
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or two notice -- like a foreign correspondent or an
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international spy. What an adventure, to receive a
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telephone call asking if you can leave for the Far East
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in 24 hours...or if you're interested in flying to
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London in the morning.
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Of course, it can be much less spontaneous, if you
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prefer. Some courier services allow you to make
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reservations weeks or months in advance.
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Making The Connection
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You want to fly to Sydney, Australia, and then
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take off for a grand adventure Down Under...exploring
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Queensland's rain forest...sailing the Great Barrier
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Reef...maybe traveling northwest from Sydney to Mudgee,
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a little, undiscovered town cradled in the Cudgegong
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Valley on the western side of the Great Dividing Range,
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where you can visit stud and sheep ranches, go
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prospecting for gold, and marvel at Frog Rock (a huge
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sedimentary amphibian that crouches beside the road)...
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But the cheapest round-trip ticket to Sydney
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you've been able to find costs US$1,500 -- considerably
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more than your pocketbook can afford.
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Don't give up on your trip. Pick up the phone and
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call a courier service. Explain where you want to
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travel and when and ask if the service has any packages
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going to that destination at that time. Most services
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require that you call not more than 60 days in advance
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of your trip.
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If it is your first time looking for work as a
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courier, it might be better to make the initial contact
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by letter rather than telephone. Tell the service a
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little about yourself, include a resume, and assure
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them that you are flexible, available, eager to travel,
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and accustomed to packing light (remember, you'll only
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be allowed your carry-on luggage). Then follow up on
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this letter with a phone call, requesting a specific
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assignment.
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But before you accept an assignment, verify the
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terms of the arrangement. Some services no longer
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offer free tickets to their couriers; some offer only
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deeply discounted tickets. In fact, as the occupation
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becomes more popular, it is becoming harder and harder
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for couriers to travel free. Years ago, courier
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services not only provided couriers with free airfare
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to their destination, but they paid them a fee as well.
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Today, this is unheard of.
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It is still possible to get free airfare, though,
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but you may have to shop around. And you probably will
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have to settle for a last-minute booking. Even if you
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can't get your ticket for free, you will be able to get
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it for about 70% less than you could buy it anywhere
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else.
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Another thing to keep in mind is that you can
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bargain for a fare. If you're interested in flying in
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two months to Buenos Aires, you may not be able to find
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a free ticket. (Remember, free tickets are usually
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associated with last-minute bookings.) But neither do
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you have to settle for the first fare quoted you.
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Haggle. Bide your time. The closer it gets to the
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date of departure, the more eager the courier service
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will be to make a deal.
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The only red tape involved is an application form
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that the courier service will ask you to fill out.
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Some services also charge minimal annual registration
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fees.
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The reason for couriers
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More and more businesses are using courier
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services. The reasons are simple. First, nearly all
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major businesses now operate internationally. When
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someone says, "I want it on my desk by 9 a.m.," he
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doesn't care that the person he's speaking to is
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halfway around the world. If packages or documents are
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shipped by traditional methods, they can take hours,
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even days to clear customs. Not so with material
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shipped with a courier. It clears customs within
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minutes of landing at the airport, just like any other
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passenger's luggage.
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Second, material shipped with a courier flies on a
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scheduled airline, and, because of that, it usually
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flies on time.
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So, when a marketing manager in Des Moines wants
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to send the results of his most recent studies to his
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affiliate in Hamburg -- and ensure that they reach
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their overseas destination by 9 the next morning -- he
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picks up the telephone and calls an international air
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freight company.
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The major freight companies, such as Federal
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Express and DHL International, fly their own planes and
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therefore have no need of couriers. Smaller
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operations, however, must rely on courier services to
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arrange for the transport of their parcels. These
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freight companies contact a courier service, which in
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turn tries to find a free-lance courier who wants to
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fly -- immediately -- to Germany, for example. If you
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happen to call the courier service that same afternoon,
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you're on your way to Europe.
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For your part, the work involved is minimal.
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Always check in the day before you are scheduled to
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depart to make sure the time or the flight or the
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carrier has not been changed. This is not a formality;
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it is a safeguard. It is not unusual. In fact, it is
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common for courier flights and times to be changed at
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the last minute.
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Once you're sure of your flight, simply arrive at
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the airport about an hour ahead of your departure time.
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A representative from the freight service will deliver
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the material to the airport and check it in as the
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baggage for your ticket. You'll then be given the
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ticket, the baggage claim check, and a form detailing
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the contents of the baggage.
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When you arrive at your destination, another
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representative from the freight service will meet you
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at the airport, where you'll retrieve the baggage,
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clear it through customs, and then take off to enjoy
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your trip. The service is responsible for making sure
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that the contents of the baggage are as they should be
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and that they are delivered where they are supposed to
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go. Your only responsibility is walking the parcel
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through customs.
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The courier service will have given you a sheet
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with instructions for your return flight. Don't lose
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it. And the day before you are scheduled to return
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home, again check in with the courier service to verify
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your flight time.
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Finding a service
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To find a courier service, you could simply open
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your local yellow pages, look under "Air Courier
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Services," and then call each firm listed to see if
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they use free-lance couriers and if they provide free
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tickets or only discounted tickets. But you'll
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probably be disappointed. The services that advertise
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in the yellow pages rarely use free-lance couriers and
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never give free tickets.
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A better way to start is to contact Now Voyager,
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74 Varick St., Room 307, New York, NY 10013; (212) 431-
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1616, a large courier service that deals with a lot of
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different freight companies and uses a lot of free-
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lance couriers. Call between 6 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. to
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hear a tape recording detailing all available flights
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and prices; call in the afternoon to book flights.
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Other courier services that use free-lance
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couriers and that sometimes offer free tickets to their
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couriers include:
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Airhitch, 2790 Broadway, Suite 100, New York, NY
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10025; (212) 864-2000
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Courier Network, 295 Seventh Ave., New York, NY
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10001; (212) 691-9860
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Halbart Express, 147-05 176th St., Jamaica, NY
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11434; (718) 656-8279 or (718) 656-8189
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International Courier Travel, 5757 W. Century
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Blvd., Suite 700-26, Los Angeles, CA 90045; (505) 758-
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7911
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TNT-Skypak, 38 E. 29th St., New York, NY 10003;
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(212) 532- 5777
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World Courier, 137-42 Guy R. Brewer Blvd.,
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Jamaica, NY 11434; (718) 978-9552 or (718) 978-9400
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Courier Travel Services Ltd., 346 Fulham Road,
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London SW10 9UH, United Kingdom; tel. 71-351-0300. Polo
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Express Services Ltd. (a subsidiary of British Airways)
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2 Fitzharding Street, London W1H 9 PN, United Kingdom;
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tel. 81-759-5383
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Air Facility, Esmeralda 634, 4oB, Buenos Aires,
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Argentina; tel. (54-1) 322-7720.
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Jupiter Air Ltd., Ground Floor, Block 2, Tien Chu
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Centre, 1 E Mokcheong St., Tokwawan, Kowloon, Hong
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Kong; tel. (852) 761-1303, fax (852) 761-1029.
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Jupiter Air Oceania Ltd., Unit 4 154-166 O'Riordan
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St., Mascot, NSW 2020, Australia; tel. (61-2) 317-2113;
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fax (61-2) 317-2238.
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Jet Services Roissy, Batiment 3416, Module 700,
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Route du Midi, 95707 Roissey, France; tel. (33-14) 862-
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6222, fax (33-14) 862-6246.
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Discount Travel International, 169 W. 81st Street,
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New York, NY 10024; tel. (212) 362-8113, fax (212) 362-
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3236.
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Way to Go, 6679 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028
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USA; tel. (213) 466-1126, fax (213) 466-8994.
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For more information
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For more on traveling as a courier, read Air
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Courier Bargains by Kelly Monaghan, available from
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Inwood Training Publications, Box 438, New York, NY
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10034-9959. The cost is US$14.95. Another good
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reference is Fly There For Less by Bob Martin,
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available from TeakWood Press, 160 Fiesta Drive,
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Kissimmee, FL 34743 USA. The cost is US$8.95.
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Steve Lantos is the publisher of Travel Unlimited,
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a monthly newsletter on international courier travel
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from the U.S., Canada, and Britain. The address is P.
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O. Box 1058, Allston MA 02134 USA.
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Contact the International Asssociation of Air
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Travel Couriers (IAATC), 8 South J Street, P. O. Box
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1349, Lake Worth, F: 33460 USA; tel. (407) 582-8320.
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The IAATC charges an annual fee of US$35.
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