Frequently Asked Questions about: AIRHITCH airhitch@airhitch.org ______________________________________________________________________ "There is a vast difference between a 'tourist' and a 'traveler.' The 'tourist' goes to visit a faraway place, stays for a few days or weeks, and then returns home. But the 'traveler' is at home WHEREVER he may be visiting." -- Paul Bowles, "The Sheltering Sky" "The road is life." -- Jack Kerouac Q. WHAT IS AIRHITCH®? A. Airhitch®, like all complex systems, is many things, and what it actually IS is all these "things" rolled into one. So first, it is A SYSTEM...but that doesn't really say very much, because LOTS of things in life -- including you! -- are systems! But the system that is Airhitch® was started by and for student TRAVELERS as a self-help METHOD which leads us to an inexpensive and fun way of getting to Europe by HITCHHIKING ON COMMERCIAL JET AIRCRAFT. The CONCEPT has since expanded to include other destination regions, both domestic and international, and essentially consists of making oneself available, under a highly organized (but not OVERorganized!) PROCEDURE, to take advantage of last-minute seating availability on commercial jet aircraft, on a "space-available" basis. So, there you have it: that's pretty much all we can say for the moment about what Airhitch® "is": system, method, concept, procedure. But in the following answers to other questions, you can learn a LOT more about it and therefore formulate your OWN ideas about its nature and essence! Q. HOW IS HITCHING RIDES ON COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES POSSIBLE? A. Pretty much the same way ANY hitchhiking is possible. On any given day, at least hundreds of seats go empty between the U.S. and Europe, and probably, THOUSANDS. (You can read more about this on our website.) Provided you are flexible and undemanding enough to fit your own travel plans into what is available, by using the Airhitch® method, you can be at the counter ready to step aboard one of these flights rather than allowing the seat to depart empty. The airlines make seats available on an Airhitch® basis because doing so enables them to maximize revenue without depleting their normal passenger base or disrupting their fare structure. The "generic" nature of the Airhitch passenger poses no threat or disruption to their standard way of operating (just as, when you hitchhike down the road, stopping to pick you up will not cause the driver to deviate from his/her original path). Q. DO I HAVE TO BE A STUDENT TO DO THIS? A. No, but it helps to think and travel like one. The Airhitch® system was created for the free-spirited, independent, and resourceful traveler who does not have a rigorous schedule, and enjoys seeing different places even when en route to his/her final destination. Many students fall into the above category, but the system is by no means LIMITED to students. Q. CAN I GO ANYWHERE IN EUROPE I WANT? A. Sure you can, but not necessarily all the way on an airplane, or on one single airplane! As whenever you hitchhike, when you Airhitch® you have to be adapt to what's availabile. This means, being ready to fly direct from any city within your REGION of origin to any city in your destination region, rather than insisting on travel between specific city points. Remember, the most costly component of getting ANYWHERE SPECIFIC in Europe is CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. Once in Europe, there are many easy and economical ways to move about. Notably, because of the recent formation of the European Union (EU) and the relaxing of regulation of airlines designed to foster more competition, it is now easier and cheaper to get from any part of Europe to any other part of Europe by air than by train. EURAILPASS, which allows unlimited travel over a fixed period of time for a flat fee, will cut down the cost of getting around by train, if you plan to do extensive rail travel anyway. There are also extensive bus routes and hitchhiking assistance services for those with limited budgets. BUT, specific destinations within western Europe to which you are likely to fly directly on the same aircraft which takes off from the U.S. or Canada change kaleidoscopically, and vary depending on region of departure, so no Airhitcher can count 100% on landing precisely in any of these places at any given time (and of course the same is true on the reverse leg, IF you Airhitch® BACK from Europe. There is a "potluck" or lottery element involved in Airhitching, which is one of the charms of the Airhitch® "ethos", and besides, ground- and air-transportation links between European city pairs are highly cost-efficient. Q. HOW MUCH DOES AIRHITCHING TO EUROPE COST? A. Not much! Currently, $165 plus tax from an East Coast gateway (most commonly New York, Boston, Baltimore/Washington, Philadelphia, or Montreal, etc.); $233 from the West Coast OR the Northwest (Los Angeles, San Francisco OR Seattle, Vancouver, etc.); $199 from the midwest (includes Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, St.Louis, Toronto, Denver, etc.); or $177 from the south- east (includes mostly the major Florida cities and, very occasionally, Atlanta, and other southeastern locations; however, if you're under 22, you can easily get around the southeast via AirTran's "Xfaress" program at $57 between any two points they fly between!) The above costs do not include taxes ($16 eastbound and/or $46 westbound) or a $29 non-refundable registration fee, and are ONE-WAY or EACH WAY (depending on whether or not you elect to Airhitch® in both directions: you are under NO OBLIGATION to do so: some people Airhitch® in only one direction and use other means for the reverse direction). Q. HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK? A. You initiate the Airhitch® process by formally indicating to us that you would like to Airhitch®. This process is called "registration", but COMMITS YOU TO NOTHING and you PAY NOTHING to do it, and you can CHANGE YOUR MIND AT ANY TIME ABOUT ANY PART OF IT, EVEN ABOUT AIRHITCHING AT ALL. It's all done via the Internet from our site www.airhitch.org and takes about 2-5 minutes. You will specify your preferences in terms of time (a time interval, or "date- range") and place (a region of departure and three destination preferences). For best results, the date-range should be a minimum of 5 days in length, and you should be prepared to board a flight at any time, on any day during your specified date-range. But NOTHING YOU PUT ON YOUR REGISTRATION FORM BINDS YOU TO ANYTHING AT ALL, it is ONLY AN INDICATION. In response to your registration, you will receive an acknowledgment and a set of instructions on how to proceed. Normally, an approximate "checkpoint" date will be recommended to you for a date slightly before the beginning of your indicated date-range (usually on the WEDNESDAY before, because the weekly flight-list normally gets compiled by Wednesday of each week). Anytime on or after this "checkpoint" date (or even before, although, we may not have much to tell you!), you contact the Airhitch® Online Staff (AOS) via the Internet (the instrux will tell you how) to start your FLIGHT-BRIEFING (FB), which will include, but is by no means limited to, things like a list of flight opportunities and the expected seat-availability for each flight. Airhitch® staff will also "brief" you, if necessary, and help formulate a strategy for prioritizing from among available alternatives so as to maximize your probability of boarding a flight which will take you as close as possible to your ultimate final specific destination within your generic destination REGION. Q. HOW DO I REGISTER? A. After you've had a chance to do fact-gathering and analysis about the system (using this FAQ and the Airhitch® website as primary sources, plus contact with the AOS via email/cyberchat), you can just sign yourself up VIA the website and, if necessary, contact the AOS staff online, either via email or "live" via various chatsystems, for assistance in filling out the necessary page. You can register for ANY instance of Airhitching, in the immediate present or future, at ANY time, FROM ANYWHERE you have a 'net- connection from. Q. HOW DO I REGISTER TO RETURN FROM EUROPE (OR FROM THE U.S./CANADA IF I STARTED OUT IN EUROPE)? A. The Airhitch process works the same way in reverse as it does for your outbound flight. You can register for your return before you leave, but keep in mind that the outbound and return registrations are TWO ENTIRELY SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT TRANSACTIONS, even thought you might choose to transact them at the same time, and nothing that happens in conjunction with one will have any effect on the other. In either case, all regis- tered Airhitchers simply check in from WHEREVER THEY MAY BE on approximately the Wednesday before they intend to fly, to start receiving their "flight- opportunity indication and briefing". Registering for your return before you leave the U.S. can be an advantage in terms of your boarding priority, especially for those trying to return from Europe on heavy-traffic days, because the procedures of Airhitching dictate that earliest registrants board first in cases of contention among passengers for seats which are in short supply. If, however, you prefer the freedom of waiting until you are in Europe and keeping your return- flight options open, you of course have the option of contacting the Airhitch® Online Staff's "cyberoffice" by email or cyberchat when your return plans are set. AIRHITCH®-USA This system is constantly expanding and changing, so check with the Airhitch® Online Staff continually for the latest details. The same conditions and procedures described above for Airhitch® Europe apply. As of June, 2006, the West Coast<=>Hawaii corridor was "highly Airhitchable" at $139. People east of the west coast can of course also get to Hawaii by wise use of supplementary transport to get TO the west coast to pick up their Airhitchable flight over the Pacific. The AOS is available to help you structure this kind of trip if necessary. SUNHITCH® The SUNHITCH® system can help you get inexpensively to numerous "sun- filled" resort destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico from the various regions of the United States. Especially popular during the winter period, when people just crave a week's escape in the sun, somewhere, anywhere! The registration fees for round-trip travel, based on a one week stay, from the various U.S. regions, are, as follows: east coast, $199; midwest, $219; west coast to Pacific coast of Mexico or Caribbean basin, $249. (Plus $68 taxes and $29 non-refundable registration fee.) Once again, Sunhitch® requires the flexibility of a 5-day "date-range" for your departure and we do our best to accomodate preferences, but ultimately you must be prepared to accept any resort destination in your destination region. The most common destinations are Cancun, Puerta Vallarta, Nassau, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Jamaica and St. Maarten, BUT, as with standard Airhitch®, these can change each week. Depending on the air carrier or tour-operator, it is sometimes possible to have a shorter or longer stay, and certain tour-operators require that we travel on a space-available basis in both directions, but most offer a confirmed return flight exactly 7 days after departure. Sunhitch® is the most affordable way to escape to a beach, especially when you need to arrange your trip at the last minute. TARGET FLIGHTS® If you think you may not have the flexibility necessary to make use of the Airhitch® system and you are willing to pay a higher price for a confirmed departure date and destination, you might want to consider the TARGET FLIGHT® program operated by Airhitch®'s licensee, the non-profit Co-op for International and Intercultural Experience. Although often significantly and (regrettably) higher than Airhitch® rates, CIIE can help you locate heavily-discounted rates for confirmed, reserved-in-advance seats to all European cities as well as any other destinations worldwide. During the winter season, when standard airline rates drop and the range of Airhitchable flights are more limited, Target Flights® can be very cost- effective. When you have decided as precisely as possible when you want to fly and to where, just email your dates/itinerary to our Target Flight staff at target@airhitch.org. They will analyze your travel problem and in 24-48 hours come up with a Target quote, balancing your flexibility, if any, off against price to optimize your trip. Once you accept the proposed dates, itinerary, and quote, they will guide you thru placing the reservation and you send payment directly to whoever is offering you the transportation. Target® quotes are subject to change right up until the point "money changes hands", but under our guidance you will not pay out a single penny until you are absolutely sure of what you will be receiving in return for that payment! AIRHITCH®, SUNHITCH®, AND TARGET FLIGHTS® are registered proprietary trademarks and their use is controlled by and requires the consent and approval of Airhitch® Intellectual Properties and/or Robert Segelbaum. COPYRIGHT 1997-2007, Robert S. Segelbaum Further reading: For an independent assessment of the Airhitch® system, see CONSUMER REPORTS TRAVEL LETTER, June, 1985, and May, 1993 issues. Further discussion: Airhitch holds a live-chat discussion forum most evenings at 6PM eastern time, in the AIM Travel Tips Forum (the simplest and most expedient way to connect is thru www.aim.com/get_aim/express/aim_expr.adp, or you can download AIM from www.aim.com. If you are an AOL member you don't need to do either, you are ALREADY on AIM via your "buddy list" or "instant messaging" function. It's free to connect to AIM.) A wide variety of topics are discussed, beyond Airhitch® and associated systems and services, including low-cost methods of intra-European travel, youth hosteling, and other budget-travel tips. Come join us! You can also contact us via email at airhitch@airhitch.org. However, if you contact us about a specific trip you have in mind, because of acute volunteer staff shortages (all email is answered by the volunteer online staff) and an enormous volume of email, the only type of questions which will be answered will be those conforming to the following two criteria: (1) questions the answers to which do not appear on the website; and (2) questions directly related to the launching of your Airhitching endeavor. [Because Airhitch® is a self-help system, the intellectual task of applying its principles to your particular instance of travel on any given occasion lies primarily with you, the user.]