The questions clients actually ask before their first assignment, answered
without marketing language.
01How quickly can a courier leave for Honolulu?
A vetted courier can normally be at a UAE airport within two to four hours of a confirmed booking. The real constraint is not our side, it is the next departure with a seat and a cabin allowance that fits. Because we use all seven UAE airports and buy on the open market rather than through one carrier, that next departure is usually sooner than people expect.
02What cannot travel with a courier?
Undeclared dangerous goods, controlled substances, weapons and weapon parts, counterfeits, unlicensed dual-use items, live animals, and anything whose parties or end use fail sanctions screening. Some regulated categories can travel with the right permit and packing; we tell you which case yours is before you pay.
03Does the consignment ever go into the hold?
No. That is the definition of the service rather than a policy we could relax. It travels in the cabin, in the courier's custody, for every sector of the journey to Honolulu. If something genuinely cannot travel in a cabin, we will tell you that and discuss freight or a charter instead of pretending.
04What happens if the flight is cancelled?
We rebook. Before departure we already know the next alternatives to Honolulu across the carriers we can lawfully use, so a cancellation costs hours rather than a day. You are told the new arrival time as soon as we have it, not after you ask.
05How is delivery proven?
Signature, printed name and an identification reference, with a timestamp, plus photographs where you have asked for them. It is produced by the courier at the moment of handover in Honolulu, not generated by a depot three hours later.
06Is the consignment insured?
All-risk cover on the declared value is arranged on request and confirmed in writing before collection. We do not rely on airline liability, because under the Montreal Convention that liability is a small fraction of what most courier consignments are worth.
07Can you collect outside the UAE?
Yes. Third-country assignments, collect in one country, deliver in another, are a normal part of the work, and they are routed through the fastest connection rather than automatically through Dubai. Where a courier already in the region can take it, that is what happens.
08Do you handle customs at Daniel K. Inouye International (HNL)?
The courier declares the goods in person through the red channel, and where the value or the category warrants it we brief a licensed customs broker in United States in advance. Duty and tax are the consignee's cost unless agreed otherwise in writing.
09Can I speak to a person during the journey?
Yes, and that is the point of the service. Our operations desk answers by email at bookings [at] onboardcourier [dot] ae for the whole assignment, and we contact you at collection, at departure, on arrival and at delivery without waiting to be asked.