Knowledge Series

Don’t you wish booking flights for your cargo was as easy as booking flights for yourself ? Well now it’s as close as it gets when you use the New Option Group digital freight forwarding platform.

 

Online Air Freight Quotes, Booking, Payment, and Tracking

The processes, procedures, and protocols of the air transportation industry have not traditionally been easy to navigate, as you will know if you ever used the services of an air freight forwarder.

Now there’s an easy way to get an air freight shipping quote, make bookings, meet compliance requirements, and get your goods into the air without fuss—and if you’re a first-time shipper, you need never come face to face with those traditional complexities.

• A simple online form to request your first air freight quote.
• Thousands of air freight global shipping routes at your fingertips.
• Real-time air freight tracking and notifications to keep you updated on shipment progress.
• Airport-to-airport and air freight door to door shipping services.
• Transparent air freight rates, broken down to show you precisely what you are paying for.
• A customer support team to help you when your air-cargo needs are complex.
• Online compliance engine makes it easy to create shipping documents and complete them accurately.

Save time, money, and administration effort when you procure and manage air cargo services—use New Option Group technology to tap into Agility Logistics’ expertise and extensive global shipping network.

Air Freight Shipping With New Option Group: The Benefits

Instant Online Quotes for Air Freight

Air freight is the quickest method of international freight shipping, but can still take a few days because of the need for export and import customs clearance. It takes even longer if you have to wait around for air freight forwarders to send you their quotes. New Option Group online quotations (except for more elaborate shipping plans) are typically near-instantaneous, so you benefit even more from the time-savings of air cargo transportation.

Self-service Shipment Bookings

New Option Group simplifies the booking and management of air cargo. While the process may not be quite as simple as booking a passenger flight online, it’s less onerous than you would find in traditional freight forwarding. Our platform is intuitive to use, with purpose-built tools to help you overcome the challenges of documentation and compliance. While primarily a self-service platform, you have the support of a knowledgeable customer service team when you need a little help or some extra information.

Fly Through the Payment Process

After booking your air cargo shipment with New Option Group, you can pay right here on our platform, using your preferred option. Choose from payment via your bank branch, wire transfer, credit card, or debit card. You may also qualify for business credit, which will improve your business’ cash flow and save even more time in the booking process.

Real-Time Air Cargo Tracking

It’s incredible how much faster your shipments seem to go when you can track their progress. Our technology allows you to monitor your shipments in real time and receive regular status notifications, so you should never be distracted by uncertainty, or feel that need to pick up the phone and ask about your shipment while it’s in transit.

We Take Care of Your Air Cargo Customs Clearance

At New Option Group, we manage all aspects of your air freight shipping logistics, including import and/or export customs clearance, as well as documentation related to IATA and other industry regulations. All you need do is follow the prompts and provide the information we request via our platform, and our compliance engine takes care of the rest.

Fly it Your Way

As our parent company, Agility Logistics, has a presence in around 100 countries, and partnerships with many major air carriers, there are few places we can’t get your goods to by air. Whether you need next-flight-out, air freight overnight shipping, or deferred air cargo services, we can help. Even if your preferred option is not available directly from our platform, it only takes a call or chat request to our customer support specialists to get your shipment arranged.

We are Here to Help When You Need It

New Option Group is a technology-first air freight forwarder, but that doesn’t mean we leave you to place your trust in total automation. We have specialist teams of pricing experts and customer support agents, available round the clock to help you by way of live online chat or via email and telephone.

Key Features of Our Solution

Now you know about the advantages of New Option Group as your go-to air freight shipping forwarder, you might wish to overview the primary features of our technology platform and business model. You’ll find a brief list below, but if you’d like to know more, keep scrolling down to see some frequently asked questions about air freight shipping services from New Option Group.

The following innovative features drive our unique air freight forwarding service, and help you to reduce cost and complexity in your global supply chain:

• Sophisticated quotation technology to deliver competitive air freight quotes.
• Integrated online quotation, booking, payment, and air cargo tracking technology.
• Customer support channels including telephone communications, live chat, and email.
• A vast global network of logistics experts and partners.
• A quick and easy signup process, free from complicated onboarding requirements.
• Live shipment tracking for total visibility into your air-freight from origin to destination.
• Simplified customs clearance via a digital compliance engine.
• Global freight guides to help you find the best routes and understand the regulatory landscape.

Air Freight FAQs From New Option Group

Are Air Freight Rates Always More Expensive than Ocean Freight?

The cost of shipping goods by air is comparatively high, which is why, for the majority of international shipping scenarios, it is not as popular as ocean freight. However, there are some situations in which the price difference can be negligible, like when you only move small shipments of goods. That’s because port and customs fees for imports via sea can mount up quickly, offsetting the cost savings of a slower and less secure transportation mode. In these types of circumstance, you might find that booking a deferred air cargo shipment will cost little more than ocean freight, while still being a lot faster.

Is Air Shipping Secure and Reliable?

Air cargo is especially suitable for low-volume, high-value shipments because the total time between the dispatch of your goods and their receipt by the consignee is minimized, creating fewer opportunities for security to be compromised. Similarly, the less time your shipment spends in transit, the lower the risk of damage, so air transportation is ideal for fragile or perishable, goods.

What is the Impact of Air Freight Shipping on Transit Times?

Of course, speed is the primary advantage of shipping by air, along with flexibility, because passenger aircraft, as well as dedicated freighters, can carry your shipments. Therefore, when it’s essential to get your products or materials from one country to another in double-quick time, there’s no better way to send them than as air cargo.

Be aware though, that international air freight is not as fast as domestic cargo aviation, because your goods are likely to spend at least a day or two undergoing customs processing at the airport of loading, as well as the airport of discharge. If you’d like to get some idea of typical transit times.

What’s in an International Air Freight Shipping Quote?

Quotes for international shipping, whether by ocean or air, are typically elaborate and detailed, and can be bewildering if you are not familiar with them. Air quotes typically comprise many lines, and it’s worth taking the time to understand them, because it will help you assess value when comparing forwarders’ quotations. To help you with that, here is a brief breakdown of the charges typically contained in an air freight quote:

• Base freight rate: Charged according to the actual or volumetric weight of your goods.
• Fuel surcharge: Typically imposed to protect the carrier against fluctuating fuel costs.
• Security fee: The costs of security screening are passed on to shippers by the air carriers.
• ** Terminal handling charges:** Air carriers charge shippers for the cost of airport freight handling.
• Customs clearance fees: These will appear on your quote if you choose door-to-door shipping.
• Cargo insurance fees: These are the charges you will need to pay to cover your freight against risk while it is in transit.
• Trucking fees: If you choose door-to-door, door-to-port, or port-to-door shipping, your quote will include the cost of road transportation.
• Container freight station fee: This fee is for any temporary storage of your air freight container at the airport of loading and/or airport of discharge.

How to Optimize Your Air Freight Shipping Costs?

Given the high cost of shipping goods by air, it makes sense to take any measures possible to keep fees to a minimum. Here are three quick tips for cost-effective air transportation:

• Choose air freight door to door shipping with New Option Group. We will search for the most cost-efficient combination of transportation services, not only reducing the landed cost of your shipment, but also saving you the administrative costs of finding domestic carriers and comparing their quotes.
• Package your goods as compactly as possible. Every centimeter you add to the dimensions of your cargo will increase the base rate if your carrier charges by volumetric weight.
• Take advantage of the New Option Group compliance engine to ensure all your shipping documents are completed accurately and in full, reducing the risk of delays and demurrage charges.

How does New Option Group Differ from Other Air Freight Forwarders?

The main differentiator for New Option Group is our digital-first approach to freight forwarding. Although the use of technology for air cargo management is on the rise, most forwarders apply it on a limited basis, reluctant to break away from the methodical, but inefficient manual processes used for decades.

At New Option Group, we set out to create a digital product, not with the primary aim of internal efficiencies (although our technology does make us much more efficient than traditional forwarders) but to help our customers, especially SMEs, to access similar service levels to those enjoyed by larger-scale beneficial cargo owners.

That’s why, when you use our platform, you will find that booking your freight onto a flight is a simple, straightforward process, as close as it gets to booking flights for yourself. Of course, it is a little more involved, but you do have the convenience of a single platform with self-service quotation requests, bookings, payment, air cargo tracking, automated compliance processes and the help of human logistics experts as and when you need it.

Can I be Sure Your Services are Reliable?

We are a technology-oriented company, not a technology company. New Option Group is a subsidiary of Agility Logistics, with a mission to simplify international shipping by way of digital innovation.

We have Agility’s entire global logistics network at our disposal, so you can be confident that every quote we issue is competitive and that every shipment is managed by a networked force of consummate logistics experts, using a long-established freight network trusted by some of the world’s largest supply chain organizations.

In short, yes, you can be assured of reliable, as well as cost-effective air freight services from New Option Group and our partners.