At 11:13 AM 6/25/96 -0500, Scott Sminkey - Sustaining Eng. wrote:
>From my ham radio hobby, I know that the minimum airmail postage cost from
>Germany to the USA (for a 1/2 ounce letter, I think) is now almost US $2.
>If you write to Michael, you may want to be nice to him and include a couple
>of one dollar bills, or perhaps even a five dollar bill to cover his postage
>cost. I'll bet he'd also appreciate a self-addressed envelope or a stick-on
>label with your address on it.

to which Ron Lussier <coyote@chaco.com> wrote:

>You can also buy a 'International Return Postage' stamp from the post office.

There is a lot of confusion about International Reply Coupons (IRCs) among
the ham radio community, which is far and away the single largest user of
IRCs. An IRC is supposed to be good for the smallest unit of airmail postage
in any participating country. Apparently, some postal systems interpret that
to mean the smallest unit of postage, period, i.e., surface mail. Last I
heard, IRCs were 95 cents each in the USA. For Germany, you'd be best off
sending two IRCs if you want an airmail return. It just seems easier for me
to send two one dollar bills.

  - Scott
    '91 Vanagon Westfalia Camper
===========
Scott Sminkey, Sustaining and Specials Eng.   Whittaker Xyplex, Inc.
sasminkey@eng.xyplex.com                      295 Foster Street
508 952-4792  fax 508 952-4887                Littleton, Massachusetts 01460