Bereavement Air Fare

jdb in AZ

It could end up curdled
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Anyone know of an airline that offers a last-minute fare because a family member has to rush to the bedside of a dying relative, or attend a funeral? The airline we usually use jacks up their last-minute fares to about 400% of what they charge for an off-season purchase a few months in advance.

i realize people would try to game the system, even producing a fake death certificate, but I feel bad for people who really have to travel a long distance with very little notice.
 
I believe Delta technically still does, but they say things like “lower prices may be available” so I’m thinking it’s probably one of those things that they keep in place because it makes them look good on paper.
 
Anyone know of an airline that offers a last-minute fare because a family member has to rush to the bedside of a dying relative, or attend a funeral? The airline we usually use jacks up their last-minute fares to about 400% of what they charge for an off-season purchase a few months in advance.

i realize people would try to game the system, even producing a fake death certificate, but I feel bad for people who really have to travel a long distance with very little notice.
https://www.skyscanner.com/tips-and-inspiration/bereavement-flights-guide
 
Anyone know of an airline that offers a last-minute fare because a family member has to rush to the bedside of a dying relative, or attend a funeral? The airline we usually use jacks up their last-minute fares to about 400% of what they charge for an off-season purchase a few months in advance.

i realize people would try to game the system, even producing a fake death certificate, but I feel bad for people who really have to travel a long distance with very little notice.

First, sorry for your loss. Second, call customer service of the airlines you are interested in. Tell them about your planned trip. IF they do a bereavement discount, they will tell you you have to produce a death certificate and maybe some other paperwork, like proof of when the funeral happened.

Don't expect a huge discount nowadays. Like you said, the scams forced airlines to give less of a discount than they used to.
 


I believe Delta technically still does, but they say things like “lower prices may be available” so I’m thinking it’s probably one of those things that they keep in place because it makes them look good on paper.
Just before my dad passed away, we booked flights on Delta to try to get to see him. Just Sun - Tues I believe. He passed away while we were in the TSA line at our departure airport. Later that afternoon, I was able to call Delta and they waived the change fees for us to fly back home Monday (there was no sense in staying until Tuesday, memorial service was going to be a couple weeks and all plans got made that Sunday).

So yes, Delta will help out, or at least did for us.
 
Delta does offer a small discount, but it was not on their cheapest fare (where you don't pick your seat and receive no free checked bags). We only needed the lowest tier fare, so it didn't really make much of a price difference.
 
Sadly, I had to look into this yesterday when dh last grandparent passed. We found a better fare than the only bereavement rate I found (also on delta and crap flight times). She’s in Tampa so it’s been a week of dh trying to help his dad (an only child) plan the military service. His grandmother was one of the first female MPs. He has been asked to be the one to play taps. It’s been a crap week for sure.
 


I would think that this would be a reimbursement program - you pay full pay, then a month later, email them death cert, and they credit your account. There would have to be some accountability on their end on why they're offering bereavement fares, otherwise some shady employee could be giving the fare away to friends.
 
I looked into this when one of my grandfather died 14 years ago. I was quoted a bereavement fair of $1500 to fly from Seattle to the SF Bay area. I drove instead, missing my grandfathers last day alive.

In January and July of this year my other two grandparents died. Trying to find airfare from Tennessee to Hawaii was a joke. Needless to say I didn't go. Of course you then get the guilt trip for not making it. Sorry but money doesn't grow on trees around here.
 
I believe Delta technically still does, but they say things like “lower prices may be available” so I’m thinking it’s probably one of those things that they keep in place because it makes them look good on paper.
The discount is usually off of full fares. Leisure travelers almost never book full fare. I remember looking to go on vacation in Florida where I had to wait until my manager said it was OK. I was originally looking about about $325 round-trip, but when I looked at full fare and "restricted fare" (with limited cancellation policies it was anywhere from $1300 to $1600. By the time I got the OK and booked, it was still a leisure fare at about $400.

But if it's traveling in a few days there's almost never going to be a heavily discounted leisure fare. It might make a difference if it's something like a funeral scheduled for a few weeks.
 
Anyone know of an airline that offers a last-minute fare because a family member has to rush to the bedside of a dying relative, or attend a funeral? The airline we usually use jacks up their last-minute fares to about 400% of what they charge for an off-season purchase a few months in advance.

i realize people would try to game the system, even producing a fake death certificate, but I feel bad for people who really have to travel a long distance with very little notice.

Delta does with international flights. My husbands brother died and we had to fly from the US to Europe before any arrangements were known. Last minute international flights are crazy expensive but we were charged the "normal" fare for those tickets (4 of them). They also allowed us to change the flights home when we got a call that another family member at home had died while we were still in Europe and we had to return quickly. They went above and beyond to help us during that really difficult time and we greatly appreciate it to this day.
 
Anyone know of an airline that offers a last-minute fare because a family member has to rush to the bedside of a dying relative, or attend a funeral? The airline we usually use jacks up their last-minute fares to about 400% of what they charge for an off-season purchase a few months in advance.

i realize people would try to game the system, even producing a fake death certificate, but I feel bad for people who really have to travel a long distance with very little notice.
My mom passed away when we were in Florida for the holidays. We had to fly home and then to where she lived, which was near my sister (all we had were vacation cloths with us and we were unprepared for a longer somber stay in a different climate). Southwest was accommodating in helping us in getting flights during the busy holiday season, but it cost us. No discounts.
 
I would think that this would be a reimbursement program - you pay full pay, then a month later, email them death cert, and they credit your account.

It is an reimbursement program as one has to produce a copy of the death certificate. (The funeral home can help with this.) Unfortunately, not all airlines offer bereavement fares.

Alaska Airlines still does, according to Google. They fly to Washington state and some other parts, not just Alaska. I had to loan a BF money for the trip as he didn't have the money up front. It took about a month before he was able to get the money back to reimburse me.
 
We were on vacation when DH's mom was put on life support. Delta offered a "discounted" fare of $550 for the flight from Tampa to Des Moines. While we were trying to make arrangements she passed away so we contacted Southwest (our original flights) and SW moved them to the next day at no cost to us even though the price had clearly gone way up since we had booked them. They were wonderful to work with.
 
Alaska Airlines still does, according to Google. They fly to Washington state and some other parts, not just Alaska. I had to loan a BF money for the trip as he didn't have the money up front. It took about a month before he was able to get the money back to reimburse me.
Most of Alaska Airlines business is not in Alaska. They're really more a PNW airline with hubs in Portland, OR and Seattle.

Still - they provide a lot of service in Alaska, and I believe a lot of it is subsidized because otherwise nobody is going to offer scheduled service.
 
I believe Delta technically still does, but they say things like “lower prices may be available” so I’m thinking it’s probably one of those things that they keep in place because it makes them look good on paper.
We've had to deal with this 3 times in the past 20 years and there was always a published fare that was lower than the bereavement fare. I remember when my Grandfather passed away in 1966 the trick was to fly standby. But a lot has changed since then.
 
Most of Alaska Airlines business is not in Alaska. They're really more a PNW airline with hubs in Portland, OR and Seattle.

Still - they provide a lot of service in Alaska, and I believe a lot of it is subsidized because otherwise nobody is going to offer scheduled service.

Probably less than 10% of their revenue is generated in Alaska. They generate most of their revenue from their hubs in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
 
Probably less than 10% of their revenue is generated in Alaska. They generate most of their revenue from their hubs in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
I've seen their presence (and that of Horizon Air) in SeaTac. Most of their business seems to be up and down the West Coast as well as Hawaii and Mexico. And of course they have their Disneyland livery.

aircraft680-livery-spiritofdisneylandii739.ashx


aircraft680-adventureOfDLR.ashx


https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-debuts-cars-land-themed-airplane-in-seattle/
 
Probably less than 10% of their revenue is generated in Alaska. They generate most of their revenue from their hubs in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

That's why I mentioned it. As a possible alternative to Delta, depending on where the OP is and needs to go.
 
Not bereavement, but my dad became seriously ill while I was on a business trip in SE Florida. Luckily he was in NE Florida and I was able to rent a car and drive there. Delta waived all the fees to fly back to Michigan and refunded a decent chunk of my flight home because it was cheaper flying out of the new airport.
 

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