I'm sorry to post such a personal question, but unfortunately it's that time. My grandmother is not expected to live through the next few weeks, and I'd really like to attend her funeral (haven't been back home for two or so years). My question is regards to bereavement fares and if they actually exist.

I looked at tickets from BWI (closest airport) to DFW (where I'd be going), and the tickets for last-minute were around $1,300 for AA. I'll pay that much if I have to most likely, but was just trying to get a bit of information on any last-minute bereavement fares if available.

I can supply doctor/nursing home/funeral home information immediately if need be.

Thank you kindly,
Chris

Hello sppunk, I am sorry about your grandmother, that is always so difficut.

Airlines, to my knowledge, don't seem to offer the Bereeavement Fares as they use to.

Is there any other airport besides BWI that you could fly from? Sometimes flights from smaller airports have lower fares. And have you checked out all airlines..you mentioned AA..assume that is who you generally fly with. This is one time I would not worry about getting FF miles, in case this is your thinking, but maybe it isn't.

Sorry about this sad news you're sharing. I'm going to get personal here, too. You can kick me if you like.

Why not pay for a 7 or 14 day advance fare and go see her while she's still around? It might mean more to both of you.

Okay, I'm butting out now...

I'm sorry about your grandmother.

I had to attend a funeral last fall and did quite a bit of checking around, as I coordinated travel for several family members. There are, indeed, bereavement fares for domestic US travel, but the policies and procedures vary by airline. I'd encourage you to call several airlines now and find out the details.

Just as a point of reference, I ended up traveling on United. At the time (last September), these were the specifics. The fare had to be purchased within one week of commencement of travel. I had to provide the name and relationship of the deceased, date of funeral, and name and phone number for the funeral home contact - that was it; no paperwork to be submitted. At the time, United told me that it had flat bereavement fares between city pairs. The fare certainly was more than a highly discounted ticket but significantly less than purchasing something last minute (I had to fly Chicago-Honolulu, and it was around $830, whereas going rate for the same flights was close to $2,000). Also, the bereavement fare was fully refundable and changeable with no penalties, unlike regular discounted tickets.

You can check with NWA you will not get a non-stop flight but they have bereavement fares. There is also something called a Medical Emergency Fare as well both fares you can only book within 3 days of travel but if you can provide the documentation then you will have no problem getting these fares just as long the seats are available.

I am sorry to hear about your grandmother, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I think bereavement fares are still offered, but when I last looked they did not seem inexpensive, although they were less than the typical last-minute fare. I would certainly look into them.

My wife and I are facing an analogous situation, where we do not yet know the date of our trip. I have been looking into buying less-restricted tickets. Most airlines seem to offer three classes of tourist fares: non-restricted, somewhat restricted, and most restricted. The non-restricted fares are the full published price, and are far too expensive for me. The most restricted fares are the least expensive, but have to be bought well in advance, and are non-refundable, but can usually be changed if you pay a change fee; the somewhat restricted fares are in the middle as far as price, but can often be changed without the change fee. I am torn between getting the most restriced fare and paying the change fee, and getting a somewhat restricted fare, to be able to change the dates without fees. When it comes time to buy, and I plan to buy at least 30 days in advance, I will look at the prices of both tickets, and the size of the change fees, and see which is best for me.

You might also look at the discount airlines, such as Southwest, that do not show up on most of the search engines. I know Southwest covers your route, and when I just looked for a last minute (March 15/21) they offered a ticket for about $579, tax included.

Thank you all for your responses.

Southwest is an option, but flying into Dallas from anywhere is an absolute headache because of the Wright Amendment.

I primarly mentioned AA because I know BWI has many, many flights to/from DFW daily ... moreso than any other airline serving the airport I believe.

I could look now for tickets, but my grandmother is a severe Alzheimer's patient and knows no one anymore. I'm primarily going to be with my father, who has been pretty shook up by the entire situation.

I will call airlines that service BWI, and Philadelphia (we live north of York, Pa.), to get their policies before the faitful day arrives.

Again, thank you all for your well-wishes. I'll report back on my experiences over the next days/weeks.

Chris

Because of the Wright Amendment, Southwest cannot price and cannot sell you a ticket BWI-DAL. Only their codeshare with ATA into DFW. But that doesn't mean you cannot buy two seperate tickest on SW, which may or may not be cheaper than SW/ATA into DFW or on other airlines.

St. Louis is now a good spot to connect on Southwest. Buy seperate BWI-STL and STL-DAL tickets.

But I agree with others. Bereavement fare often doesn't cost less than the cheapest regular fare you can get. And with the weird pricing these days, the cheapest fares one can get may be actually First Class.

Other ways to find good last minute airfare is to buy a vacation package, on various airline's own websites, or from sites like www.site59.com. Throw away the rental car or hotel if you don't need them.

I believe that with Northwest, bereavement fares offer a discount but it is based on the last-minute walk-up fare. Because of that, it can still be quite pricey.

Last summer my daughter & SIL had to fly to Rome due to severe medical problems with both of SIL's parents. They had to leave immediately. NW did not have any discount fares, they had to pay for last minute tickets. SIL's father died after they were in Rome, but NW did not give any refund.

A friend had to fly to the East Coast due to a death in the family and she actually found a less expensive fair with some airline (don't remember which one) than any airline's bereavement fare. Years ago airlines were very good about bereavement fares but guess with all the financial problems our airlines are having from what I have seen that is no longer true. But sure hope you find a decent fare sppunk.

US airlines have never offered bereavement fares for international travel.

Sorry about the whole situation, glad you will be there for your father. Bereavement fares are indeed avaialble, but policies vary by airline and they are generally a discount off full fare and higher than the advance purchase fares. You may want to make a few calls in advance so you know what options exist. The last time I had to do this is was without warning and a true zoo to scramble packing, talking on the phone with the agents and getting to the airport.
You mentioned living north of York, have you considered flying into ABE? We did that on NWA when they had a good fare. You might also check PHL or even EWR.

I just took a look at fares for WAS-DFW supposing that you would leave tommorrow, March 14 and return on Saturday the 18th. Actually, I guess it is today the 14th, shortly after midnight back in Balmer.

At travelocity a ticket on Airtran from Washington Dulles to DFW costs $245 roundtrip all in. There are a bunch of fares from there or National Airport in the $390 range. It's $460 on Airtran, Midwest, USAir, and Frontier. It's $488 on American.

I think it will be pretty easy to avoid a $1300 fare even at the last minute. I assume that you would lose flexibility on the return date with these lower fares.

Fully refundable fare on southwest.com is $290 each way. Trouble would be in finding available seats. There are two flights a day connecting at Midway and they are mostly sold out now through Monday going from BWI to DFW.

The $460 and $488 tickets I mentioned above were from BWI.

You can fly first class nonstop on American Airlines for $618.60 all in at aa.com. This is last minute, departing March 14 returning Saturday March 18.

Fare basis: YUPP26SP
FIRST CLASS RESTRICTED NORMAL FARE
NOTE - CHANGES ARE PERMITTED PROVIDED APPLICABLE INVENTORY IS AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE/ TICKET MUST BE EXCHANGED FOR ANOTHER FARE. ------------------------------ FULL REFUND WILL BE MADE FOR WHOLLY UNUSED TICKETS. FOR PARTIALLY USED TICKETS/ THE REFUND WILL BE THE AMT PAID MINUS THE NORMAL ONE WAY FARE APPLICABLE TO THE TRANSPORTATION USED. ------------------------------ PSGRS HOLDING CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS AND TKTS MAY STANDBY FOR AA NONSTOP AND/OR CONNECTING FLIGHTS BETWEEN THE SAME ORIGIN AND DESTINATION AIRPORTS. THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL COST PROVIDED THE NEW FLIGHT/S AND ROUTING ARE APPLICABLE FOR THE FARE CHARGED ...
and so on and so forth.

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

As a BWI-based traveler, I had to make a last-minute trip last year to Denver for a funeral, as well as another to Chicago to be at my dad's side after a heart attack. Because of the urgency of both trips, the last thing I wanted to worry about was verifying the purpose of the trip with the airlines, so I didn't even seek out a bereavement fare for the Denver flight.

As it turned out, none of my family (who were flying in from Phoenix, Richmond and Chicago, as well as me from BWI) had to look to special fares to get to our destinations. On a few days' notice, we all found fares I considered reasonable -- under $500 in all cases. In fact, my fare to Denver -- a tough airport to reach from BWI -- was under $250.

I can't guarantee that you'll have the same experience, but my own experience indicates that flights with capacity will have lower fares as the day of travel approaches. You may not get a non-stop, or the time may not be perfect, but you'll get there. (A quick check on Expedia for a round trip to DFW from BWI leaving tomorrow shows non-stops under $500, including a couple on AA. A visit to AA's website searching for the same flights even found standard (25K) FF tickets available).

Thank you all so very much - I have learned much from you all. I am comforted to realize I won't have to pay a steep price for a necessary trip.

God bless you all,
Chris

Wishing you the best Chris. Your father is lucky to have you!

Chris, sorry for your grandma. I had a friend in a similar situation who lost his grandma and had to fly from TX to WI at the last minute. The fares were really high, but he got a great fare by making a bid on hotwire. You could also try priceline. Of course, these tix are not refundable or changeable, so don't make your bid until the time comes and you know exactly when you need to travel.

Do you have FF miles with any airline that you could use?

I faced a similar situation when I had to fly to LA and prices out of Chicago/Indy/St.Louis were too high even with a "bereavement" discount. I ended up using a lot of miles but at least could get my preferred flights and flew out of my regional airport which made it more convenient.