Tips on Bereavement Travel needed
 

Fortunately, I've never had to fly anywhere for a funeral, but I think that may change one day real soon.

I also never fly at the last minute and was surprised and dismayed at what it appears to cost to fly w/ only a day or two notice. Any tips on how to avoid paying those stick-it-to-business-travelers prices I'm finding? All I see on Expedia is $900 for what would cost $250 or so if I flew w/ a week or two notice.

I read an article in WSJ recently saying that few airlines offered any significant discount for bereavement fares. I would appreciate advice from those with experience in this unfortunate situation.

I received a half-price bereavement fare from USAirways a couple of years ago. The airline needed proof of a family death, so I provided the contact info for the funeral home and that was that.

Without a doubt, you'll need to call any airline directly.

Sorry you're asking.

I looked into this about two years ago; the best any airline would do for me was 50% off the standard fare. This was a very high fare since I needed to leave within the next 2 days. Even at 50% off, it was still double what anyone would normally pay for air travel, since one normally books several weeks or months in advance.

I drove. Hope you have better luck, and sorry to hear about your impending loss.

Last time we had an urgent need to travel, we used site59.com
The last minute fares were pricing 400-700 and the cheapest fares involved connections.
I got direct flights on AA, a hotel room AND a car for 350.00!
Test it out for this Friday.
The only problem is that you are stuck leaving on a Weds/Thurs/Fri/Sat and returning on Sun/Mon/Tues.
If you happen to be traveling at a time where these travel day restrictions work, then you are in luck.

Litespeed, unfortunately, I've been in this situation twice in the last few years. Delta no longer offers bereavement fares on domestic flights - and honestly, their pricing structure was so bizarre that it's no loss. I was quoted a $900 bereavement fare in a phone conversation with them; my DH found a regular online fare that $40 less. Same flight - go figure.

Have you tried Southwest? Their regular fares are capped at something like $300 one way. I don't know if Priceline or Hotwire would work in this type of situation.

So sorry that you're in this situation.

Agree with Gekko; I'd call the airlines directly.

I can only comment on American Airlines. I purchased my bereavement ticket in mid-May and the price was about twice what I normally pay (the most disconted) to travel from mid-west to California.

They do require proof (name/address/phone of hospital or funeral home). They were extremly helpful at a very difficult time. The "advantage" of bereavement fare is that you can change the return date/flight if arrangements are pending and you're not sure of the best day for return. I had to change mine twice.

A few years ago I used FF miles to travel for attending a funeral but I don't know if that's an option for you. Sorry that you're facing a sad event.

Unfortunately I had a death in my family while I was traveling on business this past April. I was in CA and needed to return home to MI, then return to CA.

I contacted all of the airlines to inquire about rates - yes, they offered 50% off of the ticket price, but it was 50% off of FULL COACH. No savings there. I ended up booking a flight on Spirit from LAX - DTW - LAX for $280 RT with/24 hrs notice. By the way, the ticket price was $480 48 hrs out and went down to $280 24 hrs out. You just have to check ALL of your options.....and remember, Sprit & Southwest will not show up if you go to Expedia or Travelocity - you have to go direct to the ind'l airline websites.

Sorry to hear of your situation. If Southwest flies where you need to go, you may attempt to get a flight voucher from someone. There are a few on auction on Ebay right now. Also, you may look in the classified ad section of your newspaper under travel or tickets for these same items.

I am sorry to hear about it. Can you tell us to what destination? Maybe someone has a personal experience with airlines flying from your hometown to where you are heading

My SO had to fly to Indiana to see his sister who had terminal cancer a few years ago. I called my travel agent and he got him a flight within 24 hours and a discount on the fare. I don't remember how much, but to get the fare he did have to have his brother-in-law fax him a doctors certificate saying that she was very ill and very close to death. Good luck.

Good suggestion, Pat.

We need to go from Greenville, SC to Chicago. Thanks.

LC...United and American offer the non stop flights.Best of Luck!

I've found the use of air miles a good solution in these situations.

AirTran flies direct from Charlotte to Chicago Midway, or you can connect in Atlanta. I checked flights for tomorrow, and it's about $214 all in. Not necessarily the cheapest, but it's a worthwhile option.

But all the other suggestions are valid, including calling airlines directly, site59.com, Priceline & Hotwire.

BTW, $214 is price for one-way.

AirTran out of Charlotte is a few dollars cheaper (than Atlanta)

Sorry, that made no sense. I just got $194 out of Charlotte and $214 out of Atlanta (one way prices)

We had to do this last summer. We got the phone call late at night, and DH wanted a flight out asap the next morning. After calling all the airlines, it turned out to be cheapest to book on Expedia. He wrapped up all the business a day earlier than we had planned when we made the flight arrangements, so he went to the airport when he was done and asked if he could fly home then, a day early. He explained, and they had him on the next flight home, no charge.

A coworker of his used Priceline for a similar situation, and while it was very cheap, he had a bunch of layovers. So that is something to consider. Good luck!

We received a discounted rate using Travelocity and booking the hotel at the same time as the airfare. The hotel was very low budget but we were able to stay there and not impose on family. Even if you don't need the room, it may be another option. Sorry that you find yourself in this situation.

frequent flyer miles have worked for me for emergency travel.

We've used American Airlines a couple of times--one for a funeral (Dallas to Omaha) and one for an emergency hospitalization (Little Rock to Rochester MN). They asked for the name and funeral home for the bereavement fare and the name and hospital for the second. We also were told that they would do "whatever it took" to get us on the airplane when we needed to go to Mayo, implying that they would bump someone for us. Call and talk to someone now and get the information you need--also their name as a contact.

My mom had a ticket to visit us, but my uncle (her brother) died, and she needed to change the ticket to come earlier in order to get to the funeral. American was so awful. They made her pay the change fee, they made her pay the difference in ticket costs, which being last-minute was quite significant. They were most unhelpful and she was very upset. Contrast that to a few years later, when my parents had to do something similar with Southwest tickets after my grandmother died. They let us change everything, gave us credits, were nice as can be.

sfamylou, Southwest is so easy to work with. I have had to cancel flights a few times and at no charge I am given a credit to fly at a later date.

I will say that NW were wonderful last June when my daughter & SIL had to fly to Rome due to his father dying last year. The tickets were not cheap but I couldn't have asked for more accomodating reps. The same situation when they had to postpone leaving Rome for two weeks, again NW was wonderful.

Litespeed, I am sorry for what you are going through. I hope you work out a flight to your satisfaction. Best wishes to you and your family.

The Southwest suggestion is a good one ($309 one-way maximum fare I think, completely changeable and refundable). America West (soon to be USAir) has had surprisingly cheap one-way fares even at the last minute in my experience. In 2003 I needed to grab one for a family emergency and it worked out fine.

I would also explore nearby airports and the option of a train to finish the connection or renting a car one-way and paying a drop-off fee, if any. Some airports are simply much cheaper to fly into last-minute than others, and a five hour car ride to save several hundred bucks may be worth it to some.

Priceline and Hotwire would be my next choices. I don't think you can get the good airfare deals with them anymore that you could say five years ago, but it might be worth a shot. Even though you might have to book a round-trip ticket, that could be cheaper than doing a one-way on your own and you could just throw away the return if you have to.

(And Priceline's written policy is up to ONE connection each way, so you won't get "a bunch of layovers.")

The bereavement fare would be my last choice because it is so expensive, although, to be fair, it is completely changable.

Andrew

The reason some of us mentioned, and checked prices on, AirTran but not Southwest is that the OP is trying to go from Greenville, SC to Chicago. The closest airport that Southwest in the area is RDU (250mi), which is significantly further than Charlotte (100mi) for the OP.

Driving to RDU is over 1/3 the way to Chicago (700mi).

Andrew--That is good to hear about Pricelines written policy. The coworker had 3 layovers on his way to NJ from Seattle, and I don't remember how many for his return. This was a couple years ago, so maybe they changed their policy. The one connection policy is good.

Instead of calling the airlines, I would try going to talk to a counter agent at the airport.

I found out about my stepson two minutes after I landed in Boston and US Airways turned right around and put me on the next plane out. No change fees no anything.

I don't know if customer service in India could have been so accommodating.