No More Bereavement Fares

[shanendoah]

My grandfather died this weekend. He was 89 years old, served in 3 wars, had been declared dead at least 2x before, and outlived all his siblings and his beloved wife. His and my Nana's 69th wedding anniversary is coming up in a few weeks, and I figured he just decided he wasn't willing to have another one with them apart. (She passed 4-5 years ago.)

Anyway, I am going back to NC for the funeral, and flying my brother back for it as well. Looking online, flights were $1k. I get that it's the holiday season and these are last minute (and cross country) but it still seemed ridiculous. So I called my preferred airline to ask about bereavement fares.

Turns out, the major airlines stopped offering bereavement fares this year. (Southwest has never offered them, just as a note.) 

The woman I talked to was very helpful, though. She mentioned that I really should check the online travel sites because the airlines do hold special deals for them, that she couldn't check, and I might be able to get a better deal.

Here's the thing, I never check hotwire or priceline or any of those because I can usually find a better deal (or at least an equivalent deal) by going directly to the airlines or through my credit card rewards travel site. And those options give me a lot more control over times of flights.

I did go to hotwire, and I did find a much better deal ($629 round trip for me, $735 round trip for my brother, vs $1k and $900 respectively), which is nice. And while I didn't have any info about my flight times before I booked, the deal for him wasn't quite as good/secret, so I was then able to book him flights that arrived at roughly the same time my did and flew out at the same time, too. (So the family only has to make one trip to the airport for both of us.)



So, I was grateful for the advice of the agent I talked to, but I was really surprised that bereavement fares had gone away. Has anyone else experienced that?

[NancysSummerSip]

Yes. I have not seen bereavement fares offered in ages. When I planned my mother's service, I had to wait until fares went down, in order for the out-of-state family to get here. I hated to drag things out, but I wanted to be fair to them. She was cremated, so it was not a matter of an in-ground funeral.

[shanendoah]

My family was considering waiting until after the holidays for the service, but I'm guessing that didn't work well with my uncle's job, considering that since both my grandparents are now gone, that the three kids need to spend some time (more than a day or two) going through the estate.

[Bonny]

I think the once or twice I looked into them there were actually other cheaper fares. I suspect they were a good deal if you absolutely needed a certain high peak fare going across country.

And my condolences Shan. It sound like your grandfather had quite an exciting life.

[zibazinski]

The airlines are very quick to tell you no bereavement fares now. Perhaps they've been "taken" in the past but I think it's more of the " we can stick it to you"attitude.

[shanendoah]

last time I got a bereavement fare (when my grandmother died 4-5 years ago), I did have to provide the name of the funeral home directing the service, so I was expecting to have to do that again. Now, just not an option.
Like I said, the operator I spoke with was very nice, and obviously felt bad for not having that option. It's totally not her fault, though, and she was quite helpful.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Last January, when I needed to fly to NY in an emergency, my sister was able to get a bereavement fare from MSP to BTV. She was able to fly for what was the going rate and had the flexibility as to when she could leave. However, when I called and asked, the price I was quoted was more than the price I could get through Kayak. I wound up buying a one way fare so I could have the flexibility as to when I could leave without being penalized for changing the date/time.

This is one of the reasons why I try to keep FF miles in my account. A few years ago, when TD's stepdad died, flights were obscenely expensive (well over $1000 fro CVG to YVR) and I was able to fly on miles easily. Despite flying into Canada, it was still 25,000 miles. 

[Jake 48]

Prayers and hugs

[alabamagal]

Sorry for your loss.

August 2013 my FIL died while we were on vacation.  My MIL insisted on have the funeral 2 days after his death, even the DH and I were at my family reunion with our 2 boys and 2 GFs and a 15 hour car ride away.  (I am still upset about the scheduling!).  We drove 12 hours home and then 3 hours next day to the funeral.

I also had to arrange to fly my DD from Texas.  I called and airlines and was told "bereavement fares are sold out" - I suspect really that there were none.  We had to book an flight for $1000.

The only issue with booking flights online on the major websites is that Southwest Airlines does not put their fares on them.  I had never used Southwest before (they don't fly near where we live, but fly where DD is and where the funeral was) so I didn't check their website, but feel like I could have done better there.

[shanendoah]

alabamagal - Southwest is one of the few places that does direct flights from Seattle to RDU, so I checked them first, but they were $500 each way, so still the $1000/round trip that I was looking at with all the airlines. I guess I didn't check them for my brother's flights, maybe I'll go do that now, as the ticket I bought him can be cancelled free of charge within 24 hours.

For planning in advance, I'll still use the main airline websites, because I know I can get good deals that way. (Next month I'll start looking to book our April flights to Disneyland.) But now I know that if I have to fly last minute, I should definitely check Hotwire and the other sites like that.


Edited to add: Nope, SWA still over $750/round trip for my brother, so not a better deal there.

[Bonny]

Dec 8, 2014 15:44:21 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

alabamagal - Southwest is one of the few places that does direct flights from Seattle to RDU, so I checked them first, but they were $500 each way, so still the $1000/round trip that I was looking at with all the airlines. I guess I didn't check them for my brother's flights, maybe I'll go do that now, as the ticket I bought him can be cancelled free of charge within 24 hours.

For planning in advance, I'll still use the main airline websites, because I know I can get good deals that way. (Next month I'll start looking to book our April flights to Disneyland.) But now I know that if I have to fly last minute, I should definitely check Hotwire and the other sites like that.


Edited to add: Nope, SWA still over $750/round trip for my brother, so not a better deal there.

The one plug I'll make for Southwest (besides liking their attitude) is that there is no "change ticket" fee. If you need to reschedule they will cancel and apply the credit to your next ticket. Of course a 3 day ticket will cost more than one you would make with a 21 advance purchase but at least they don't add insult to injury with a $100 change ticket fee.

[finnime]

Dec 8, 2014 16:04:19 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Dec 8, 2014 15:44:21 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

alabamagal - Southwest is one of the few places that does direct flights from Seattle to RDU, so I checked them first, but they were $500 each way, so still the $1000/round trip that I was looking at with all the airlines. I guess I didn't check them for my brother's flights, maybe I'll go do that now, as the ticket I bought him can be cancelled free of charge within 24 hours.

For planning in advance, I'll still use the main airline websites, because I know I can get good deals that way. (Next month I'll start looking to book our April flights to Disneyland.) But now I know that if I have to fly last minute, I should definitely check Hotwire and the other sites like that.


Edited to add: Nope, SWA still over $750/round trip for my brother, so not a better deal there.

The one plug I'll make for Southwest (besides liking their attitude) is that there is no "change ticket" fee. If you need to reschedule they will cancel and apply the credit to your next ticket. Of course a 3 day ticket will cost more than one you would make with a 21 advance purchase but at least they don't add insult to injury with a $100 change ticket fee.

Plus, no luggage fee. And they are not actively hostile towards passengers.

[shanendoah]

In general, I'm a huge fan of flying Southwest, partly because I've used that change ticket route more than once. But in a case like this, where my dates aren't flexible, aren't changing, and are being booked two days before I fly out, they just aren't worth $350 more than going with one of the other airlines.

[Baby Fawkes]

Most of the international routes haven't had them for about 5 years now. I know BA stopped them a long time again and Virgin weren't far behind.

[thyme4change]

My friend's memorial service was 8 weeks after she died.  I think her husband was trying to be nice to her family by giving them lots of time.  Either that, or he was paralyzed with grief.  

Bereavement fares haven't been around for a while.  I am surprised she said they were eliminated this year.  

[TheOtherMe]

When my uncle passed away probably 8 or 9 years ago, the only airline that flew direct from Denver did not have bereavement fares.  I did get one from a rental car agency.  I drove 13 straight hours because the service was 2 days after he passed.  I did stop overnight going home.  I used to be able to drive that long with no problem, but I am not a spring chicken any more.  

Sorry for your loss.  

[Phoenix84]

I wasn't aware bereavement fares ever existed. I figured if you had to fly to attend a funeral, you'd have to pay top dollar, given that it's almost always booked at the last minute.

[Deleted]

Bereavement fares generally were more expensive that other available fares; typically they were a % off full fare and full fare is insane.  It may have been a combination of profit motive plus the fact that people didn't use them that led airlines to eliminate them.  But then, this is typical.  They rationalized eliminating meals by saying that most passengers didn't care much about meals but that was because the meals had gotten so measly and so bad that most people felt they wouldn't be missed.  So, you create a bereavement fare that's not a good deal 80% of the time and then get rid of it because people don't book it.

I try to keep some Frequent Flier miles in various accounts in case we have to fly at the last minute, but the most likely case would be my parents, who plan to be cremated, so we may have the lead time to drive.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Dec 8, 2014 16:14:45 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

In general, I'm a huge fan of flying Southwest, partly because I've used that change ticket route more than once. But in a case like this, where my dates aren't flexible, aren't changing, and are being booked two days before I fly out, they just aren't worth $350 more than going with one of the other airlines.

Interesting.  I flew SWA in Nov. for a conference in Vegas.  I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get out of my conference and to the airport so I went with a later flight heading home.  I got to the airport with plenty of time to catch the 2pm flight so I tried to change it.  The rep at the counter told me that since my flight was delayed by 15+ minutes, she could make the change for free but normally it would be $300+ to change the flight.  But that may have been because I was attempting to do it less than 2 hours to takeoff. 

As it turns out, the 2pm flight was overbooked, they put me on standby but I didn't make the cut.    And my original flight was about 2 hours late.  Something about weather and air traffic control issues in the 1st leg of the flight. 

[movingforward]

I received what was referred to as an emergency fare when mom had her heart attack 4.5 yrs ago.  I think it was around $600.  At that time I had no idea when I would return so I just bought the ticket and gave them some arbitrary return date.  They charged $150 to change the return date.  Everything was so up and down I ended up just saying screw it because I didn't know what was happening from one day to the next, and I didn't want to pay $150 each time I changed the ticket.  SWA was nice enough to let me use points last minute to fly back home after she passed away and the funeral was over. 

[shanendoah]

When I flew for my grandmother's funeral, the bereavement fare was less than I could get elsewhere.

When I talk about changing the flight on Southwest, I'm not talking about changing it at the gate. I'm talking about changing it online sometime before the scheduled flight. (We once had a ticket booked for the MIL round trip to Vegas that we didn't end up using. We changed the flights online to a round trip between Seattle and Spokane, which was a few hundred dollars cheaper. We didn't get charged a change fee AND we got refunded the difference between the cost of the tickets, even though the tickets were non-refundable.)


Thank you everyone for the condolences. I loved my grandfather, and he will be missed, but this is not a sad time for me. These last few months of his life were what was sad for me. He was tired. He was lonely. He was in pain. He was ready to be done, and I am glad that it is over for him. I will forever celebrate his life, but his death is not a time of mourning, at least for me.
I am going back there, and bringing my brother back there, because we are the two oldest grandchildren. My goal is to be a support system for our father, uncle, and aunt. Our two youngest cousins will also be there, but given that they are both under 25, they can't quite offer the same level of assistance/support as my brother and I can.

[Deleted]

My great-uncle passed away early last week.  They scheduled the funeral for the end of this week because so many people are flying in from out of state (including me).

[shanendoah]

I feel like I should also mention, in the support angle, that my aunt is divorced and neither my step-mom nor my uncle's wife had good relationships with my grandparents, so they won't be present. That means no spousal support for my father, uncle, or aunt. While there will be a lot of family support (family has been in this town since before the Revolution), I think my brother and I are in a unique and needed position to help out.

[justme]

Dec 9, 2014 10:46:47 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Dec 8, 2014 16:14:45 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

In general, I'm a huge fan of flying Southwest, partly because I've used that change ticket route more than once. But in a case like this, where my dates aren't flexible, aren't changing, and are being booked two days before I fly out, they just aren't worth $350 more than going with one of the other airlines.

Interesting.  I flew SWA in Nov. for a conference in Vegas.  I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get out of my conference and to the airport so I went with a later flight heading home.  I got to the airport with plenty of time to catch the 2pm flight so I tried to change it.  The rep at the counter told me that since my flight was delayed by 15+ minutes, she could make the change for free but normally it would be $300+ to change the flight.  But that may have been because I was attempting to do it less than 2 hours to takeoff. 

As it turns out, the 2pm flight was overbooked, they put me on standby but I didn't make the cut.    And my original flight was about 2 hours late.  Something about weather and air traffic control issues in the 1st leg of the flight. 

SWA doesn't charge a change fee, but it does charge you the difference between what you paid and the cost of the ticket you're switching to. Though they do usually change for free if it's delayed. That's how I got mine switch for free to the flight my friend was on. The flight was already delayed 6+ hours before takeoff!

[CarolinaKat]

 Sorry for the loss of your Grandfather. I am sure he and your grandmother are happy in the hereafter. It sounds like they were awesome