<p>I hope I spelled that right.
It looks like a dear uncle will be passing away within the next couple to several days. Does anyone know if some airlines have better prices/policies related to last minute purchases for funerals than others?</p>
<p>I have had this situation with parents in the last year and had no luck whatsoever.</p>
<p>I had this situation in 1998 and had some luck – the airline agreed to charge me something like half the normal $2,000 airfare. Big whoop. I wound up using frequent flyer miles.</p>
<p>Same here. No luck, whatsoever.</p>
<p>My mom died in December, during exams. My D already had a ticket with United. They allowed us to change her departure date, but we did have to pay a very reduced change fee and the difference in fare for that leg of the flight. Ended up being about $180 for the last minute change. We had to send them a copy of the obituary.</p>
<p>we got discounted prices for an international ticket when my wife’s father passed away. this was on delta – granted it was a long time ago & policies might have changed since then</p>
<p>Thanks. I called American recently and an aunt could have flown right away, with an open ended return, for about $600. That didn’t seem terrible to me. It’s flying from east coast to west and return, if that matters at all.</p>
<p>What are the times? I believe American along with another company said they could give us a “deal” that had horrendous times.</p>
<p>We ended up not using the bereavement fares either, since the sale fares were lower than their “special” ones and gave H more flexibility in times. We have had to book flights twice due to a death in the family–both times with United it was cheaper to just book the lowest price we could find without their “help.”</p>
<p>In Dec 2011, United did let our kids make a change in their flights to have a layover to visit a relative who had stage 4 cancer en route to HI and refunded the change fee after receiving a note from the oncologist. I thought that was decent of them.</p>
<p>You can look for the flights available using Kayak, and when you have a flight and price that is there, you can call that airline and ask if they can offer a deal on it. From what I have heard, the bereavement airfare may not be available for all flights, all prices. But do check. My brother found airfare for under $400 from CA to NY roundrip last week.</p>
<p>itasoftware.com also allows you to search for flights and prices; once you find the flights you are interested in, you can call the relevant airlines to see whether any will give you any discount. $400 R/T NY to CA sounds great (assuming it is R/T).</p>
<p>No luck here just two weeks ago. Cost us $175 to change DS’s ticket to a different departure city. DD flew and the price was decent enough…but no break because she was flying to a funeral.</p>
<p>My flight was business select on New Years eve. It was the cheapest ticket I could find. </p>
<p>BUT…here is a tip. many hotels offer a bereavement rate…ask about that. Some also offer a “hospital rate” if you are visiting someone in a hospital.</p>
<p>Some hospitals have special deals with hotels. If you know the hospital the ill person is a patient at, you can call them and ask about that. We stayed at hotels in Denver that were lower than the AAA rate or any other rate because we were coming for evaluations and treatment. It was a good location and included breakfast. Never tried asking for a bereavement rate.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I will let you know how it turns out. Once I know dates doing airfare and hotel as a package may wind up being cheapest. (Thanks for bringing up hotels).</p>
<p>Sorry that you have to go through this.</p>
<p>Try an online search for the airlines that have your route, and search bereavement fares. I tried “delta bereavement fares” and found the link to Delta’s website page which has their information.</p>
<p>I was able to get a bereavement rate on Continental last spring - 5 roundtrip tickets. Can’t recall how much we saved, but it wasn’t much. Required a letter from the funeral home, but apparently funeral homes are very used to providing such letters and have a form that works.</p>
<p>Cheap Flights and CheapOAir allow to compare prices and you may be able to get low fares on tickets not sold on the days near travel days.</p>
<p>Delta is better than United. United was so little and took so much paperwork, I did not even bother. United was $35.00 off a $700 ticket. Delta was several hundred off and it only required providing info over the phone. Delta also allowed changes at no cost.</p>
<p>We got some kind of bereavement fares when H’s parents died, most likely from Northwest. I have no recollection of how much it was, but I do recall having to send either an obituary or a letter from the funeral home. </p>
<p>There may be some restriction on degree of relationship.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Since I figure others can learn from this also, someone suggested buying a last minute package with hotel and airfare and car might be another way to save money, once the time comes.</p>