guppie01 0 #1 January 16, 2012 Anyone have experience with the airlines in regards to using bereavement fares? We have several family members that will require air travel, I'm curious if it would be better just to book the trip now, and pay the change fee when the death actually happens, or wait to book using the bereavement fare... (death could be anytime in the next 1 -3 weeks) Comments / suggestions please. xoxo g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,129 #2 January 16, 2012 Look at requirements for taking the bereavement fare -- sometimes they require an obituary or something like that, which might not be available soon enough for the service. Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #3 January 16, 2012 Some airlines will accept an impending death statement from the hospital, with the actual copy of death cert. provided after the travel. Some airlines don't offer anything anymore... Such a pain, but I understand the reasoning behind it, too many scammers out there make it difficult for the people with the true emergencies! I remember when my Mom and I had to return from Japan for my Grandfathers funeral. The airline accepted a statemet from the Red Cross for emergency travel based on impending death. g"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #4 January 16, 2012 Quote Anyone have experience with the airlines in regards to using bereavement fares? We have several family members that will require air travel, I'm curious if it would be better just to book the trip now, and pay the change fee when the death actually happens, or wait to book using the bereavement fare... (death could be anytime in the next 1 -3 weeks) Comments / suggestions please. xoxo g Yes. We've had good experiences and bad experiences. To over-simplify, deal and book directly with the airline in a bereavement situation; don't use a website like Expedia, travelocity, etc.. Our good experiences have been when we've dealt with the airline directly in a bereavement situation. Yes, we had to give them verifying documentation, but once we did, they were very accommodating. . Deal with the company directly, and they'll generally be pretty accommodating, because they recognize that that's good business. Our bad experience was when, after having traveled to a family funeral one-way and staying for a while, we booked a "non-refundable" flight back home via Expedia. The next day, another family crisis arose, requiring us to delay our flight back for a couple of days. I called the airline and asked them to accommodate us as it was a bereavement situation. They said that if we'd booked directly with them, they'd do it, but since we booked thru Expedia, I'd have to deal with Expedia. In preparation, I first went on the airline's website to see what alternative flights were still available. Finding a couple that would work, I then called Expedia. After being transferred around, finally to a call center in the Philippines (I asked ), they refused to accommodate us. The guy claimed that there were no flights available. I told him about the particular flights I'd found, and he said, "Those are no longer available". I replied, "But I'm looking at the airline's website right now, and each of those flights has several seats available." They then did the dance where they transferred me around to various "supervisors", but they insisted that those flights were not available. They just flat-out lied to me, and they could not have cared less that this was a bereavement situation. In the end, I had to abandon (and eat the cost of) the flight I'd booked, and had to pay full-freight for another flight. I will never book with those type of web-services again. I might use their websites as a starting point for researching available flights, but then I always shift over to the airline's website and book directly with the airline. Consider yourself warned. Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #5 January 16, 2012 Thanks Andy, great information. When dealing directly with the airline, were you able to do everything over the phone? Or would it be better for me to go to a ticket agent at the airport. I have several airport choices, two of which are small, so it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to go directly to the airport - just curious if I would get better service... hmmm Thanks again!"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #6 January 16, 2012 Start with the phone, make sure you speak to a live human being, and have them walk you through the process. There are some hoops to jump through, and there will be some speed-bumps along the way, so the sooner you get started, the better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tmccann 1 #7 January 16, 2012 My condolences to you and your family. I had to deal with this myself recently, and the bereavement fares were useless for me. I ended up buying a last-minute fare online at a significantly cheaper rate, and much more convenient (though still 3 legs cross-country through the night, and straight to the funeral home in the morning). The problems I encountered were: 1) it had to be round-trip 2) all legs of the flight had to be the same airline - ones I found online were listed as the same airline, but were a different airline under the other's banner 3) only certain flights were eligible, and the ones I needed were not. In terms of documentation, I was told death certificate or something from the funeral home would work, and I could submit them after my flight for a refund of the difference between full-fare and the bereavement rate. You do have to book through the airline, as mentioned previously. If the airport is convenient and you have the time, I'd go there rather than use the phone; I imagine they would be more likely to be helpful in person. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #8 January 17, 2012 Thanks, and I'm sorry for your loss... I did some flight/rate searches today with a departure date within the next few days. The rates weren't all that bad. I think I'll just go the route of booking when it happens. Thanks again everyone!!! g "Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
