MilesBuzz! - Family Emergencies

How do airlines treat family members that have to book a flight at short notice due to a family emergency? Will they make them pay the full Y/C/F fare, or do they have some sort of policy on how to accommodate their grief stricken passenger.
If so what qualifies as a "Family Emergency"?
Thanks-
BT

There are so-called "bereavment fares", but quite often those are not much cheaper than the regular ones.

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[This message has been edited by jetsetter777 (edited 02-14-2002).]

I hate to sound macabre, but I suspect that one or more of my loved ones is going to die sooner rather than later and I keep a reserve of FF miles to cover exactly that sad situation.

Each airline handles it differently, if you think something is about to happen it may be worth calling all of them to see what their policy is, so that when it does happen you can save the precious time.

Stock up on miles for this, it's the easiest way.

IIRC on domestic, they usually offer bereavement fares that are a certain percentage (40%?) off full-fare Y.

The only time I needed to purchase one was for an international itinerary (SFO-LHR), and on those, instead of a discount, they waive the one-week advanced purchase requirement for REFUNDABLE fares (which are still pretty expensive) - on those AA quoted me $1300, BA quoted $1800.

Yonatan

mikey has the answer, hang on to your mi's in enough progs to get where you might have to go. pay expedite fees. you probably will get more value . fly a lot to get the mi's.

I would try one of two strategies, depending on where you need to go.

Frontier, ATA, and Air Tran have reasonable fares that do not require an advanced purchase, it only depends upon if they have the seat available for sale.

Also, check out priceline.com. You will NOT get frequent flier miles, but you may be able to fly cheap at the last minute. Use the Priceline EzBoard for bidding strategies.

http://pub4.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Big Top:

If so what qualifies as a "Family Emergency"?
Thanks-
BT</font>

that really depends on the airline. There was an article in a Frommer mag about exactly that question - and different airlines gave different responses and fares depending on whether it was illness, death, etc. One reporter posted the situation that her daughter was having marital problems and she needed to get home NOW and I think Delta gave them a break.In my albeit limited experience on United, they were very gracious and I was able to travel back and forth ffrom my mom's illness for about 1/3 of full fare coach. BUT the tickets were totally changeable so if I had to stay an extra day or so I could do that. For her funeral I was able to book a 7 day advance...which was not changeable but was a very reasonable price.

I have found most of the "big" airlines are very willing to sell tix for less than full fare but don;t expect any deals....they assume if it's a true energency you will possibly need to change dates/times and you want to get there NOW so they don;t really give you much of a break. If its soemthing you kmow is going to happen at a certain time you MIGTH be better off prce-wise going w/ priceline.
I also recieved different answers from different reps during my mom's illness so it definitely pays to call till you get someone friendly and responsive.

priceline is a good idea for this type of situation. if you can take their rules.

I actually just did this last week. The father of very close friend of mine died suddenly. I found that Continental and Delta would both sell bereavement fares even though it was not a family member. Fares where steep. I had more than enough miles on Delta but would need to fly via CVG or ATL to get from DFW to CLE. Continental had seats on the non-stop from DFW to CLE and it was on 20,000 miles. I was 3,000 miles short. They sold those for me at the standard $25 per 1K and I got the flights I needed for $75 total and was able to burn up those remaining Continental miles.

I have had only one experience with this --when my father died. It was unexpected, so I needed tickets for the first flight available. No miles to speak of, so the bereavement fare was it. The cost was fairly high compared to the deep discounts (ORD-ROA around $400), but the ticket was fully changeable. That feature was used twice.

UA seems to be lenient in its terms. I did not need to provide any evidence of the death (I have heard stories, possibly untrue, of other airlines doing so.) Also, there was never a question about giving my partner the same deal for his ticket.

Overall, I agree with the other posters that if you can keep a cache of miles for this kind of event, it is best.

I've recently had to deal with this as well.

I think I "lucked out" though because I had to be in Florida. The bereavement fare on AA for JFK-MCO was $448. The regular sale fare was $117. This was a same day purchase. Go figure....

The nice thing from AA was I changed my return date and they waived the $100 fee. It specifically states in almost all their fare rules that it gets waived for death/illness in family.

Flip

I just did this last weekend - 97 yr gpa had a heart attack. Called UA and NW both would get me out within 3 hrs on a Medical Emergency fare I had to provide the Hospital name, phone and DR name. Rate was better than I could find on the internet and both would allow an open ended ticket.
Took NW as time would get me in 1.5 hrs faster booked return for 1 week later - Gpa is a trooper and came through great and I came home Thursday.

Good Luck

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by flipside:
I think I "lucked out" ... AA for JFK-MCO ... The regular sale fare was $117. This was a same day purchase. Go figure....
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Flip - JFK - MCO is one of the great bargains on AA - because of low demand and Jet Blue. AA needs to fly JFK - MCO to get the transatlantic passengers into JFK to Disney world. Thank heavens for price wars.

Your accumulated miles are your best bet in this situation. At least know someone who would be willing to help should the unavoidable happen.

A friend recently lost her uncle. She's in SFO and had to travel to DEN on short notice. They needed the most direct flights and had a small window to travel, which eliminated quite a few choices including WN and Priceline. Fares under 7-days were around $900. 1K reservations was quoting bereavement fare around $700. To qualify, they need the name of the deceased, relationship, and contact information for the mortuary handling the situation. I was able to get her and her father to DEN using miles.

Thank you all for your input.
I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable...
Knock on wood that I won't have to implement the information gained from my fellow FTer's all too soon!
Thanks again.
BT

Don't expect much from the airlines.

I looked into this 6 years ago. I flew ValuJet becaue their last minute fare (its highest) was less than Delta's bereavement fare.

In addition to my normal AA stockpile which I always keep over 100k, I kept 60k UA miles and 40k stockpile of NW miles while my grandmother was alive in Greece - in case anything happened suddenly he could find a way to get over. Turns out that when she did pass away it was low season and he was able to get a good enough deal on DL (I'm not even sure it was a bereavement rate) to save the miles.

I've used up the UA miles since then, but kept my emergency stash of NW miles and am slowly adding 3k/yr to it with my Sprint PCS usage so I can keep up with inflation.

In Sept 99, my grandmother passed away. I gave my UA miles for my aunt (where she can fly into the local airport) & I used DL miles. The airlines wanted $1700 to go LAX-MBS or LAX-DTW. If I could produce a death certificate, I could get it down to $900. I used miles! Last April, my sister passed away & US had no availability for my times (PIT-MBS was not available). I called UA at 3AM & used 25K miles & flew out at 10:30AM. (LAX-MBS via ORD). They allowed me to change the return. Nice thing is I did not have to provide any documentation since it was an award ticket.

Bottom line: Have a small stash of miles (25-50K) in a few programs in case they are needed for an emergency.

Just a reminder, go see the ones you love NOW. Or fly them to see you. I respect everyone's need to be there for surgery, illness or worse...but if they are healthy now, go see them. They'll love you even more for it. (Arrange a lunch with a FTer while in town.)

Great Point Comicwoman - I am fortunate enough to "Have" to travel within 2 hrs. of my grandfather everyother month - I was too busy, too tired, etc. etc - just the week before my gpa's heart attack - to visit. I arrived home Thursday nite only to travel back on Sunday KICKING myself for losing the opportunity of seeing him. Needless to say in 3 weeks I WILL make the drive & time. The guilt I felt for not making the effort was terrible.

You just never know.

FWIW, on United, bereavement or medical emergency tickets are treated as 'hardship revenue' and given BP1A. This is the highest level of positive-space boarding priority there is. Right up there with full fare tix. Cannot be downgraded, cannot be denied boarding, CAN get advance seat reservations...

OTOH, using mileage is subject to capacity controls and status for standby... if the cost of a a medical emerg. tix is reasonable, it seems infinitely better to use...last thing you want to worry about at a time of stress is standing by for flights.

AC gives 75% off full Y fare, upon presentation of a death certificate. You can also pay the full Y upfront and claim a refund later.

I have a question: Why am I the only one on this board who posts an answer like the below? Over and over for so many kinds of situations?

As you have read, the airline emergency fares are often nothing to write home about, and often very expensive. True story... A co worker of mine had a relative pass away. They asked me how to get the least expensive fare. I reminded them (again even people here always forget this) that the counter agents at the airlines have extremely broad discretion about how to handle any given passenger. A seat-mate on a plane once said, and I think its true, the airline agents are like cops in the discretion they have. I told him to go to the city ticket office, tell them he couldn't pay the medical emergency fare, and see what he could do. He did just that, and in less than an hour, he came back. He did say that most of the airlines were unsympathetic, but that one did let him fly. From his fare, it looks like they gave him the lowest fare in the market between the two cities, and just waived all the rules on it. It was by far much less expensive than the med emergency fares. For this to work you *must* go in person, for in most cases res won't give you a break. But the agents at the ato and cto can really do whatever they want with fares, and could just issue you lowest published in the market and then document your PNR saying to waive all rules and change fees. When the friend came back he thanked me and said "I never thought of it...just go and beg."
Now also you have to probably have the right personality to do this. Like my mother could probably never go up to an ato or cto and tell them she wanted some kind of special discount. Just be subtle about it, and you'll be surprised what they *can* do for you....not just in a family emergency but actually in a wide variety of situations you might find yourself in. For example, I have associates I know at the airlines I fly. If I need a change fee waived or something, I can call one of them, and presto, done. Now I don't abuse this, but if I need a favor once in a while I ask. But the real question is why don't other FT's do this, or do they do it but do not want to post?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jetsetter:
I have a question: Why am I the only one on this board who posts an answer like the below? Over and over for so many kinds of situations?

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hmmm, well maybe everyone else on this board isn't quite this arrogant.

ender83 ,
Whether or not you want to admit it, in the real world in a number of businesses favors are done for customers or associates. Another example is major university sporting events. Back in college, some of my friends new the police and the athletic people. Once, and this was kind of funny, a roommate needed tickets for some sold out game. So one friend talked to the police, and presto, you had a police car come pick up this 20 year-old guy aka Joe Sixpack, and they escortted him and his friend in to the game.

I don't think your characterization of "arrogant" fits with what I mentioned. Why don't you look things up in the dictionary before you post? There is a good site called Dictionary.Com (http://www.dictionary.com) that might be useful to you in forming posts. If you will recall in fact, I suggested being subtle in making requests. I never said to demand a favor, as I genuinely think that would rarely work.

A final example, also true of course, I was talking to a flight attendant once. He said that if his friends were ever flying he would book them the cheapest ticket on a particular airline, buy it, and then call somebody at that carrier and have them upgrade it. So, this stuff really happens.

Thanks, Jetsetter, as always your posts are very interesting and valuable...

jetsetter,

i didn't disagree with the content of your post. i do, in fact, think it is quite accurate.

but the comment "Why am I the only one on this board who posts an answer like the below?" was just too much. the assumption is that you are the only one to think of these things, and that is what i was referring to as arrogant. if that's not what you intended, my apologies.