Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > TravelBuzz
Reload this Page >

Friend died out of town- cost to fly his body home will be?

Friend died out of town- cost to fly his body home will be?

Old Aug 20, 2006, 12:53 am
  #31  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: PHL (and sometimes BKK)
Programs: aa/ua gold; mar titanium. SPG till I die.
Posts: 15,648
Originally Posted by MapleLeaf
Oh I know, I don't know of any funeral home who would charge to have a minister present, or any minister who would charge.

Even the honorarium is not really required. There are times when the only "payment" the clergy person receives is knowing the person received a religious commital and the fact that at the end of the day, the deceased was held up to God. In reality, there is no better payment.

Perhaps the only exception to a clergy person wanting some form of honorarium is when the deceased was not a member of their church, or any church, but yet the family still wants a full church service. They do take a bit of prep, even more so when you don't have a clue who the deceased is.
When my auntie died, i think the only thing we paid the priest was the offer of lunch after the funeral where we were meeting. He declined.

she was a church member there, if it means anything.

Sorry about your loss, Greenery.
civicmon is offline  
Old Sep 28, 2006, 5:30 pm
  #32  
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Manhattan NV
Programs: Hilton LTD, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LTTE, AA LTP, Avis PC, National EE, Seabourn DE
Posts: 3,025
Very good question by the OP
hedoman is offline  
Old Sep 29, 2006, 7:41 am
  #33  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,378
Yeah, this is a very useful thread. Since many of us have friends and family who view us as the "travel experts," it is quite possible that we'll someday have to confront this problem.

I particularly appreciate BuddyPass's inside perspective. I do recall reading an article (in the NYTimes perhaps?) a year or two ago about the "big business" in shipping remains. The biggest market was reportedly Florida to NY, due to retirees coming home to be buried. I do recall that there was a "frequent dier" program by the airlines for funeral directors to steer business to them. Of dubious ethical value, but it's apparently out there (not sure if it's limited to Florida-New York). If I were a funeral director, I'm sure I'd know about it, but I'm not sure it would impact by choice of airline to use.
iahphx is offline  
Old Oct 16, 2006, 7:15 pm
  #34  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: EWR
Posts: 253
Originally Posted by Clincher
I do have a question. If the decision is to cremate, can it be taken as carry on? I have heard this has been done in the past yet these days with the need to inspect everything, it seems complicated.
The current body to transport is from Prague. What if the family wants to cremate and the family does not want to check this package with checked bags?

This question is pretty cleancut, but TSA always has a way of making things harder than they need to be.

The last procedural notice we received from TSA was that cremated remains CAN be carried on. You must have your transit/disposition permit from the funeral home and the cremated remains must be clearly marked. They also MUST be in an urn that can be put through the security machines. NO METAL! I always suggest people keep them in the cardboard or plastic urn they receive from the crematory and then once they get home, have a funeral home put the ashes into the urn of their choice. If this isn't possible, opt for a wooden urn.

Some countries still require a special permit from the government of that country in order to take cremated remains into the country. TSA does not inforce this, but if you get stuck at customs, that would definitely be a problem.

Hope this helps.
BuddyPass is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 12:50 pm
  #35  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1
Hi, I know this post is several years old, but I wondered what the roundabout prices would now be for shipping human remains.

I am trying to help a friend whose father-in-law passed away and they want to take his body back to Europe. However, the funeral home quoted him $16,000, which I think is a little over the top. Any funeral directors - please excuse me!! It's just that someone else I know had to do the same thing unfortunately, shipped to the same city and it cost her around 10 thousand dollars less...

Any help or ideas anyone? Without running the risk of offending the funeral home services, I told him to ask them to break down the prices. I called several airlines, and while most refused to give me a price unless I was from the funeral home, the rest of the prices were not that outrageous. I understand where there can be a lot of fees incurred by the funeral homes also, but not 10 thousand dollars-worth in fees, I hope. The airlines also told me their extra fees, which did not exceed $200

Thanks in advance!!

Originally Posted by BuddyPass
Just so all of the viewers of this post are aware, funeral homes are NOT able to charge you more for a flight.


One funeral home will be REQUIRED on each end. You are not allowed to just arrange to have a body taken from the morgue of a hospital to the airport. Federal and Local laws prohibit things like that. A funeral home must pick up the body and file the appropriate paperwork. A transit permit is required by the county before a body is transported out of the area. Most airlines require embalming of remains to be done before they are shipped, while other airlines will allow a person to be packed with dry ice around them for the flight. While the airlines don't always require embalming, many states require embalming within 24 hours of somebody dying unless they are directly cremated or buried. Another regulation of the airlines is the container the person is shipped in: They can either be shipped in a casket OR in a combination-unit (A hard-bottomed container with the body strapped inside)

Our charges for the shipment of a body cross-country are pretty similar. We charge our basic fees for all of staff to do the paperwork, the arrangements, the phone calls, etc.; a charge for picking the person up from where they died; embalming, if required by the airline OR dry-ice/refrigeration if not;the charge for our service vehicle, to have the death certificate signed by the doctor and filed with the county to get a permit # for transport; transportation to the airport; a casket OR combination unit; the cost of the flight by the airline; as well as sales, facilities, and transportation taxes (as deemed by the government).

Our total service charges for this service is $1,895. In addition are the taxes and a casket/combo-unit.

If anybody should have anymore questions about the shipment of human remains, please feel free to contact me, since I do it on a regular basis.

Caleb
mimis2 is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 2:32 pm
  #36  
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF, VA, VN, BA, SQ, KC - all reds and blues.
Posts: 3,205
Originally Posted by mimis2
Hi, I know this post is several years old, but I wondered what the roundabout prices would now be for shipping human remains.

I am trying to help a friend whose father-in-law passed away and they want to take his body back to Europe. However, the funeral home quoted him $16,000, which I think is a little over the top. Any funeral directors - please excuse me!! It's just that someone else I know had to do the same thing unfortunately, shipped to the same city and it cost her around 10 thousand dollars less...

Any help or ideas anyone? Without running the risk of offending the funeral home services, I told him to ask them to break down the prices. I called several airlines, and while most refused to give me a price unless I was from the funeral home, the rest of the prices were not that outrageous. I understand where there can be a lot of fees incurred by the funeral homes also, but not 10 thousand dollars-worth in fees, I hope. The airlines also told me their extra fees, which did not exceed $200

Thanks in advance!!
I'd ask the someone else who did the same thing for contact details. Transporting dead bodies can be hideously expensive depending on how much gold plating you want. If you want refrigeration and reverence it costs; if you want functional it can be done for a lot less.
Mr H is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 2:36 pm
  #37  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: UA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 21,470
My neighbor's husband passed away recently in India. She was given an estimate of $20,000 to bring the body back to the US.
pseudoswede is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 2:37 pm
  #38  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: NYC (formerly BOS/DCA)
Programs: UA 1K, IC RA
Posts: 60,745
Originally Posted by pseudoswede
My neighbor's husband passed away recently in India. She was given an estimate of $20,000 to bring the body back to the US.
Jesus.
magiciansampras is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 2:56 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DTW
Programs: DL: Plat; Marriott Gold; HHonors Gold
Posts: 87
Doesn't anyone shop araound or price compare? When my brother passed in LA, I used Yahoo from my hotel room in BOS to find funeral home contacts in LA. I had to move quickly because the LAPD wanted to secure the scene and go on to other business. So I called and took some notes and awarded the business.
It worked out fine; I flew out to LAX and took care of the paperwork two days later.
bendar06 is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 4:19 pm
  #40  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: USA
Programs: UA/CO(1K-PLT), AA(PLT), QR, EK, Marriott(PLT), Hilton(DMND)
Posts: 9,538
Three things...

1) A number of airlines will repatriate bodies of their citizens for free (PIA and Saudia for sure) - you stab 'em and slab 'em - we expedite 'em!

2) Out of interest, Mrs. P and I have instructions in our wills that we are to be buried wherever it is that we keel over, if it is in a foreign land. No muss, no fuss, just the basic environmentally friendly burial

3) Whatever happened to the OP of this thread?
PhlyingRPh is offline  
Old Jan 29, 2010, 7:58 pm
  #41  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: DTW
Programs: Dirt Status w/ All
Posts: 5,040
Originally Posted by PhlyingRPh
Three things...


3) Whatever happened to the OP of this thread?
Just click on the OP's name and pull up his previous posts. I think it will be self explanatory.
tev9999 is offline  
Old Jan 30, 2010, 12:35 am
  #42  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: MDW
Programs: SWA EMP (the ultimate program)
Posts: 713
Unfortunately it would appear that funeral homes GREATLY inflate the price for this service.

Here is a listing of the price that the funeral home pays.

http://www.swacargo.com/swacargo/doc...2012-14-09.pdf

$10,000+ is absolutely ridiculous and the funeral homes should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of grieving families like this.
num1bearsfan is offline  
Old Jan 30, 2010, 10:46 am
  #43  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: USA
Programs: UA/CO(1K-PLT), AA(PLT), QR, EK, Marriott(PLT), Hilton(DMND)
Posts: 9,538
Originally Posted by num1bearsfan
Unfortunately it would appear that funeral homes GREATLY inflate the price for this service.

Here is a listing of the price that the funeral home pays.

http://www.swacargo.com/swacargo/doc...2012-14-09.pdf

$10,000+ is absolutely ridiculous and the funeral homes should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of grieving families like this.
That is shameful.
PhlyingRPh is offline  
Old Jan 30, 2010, 11:02 am
  #44  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: in your villages
Programs: legions, foreign and domestic
Posts: 1,472
Chooses not to participate in FlyerTalk any longer because of objection to homophobic comments and lack of concern by staff.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/only-...policy-ft.html

Last edited by inyourvillages; May 3, 2010 at 4:48 pm
inyourvillages is offline  
Old Jan 30, 2010, 12:41 pm
  #45  
In Memoriam
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
Make sure you are comparing apples to apples, the higher prices may be quoting embalming and other services, not just shipping.
cordelli is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.