UA Bereavement fares
Dec 6, 2012, 9:07 pm
#16
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: Nothing - I'm useless!
Posts: 2,441
What? No, not reasonable at all.
$25 is 5% of $500.
So $475? To where? RT?
No, not good at all when they sell tickets on a RT pretty much anywhere in the continental US for $250-$300 if you buy with enough advance purchase time.
You may say "Well that's with advanced purchase..." Well sorry, I can't schedule when a loved one is going to pass away. I think it's a really awful penny pinching policy.
Priceline it. Just more proof the airlines HAVE seats they're willing to sell cheap, but god forbid they do so for someone who has a very valid reason for booking last minute.
$25 is 5% of $500.
So $475? To where? RT?
No, not good at all when they sell tickets on a RT pretty much anywhere in the continental US for $250-$300 if you buy with enough advance purchase time.
You may say "Well that's with advanced purchase..." Well sorry, I can't schedule when a loved one is going to pass away. I think it's a really awful penny pinching policy.
Priceline it. Just more proof the airlines HAVE seats they're willing to sell cheap, but god forbid they do so for someone who has a very valid reason for booking last minute.
Dec 6, 2012, 9:10 pm
#17
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: out my front door 60 min prior to IAH flight until they increased the check in time to 45 min
Programs: CO Platinum or UA 1K for so long, now almost 2MM
Posts: 322
Not reasonable. The chances are that a bereavement fare will be an expensive last-minute ticket. 5% off that is not much. I guess that is how much "compassion" UA has an airline. Of course, I remember post 9/11, CO and UA lining up for tax payer dollars because they were in such bad shape. The Feds should have been equally compassionate.
Dec 6, 2012, 9:36 pm
#18
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: United Plat 2MM, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,727
It's certainly different.
It used to be that these booked in Q, and they were 25% of the Y fare, with the full set of taxes and surcharges. Often that meant that an S or a T was cheaper. However, the bereavement fare was changeable for a fairly low amount: I think it was $25 or $50.
So, as an example, suppose I had to go from ORD to ATL tomorrow, and return a week later. Cheapest fare is a U/V at $504. Full Y is $2056+22, so the "old" United would have charged $536 (and the non-bereavement fare would have been cheaper) and the "new" United $479.
My experience is that this is one of the best uses of miles there is.
It used to be that these booked in Q, and they were 25% of the Y fare, with the full set of taxes and surcharges. Often that meant that an S or a T was cheaper. However, the bereavement fare was changeable for a fairly low amount: I think it was $25 or $50.
So, as an example, suppose I had to go from ORD to ATL tomorrow, and return a week later. Cheapest fare is a U/V at $504. Full Y is $2056+22, so the "old" United would have charged $536 (and the non-bereavement fare would have been cheaper) and the "new" United $479.
My experience is that this is one of the best uses of miles there is.
Dec 6, 2012, 9:55 pm
#19
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: if it's Thursday, this must be Belgium
Programs: UA 1K MM
Posts: 6,484
What are you all talking about with "compassion"? You're talking about receiving a discount on a business service by a corporation. There's no entitlement to air travel, and you shouldn't expect "compassion", nor should you show them any. Go where the fares are cheapest -- try priceline as suggested above, or use miles. This is business -- don't expect anything unless it benefits them, don't give anything unless it benefits you.
Dec 7, 2012, 12:07 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BOS/OAK
Programs: AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 35
It's a much less generous policy than AA has. I had to get an SFO-BOS bereavement ticket in October. At the time, last-minute fares on both airlines were $1100 for the roundtrip. UA offered me the standard 5% off. AA offered me a $700 fare.
Of course, either way was ridiculously expensive, but UA happened to still have a few mileage saver tickets, so I swallowed the $50 let's-shaft-2Ps fee (which they wouldn't waive for a bereavement) and flew on miles.
Of course, either way was ridiculously expensive, but UA happened to still have a few mileage saver tickets, so I swallowed the $50 let's-shaft-2Ps fee (which they wouldn't waive for a bereavement) and flew on miles.
Dec 7, 2012, 3:39 am
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ZOA, SFO, HKG
Programs: UA 1K 0.9MM, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz PC, SBux Gold, TSA Pre✓
Posts: 13,811
Dec 7, 2012, 6:00 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Charlotte, NC
Programs: Alcoholics Anonymous - Platinum, Gamblers Anonymous - Gold
Posts: 212
What are you all talking about with "compassion"? You're talking about receiving a discount on a business service by a corporation. There's no entitlement to air travel, and you shouldn't expect "compassion", nor should you show them any. Go where the fares are cheapest -- try priceline as suggested above, or use miles. This is business -- don't expect anything unless it benefits them, don't give anything unless it benefits you.
Dec 7, 2012, 6:35 am
#26
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Midwest
Programs: Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 261
I agree, it's not the airline's fault. It would be generous of them to offer more of a discount but not mandatory to give anyone a discount at all. To get indignant about it not being more puzzles me. Once you land, does your taxi driver give you a discount if you say you are there for a funeral? Your hotel? What other discounts do you expect to come your way?
Dec 7, 2012, 6:47 am
#27
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
The car service which takes you to/from the airport, hotel at which you stay, restaurants at which you eat and car rental company at the destination, don't generally offer bereavement rates, why should air carriers?
So, why is it unreasonable that any discount is offered?
None of this is to suggest that it isn't a bad thing that one can't afford to travel to a close relative's funeral, but there are many much harsher realities in life.
So, why is it unreasonable that any discount is offered?
None of this is to suggest that it isn't a bad thing that one can't afford to travel to a close relative's funeral, but there are many much harsher realities in life.
Dec 7, 2012, 11:10 am
#28
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: EWR
Programs: UA 1K (2.7 million miler)
Posts: 100
The one time I really needed help from the 'bereavement' department was to urgently get a seat on an oversold flight on Christmas Eve. I was grateful that they accommodated me on that flight within a couple of hours. Must have had to compensate someone else for denied boarding. I did pay full boat, though. There was never any expectation or offer of a discount.
Dec 7, 2012, 11:16 am
#29
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: if it's Thursday, this must be Belgium
Programs: UA 1K MM
Posts: 6,484
The car service which takes you to/from the airport, hotel at which you stay, restaurants at which you eat and car rental company at the destination, don't generally offer bereavement rates, why should air carriers?
So, why is it unreasonable that any discount is offered?...
So, why is it unreasonable that any discount is offered?...
Is it because air travel is the most expensive part of a trip? Or the biggest constraining factor of someone getting somewhere?
Just interested in how airlines manage to be the target of ire...
Dec 7, 2012, 11:19 am
#30
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: DL Diamond, UA 1K MM, SPG Plat For Life, Marriott Plat, Nexus/GlobalEntry
Posts: 9,198
Wow that's down significantly from even last year when it was 20% on Continental flights. My dad passed away suddenly in Oct, 2011 while he and my mom were visiting Lisbon, Portugal. I went online and purchased my mom a one way business class ticket LIS-EWR-SEA for the next day for $3,800 (C Fare).. and later sent in the documentation and got $760 refunded. As I recall at the time the discount was larger if the ticket cost over a certain amount... but I don't remember what the amount was.