And the DL fares are upgradeable! I would imagine trying to score an UG after the death of a family member is even outside of the twisted world of a FTer!

I know that BA used to offer bereavement/emergency fares as I was given a discounted fare from BA (about 50% off of full fare Y) when I needed to fly back to the UK to see my father who had suddenly fallen seriously ill. They let me fly on this fare and didn't ask for verification. So they either have stopped this or you got a bum deal on the phone.

I can't see why BA would have stopped this, I would imagine the number of people in this situation is thankfully very small and that you would remember an airline going above and beyond in these situations and be more likely to give them your future business.

I have some sympathy with the OP because for some full fare TATL tickets are just out of reach, bereavement or not. I had a friend here who lost her father and had to fly SEA-HNL at short notice and the cheapest ticket was out of her reach at $1800 a.i. If the only option is full fare J then that could be several thousand dollars and some people just don't have access to those sort of funds.