In late September of this year, in Denver, at the check-in for my return to MSP (NW flight), found that a family member had passed (an Aunt of mine) and the gate agent was MOST helpful. Checked any number of ways to get me to Houston, even checking with Continental for their fares....ended up getting me to Houston on the same day, although via MSP....and the bereavement fare was less than $500 for the RT MSP-IAH. Got me there the same day, and gave me great flexibility on the return, since didn't know exactly when the funeral would be. Required info from funeral home to confirm.

No status at the time (although 1mm on NW). I found the gate agent to go the extra mile, in fact wrote a compliment to NW...hope it found its way to her and her supervisor.

So, while I can't speak to the problem with this lady's problem, I can confirm that there are such fares, and at least NW employees have gone out of their way to be helpful.