We had this same issue when my grandmother passed away recently. We had to fly 14 people from DFW to BOS. It was in mid-July and AA said the standard fare was $1400/person but they would offer it to us for $1100/person. We ended up going to Priceline and through the name your own price were able to get 10 of the 14 people on the same AA flight for between $350-425/person. Of course you can't control which airline you'll get (4 others flew USAir) but it was worth the savings. Hope that's helpful!