A Guide to Bereavement Flights
When a loved one dies, family members often come from all over the country to pay their respects, attend services, and to be with family. However, funeral services are often held within a week, offering very little notice to those who need to travel and purchase tickets. Bereavement airline flights are one way that a select number of companies choose to help their grieving customers during a difficult time.
What are bereavement flights?
A bereavement flight is a special type of airline ticket offered at a discounted rate to individuals who need to travel due to the death or imminent death of a close family member or loved one. These flights are typically intended to provide flexibility and support to passengers who require immediate travel for funeral arrangements, to attend a memorial service, or to be with a terminally ill family member. Bereavement airfare often comes with specific terms and conditions, such as flexible booking options and reduced fares, although their availability and terms vary between airlines. While bereavement fares used to be more common, many airlines have phased them out or replaced them with other types of discounted fares. However, some airlines still offer bereavement fares or compassionate travel policies to assist passengers during times of loss or crisis.
Do airlines in the US have or offer bereavement fares?
Yes, a handful of airlines based in the US do offer a discount for bereavement flights.
How much cheaper are bereavement flights?
Depending on the airline, bereavement flights are often offered at around a 10-20% discount off the original flight fare. Many airlines require that you contact a representative of the airline in order to purchase one of these tickets and will prevent you from purchasing the ticket online.
How to get bereavement flights
Only a few airlines offer bereavement flights and each airline has its own set of rules and requirements for qualifying for one of these flights. Typically, in order to qualify for a bereavement flight, you need to have experienced a loss of a family member. Some airlines restrict this to the loss of an immediate family member instead of an extended family member. If you’ve experienced a loss and are looking for bereavement fares, you can find major airlines and their bereavement policies below. Most airlines that do offer bereavement flights will require you to speak with a representative to purchase the bereavement flight. They may request some type of proof or documentation showing that a loss has occurred in order for you to qualify for the bereavement fare.
Major airlines in the United States and bereavement flights
Unfortunately, finding discounted flights for bereavement isn’t as easy as letting an airline know you’ve lost a loved one and need some assistance. Not every airline offers bereavement fares, and the ones that do may have certain requirements for qualification. Here’s a list of major airlines in the US and what airlines offer bereavement fares and flights from them.
Does American Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
American Airlines does not offer bereavement flights for those who are looking for discounted flights.
Does Alaska Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
Alaska Airlines does offer cheaper bereavement fares for those who have lost an immediate family member. The discount is 10% off of the lowest fare available within the next 7 days. You’ll need to speak with one of their customer representatives over the phone to receive one of these flights for bereavement.
Does Delta Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
Delta Airlines does offer bereavement flights for those who qualify, subject to a few restrictions. In order to take advantage of these fares, these fares, you need to contact a customer service representative through their Help Center.
Here are the requirements to qualify for bereavement fares:
- You must provide documentation include the deceased person’s name, your relationship to the deceased, the name and phone number of the hospital, hospice or funeral home, and the name of the doctor caring for the patient, if applicable.
- You must be part of their SkyMiles Members, which you can apply for immediately to qualify.
Does Hawaiian Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
Hawaiian Airlines is one of the airlines with bereavement fares, but only offers it for neighboring islands in Hawaii. They will also waive ticketing fees for flights that need to be purchased within 48 hours due to an emergency, which you can qualify for after speaking with a representative on the phone.
You must meet the following requirements to qualify for the emergency flight: 1. You must be an immediate family member to the hospitalized or deceased 2. Have proof of relation 3. Your desired travel date is within 48 hours (ticketing fees will be waived) 4. You are traveling wholly within the state of Hawaii
Hawaii Airlines offers the following fairs for emergency flights:
- One-way ticket for a single segment flight will cost $83 for a main cabin seat and $133 for a first class seat.
- One-way ticket for a multi-segment flight will cost $110 for a main cabin seat and $160 for a first class seat
Does United Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
While United Airlines used to offer bereavement flights, they haven’t offered bereavement flights or fares since 2014. You can try reaching out to their customer service team to see if they’d be able to offer any discounts or if you can get lucky with a representative.
Does Southwest Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
Southwest Airlines does not offer bereavement flights or fares. While Southwest Airlines doesn’t officially offer bereavement flights, you may be able to get a coupon or discount by contacting customer service and explaining your situation.
Does JetBlue Airlines offer bereavement flights or fares?
JetBlue does not offer bereavement discount flights or fares. If you’d like a discount, it can help to get in touch with customer service and ask if they have any possible discounts they can offer for bereavement.
If you’re working with a smaller airline and aren’t sure if they offer bereavement flights, simply get in touch with them and let them know you’ve experienced a loss and want to know if they offer a bereavement flight discount.
Taking a flight is one of the many things you may need to do after someone dies – it can feel overwhelming to manage and keep track of all the tasks needed and Ever Loved can help you deal with this. Ever Loved offers a free checklist that you can use to manage and tackle all the tasks you need to after someone dies – the checklist is always online, easy to use, and simple to share.
