Getting Bereavement

You may need bereavement flights for funerals at funeral homes in Rocky Mount, VA, but you may not know how to go about getting one. It used to be that almost every airline in the United States offered bereavement flights. People who were going to the funerals of immediate family were given special fares that were lower than the standard airline fares. 

In 2004, most airlines discontinued offering bereavement flights. However there are still a few airlines that will give special fares for last-minute reservations when people are flying to attend funerals for someone in their immediate family. 

The airlines that still offer bereavement flights are Delta, West Jet, Lufthansa, and Air Canada. 

Bereavement flights are special because you have greater leeway in making changes to your flight itinerary without having to pay more money. However, since bereavement flights are discounted from the normal unrestricted full fare ticket prices, you may be able to find cheaper flights online using services like cheapflights.com, Expedia, and Kayak. You can also contact the airline directly to see if you can negotiate a lower price and an open-ended ticket (this allows you to travel on a certain date, but leaves the return date open). 

One thing to consider if you making airline reservations online is that often you can get a lower price if you buy two one-way tickets as opposed to one round-trip ticket. This can also give you more flexibility in choosing times to leave for the funeral of immediate family member and come back home. 

If you call the airline directly, you may be able to get one of their last-minute deals to get a cheaper price for your flight. Many of the airlines don't publish their last-minute deals. Some last minute deals are to make sure that a flight is full. When you talk to the airline agent and explain that you're flying to be at the funeral of an immediate family member, the agent may be able to work out a really good deal, pricewise. 

One of the other options to get a cheaper fare may be to fly to an airport that's near your destination and rent a car to drive the rest of the way. For example, if the funeral you're going to is near Los Angeles, you could fly in the John Wayne Airport in Orange County instead of LAX. If you're going to a funeral near New York City, it may be cheaper to fly into Newark then it is to fly into LaGuardia Airport or JFK and then take public transportation to the final destination. 

Taking advantage of package deals for online travel sites may save you money as well. If you going to need a rental car and hotel, then you can bundle these options with your airline reservations and get a discount on the whole package. 

Another option for discounted airline fare to attend a funeral for an immediate family member is to take a redeye flight. Redeye flights, which are so named because they occur literally during the middle of the night when everybody's sleeping, are usually much less expensive than daytime flights. Redeye flights leave very late at night and arrive early the next morning. 

A final option for getting a discounted airline fare is to take a flight that stops at several airports. You may have as many as three or four connecting flights and there may be some extensive delays, but you can usually arrive within 24 hours of getting on the first flight. 

For information on bereavement flights for funerals at funeral homes in Rocky Mount, VA, our compassionate and experienced staff at Conner-Bowman Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help with any of our services. You can come by our funeral home at this location 62 Virginia Market Place Dr., Rocky Mount, VA, 24151 or you can contact us today at (540) 334-5151.