Gussy

Hey guys,

I've lived over here in Brisbane for 8 years now with my partner and child. My parents live back in Ireland. It's a morbid subject to talk about but nonetheless inevitable that I will ultimately get the call that they have become very ill or have died suddenly.

What's the process with getting back home so quickly? Do you just call a number of airlines and tell them your story? Is it normally super expensive at the last minute? Have any of you had to wait 2 - 3 days for a flight due to them being booked out?

Interested to hear your stories.

Thanks

bcworld

Either of those things could happen. Unless you're super picky about airline the latter is unlikely most of the time.

There is a bit of misconception about what people refer to as bereavement fares. These are not cheap last minute fares. Generally what it means is that the airline waives certain conditions of the ticket, allowing you things like free date changes etc. But don't expect it to be cheap. You might even find you can get a cheaper fare on the same flight vs the offered bereavement fare. If you have the time, still do your own shopping around.

irishbloo

[QUOTE=Gussy;11923484]Hey guys,

I've lived over here in Brisbane for 8 years now with my partner and child. My parents live back in Ireland. It's a morbid subject to talk about but nonetheless inevitable that I will ultimately get the call that they have become very ill or have died suddenly.

What's the process with getting back home so quickly? Do you just call a number of airlines and tell them your story? Is it normally super expensive at the last minute? Have any of you had to wait 2 - 3 days for a flight due to them being booked out?

Interested to hear your stories.
It is the call many of us dread and have had.Just book a flight and head home if that is what you want to do.Perhaps tell the staff at check in.It might help.

irishbloo

[QUOTE=irishbloo;11923531] Sorry,messed up quote

Pollyana

As bcworld said, phone around the main airlines - especially Qantas who do have a good track record here - and tell them the reason for the flight.
Alo, when you do book the fare, tell them you would like the crew made aware of the reason for the flight as you may be upset etc en route. This means they can put a notein your booking and the crew will look out for you - you may nt need it, but it can mean they will try and get you a side with a vacant one next to it, look out for you at transfer stops etc - I even got an unrequested upgrade with JAL, and Qantas offered to have a ground crew member stay with me throughout the transfer through Singapore if I wanted it. Handy for them to have the nowledge in case you are upset or distressed.

Haven't had to do it for a few years now but Qantas had me on a flight within24 hours, they offered me one within 12 hours, had i wanted it.

Dorothy

When my father died I went to the local Flight Centre and the travel agent sorted flights for me. The airlines were very good about giving me a whole row of seats to myself all the way to Toronto and back and ensuring that I was left alone on the flights. Even when one of the airlines I was meant to be flying on stopped flying that route while I was in Canada the TA sorted it all for me.

quoll

As long as you keep your passport current (and any visa requirements if you are not yet a citizen) and have a decent limit on your credit card you could usually rock up to an airport and get a ticket. You can insure against such emergencies - Kinsure is the one I've heard of - our you could self insure with regular payments into a designated "just in case" account. I wouldn't bank on the philanthropy of airlines though - plan on having to fork out for business class then anything less is a bonus.

It is an uncomfortable sword of Damocles to have hanging over your head but in some ways it's the easy option compared with being faced to have the day to day responsibility of caring for elderly parents (my selfish self says I would rather have had "the call" than the responsibility I now have!) - not that there ever is a really easy option when it comes to bereavement.

verystormy

We have had to do this three times.

First, the airlines will not give you a discount or anything and they cant magic up a seat if the plane is full. So, it is a risk.

The last time it happened to us - my wifes father, we only got her back by a lot of luck. We received the call on a sunday that he had hours to live and was asking for her. All of the agents were closed and you can not book an international flight on line that leves that day. So, we raced to the airport. But, either the desks were closed or flights were full. At the last second we decided to break the rules and made our way into the back office area. Luckily we found a lady from Thai who was just about to leave and although didn't normally book flights, agreed help. We got her on the last seat.

When my daughter died, the only way I managed to get back quickly was because I was working for a major multinational company and they pulled strings to get me on a full flight

Bermudashorts

I have done that trip twice, once from Bermuda and once from Australia.

In my case, my company booked me on the flight from Bermuda and our own lovely BCWorld helped me find the flight from Australia in 2012 as I used my air miles for it. But I did not make any point with the airline about the circumstances, I just booked flights. It is unlikely that you would not be able to get one at all. Last minute flights are not necessarily more expensive.

Pollyana

My dad would've been so pleased with the results when I went over for his funeral.
Qantas were fab, got me on a plane in 24 hours but had problems with the return a couple of weeks later, they ended up booking me BA to Tokyo, then JAL to Brisbane. The BA flight was in daylight, across the Norwegian fjords,Lapland and northern Russia, the most stunning scenery I have ever seen, I was just spellbound the whole way. Then an unexpected JAL upgrade, many offers of sympathy from the Japanese ( in sign language) and a lovely chilled out few hours at Tokyo Narita. Would love to revisit Japan one day and see more than the airport as the people were so friendly.
Seems odd that one of my most memorable flights was for the funeral, but thats life I guess!

rammygirl

The best thing is to have an emergency fund set aside. I was actually surprised a few weeks back as my son Din UK had injured himself and was in need of support, at the time he was upset and I just wanted to be there. My oh checked and flights for the next couple of days were really not much more than the ones we had bought for later in the year! It will depend on the time of year and route but for a funeral you should have enough notice.

In the end I didn't go, I did however spend many hours on face time just being there as he was in pain and couldn't sleep, it was day time here so I just kept him company until the out of hours doc arrived and gave him drugs which killed the pain and made him sleep. I stayed with him remotely until he drifted off. It was really good for us both to be able to do this and I think we both felt better for it.

moneypenny20

I just booked a flight online for as soon as possible. Cathay Pacific couldn't have been less interested in the fact my mother had died two hours earlier and let's face it, why should they? No special treatment or even sympathy but let's face it, nothing is going to help really.

Dreamy

Obviously a very different situation for us because a) it was only from Portugal back to the UK, b) it was 20 years ago and c) it was a bereavement while we were away rather than a flight back for a funeral, but...

My husband died when we were holidaying in Portugal. We'd driven there in two cars (4 adults, 4 kids altogether) and he died the morning before we were due to leave.

We had insurance with American Express at the time and they were fabulous. They arranged for flights home the following day (middle of summer, no idea how) and all 7 of us were able to sit together. Mind you, it was the days before internet check in, so they probably just shuffled the seating plan around.

We were greeted at the airport and taken to the lounge, boarded first and disembarked first at the other side.

Absolutely amazing service and I have no recollection whatsoever of the airline, lol.

So. No help at all for the original question, but I like to get in for a bit of sympathy generation.

irishbloo

A little bit of sympathy never does any harm.Its good that you can have good thoughts about a rough time.