Hi there,

First post here, i hope you can help me a bit.

I live in Alberta and my Dad has suddenly passed away in London, England. We expect the funeral to be mid January.

I went to Canadian Affair as usual and there are no flights from Calgary to Gatwick for January. I've been using them for what seems like forever so it seems almost unbelievable that the one time that I really NEED them, there's nothing. I have called both Canadian Affair and Air Transat, one said that the flights are all full, the other said that they're all cancelled and they don't know yet if they'll be re-instated.

Does anyone know anything else about this? I really can't afford Air Canada or BA prices which seem to be going up daily.

Thanks, - Sally

Try Iceland air. From what I see you can go for about $1300 return leaving at beginning of jan, and the further into jan [away from new years] you go the cheaper it gets. Cheap flights to Europe & Iceland | Icelandair

Have you asked them about bereavement prices?

I did ask AC but they said I need definite dates in order to get a price.

Sorry to hear of your loss, a quick glance brought this up but you will be able to taulor it more to your needs hth. Matrix - ITA Software by Google

Bereavement fares are 50% off the full price flexible fare. It does not apply to a discounted fare. You pay the fare and claim back the discount by sending in a copy of the death certificate. Often the bereavement fare is higher than the discounted advance booking fares.

I went on Air Transat website and could book a flight from Calgary to LGW Jan 7-14 2015 no problem I suggest you give it another go

Air Canada Calgary to London, Flex fare $1467 return Jan 7 return 14 weeks later, taxes in.

Latitude (to which a bereavement flight could apply) $5500 (of which up to 50% could be refundable).

Try changing dates by a day or tow, this can bring the fare down.

This is not correct. AC set bereavement fares to a particular fare bucket (which I think is still H - which should not be a bad price - about $1000 + taxes). You can book a fully flexible latitude fare and regardless of cost, assuming you submit the appropriate documentation etc. you will be given a refund from whatever you paid to the H fare. It is not cheap but is likely better than 50%. You can freely change dates etc.
If you do find a better regular fare, then your change fees etc would be refunded.

The reference is CIC*160/33 or ACP #671717. If you talk to an agent you may not get a correct answer.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...reavement.html

If it helps at all, this is the text I used in a letter to obtain the refund, which was quickly processed to my credit card. Note the full fare I actually paid was around $5500.

"As we did not have the required information (funeral home, death certificate etc.) at the time of booking we purchased a flexible Latitude fare from aircanada.com. Before doing this I spoke with a reservations agent who advised me that this was appropriate and that a refund would be offered for the difference between the fare paid and the relevant bereavement fare on this route. She told me the bereavement fare was $1433.93 and to reference ACP #671717. I hope that this is all in order and that a refund can be made to the credit card. I have provided the ticket and boarding passes."

I looked into AC's bereavement fares when my grandmother passed away a few years ago. She passed away just before Christmas, so flights normally were quite expensive. The discounted fare that AC offered me was quite reasonable. They will also hold the flight for you for I think 2-3 days if you need to confirm dates. Worth looking into that.