woodsey

Some of you may remember that my Grandfather died recently and me and my family flew home for the funeral..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..

Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..

Elvira

Glad to hear your news about the refund. I know that airlines don't publicise compassionate/bereavement fares, so it's always good to spread the word.

Incidentally, what sort of evidence did they require - certified copy of death certificate, or just a photocopy?

Also, I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that United no longer offer them - DAK? Is there a list/website somewhere which gives info on airlines that do offer them?

Eskimo

Just a scan of the death certificate and some proof of relationship to him (we sent a scan of her birth certificate - they have an unusual surname)

Pimpbot

Not often you hear good airline stories. Good for BA.

Bob

Nice one

LeedsGirl

Nice one you guys

Eskimo

LeedsGirl

That's exactly what I was thinking

Elvira

Where's mine?

GJB

I was back in the UK for a couple of weeks at the start of August. I flew British Airways from Denver to Heathrow. I had shopped around for a decent flight price, and it was actually cheaper to fly direct from Denver on BA than it was to fly from Kansas City to the East Coast (Boston, Chicago, Newark) and then onward from there on American Airlines/Northwest/United etc....

Didn't have any food on the way back way. The Gate Gourmet thing blew up on the Thursday and we were due to fly back 5 days later on the the Monday. We got our flight but there was no food and not much to drink. 10 hours, and I can't sleep on planes. I think I saw "Man Of The House" with Tommy Lee Jones 3 times in all.

Happy days.

jaytee

Here's the problem. When people die, the funeral is sometimes a few weeks later. That doesn't really leave you with enough notice to buy a ticket for a proper price, especially a direct flight which is more difficult to arrange if you don't live near a hub. 2 out of 3 connections at Newark are scrapped due to 1 hour or more of delay at takeoff and gate connecting. So, if you're flying to funeral and your connection is missed, you are now delayed 24 hours as they want to put you on a flight the next afternoon. Add to that a jump of 6 hours ahead in Britain and you could miss the funeral.

The best thing is to have your circumstances noted with the airline so when you get to the customer service desk they will bump you onto a full flight the next morning with any available airline even going to a different airport. Then, of course, your luggage never gets re-routed despite specific instructions at Newark. It could literally take you over half a week to get there and with your luggage arriving at a different airport at least a day later.

Airline tickets are priced to take big advantage of people who want urgent travel, so it's a good thing that they give people a break for funerals.

psb182

have used many airlines and non compare to BA.......Delta are not bad

Manc

The Asian carriers are a class above all.

Bob

yeah, but you pay for it though...and wouldn't want to fly Chinese Airways...

Manc

why not? Cathay Pacific are excellent.