Are bereavement fares really better than a ormal ticket?
The airline industry’s bereavement fares soon could become obsolete as low-cost carriers push airfares to historic lows in many U.S. markets, even for last-minute flights. To see just how competitive bereavement fares are, The Denver Post sampled fares between Denver and Chicago for last-minute travel. A sample bereavement fare on United was $418 round trip – lower than the airline’s standard lowest available fare of $552. On the same days for that route, however, discount carrier Frontier offered flights for just $250. “We advise families that bereavement fares exist, but we also add that these aren’t always the lowest-cost fares,” says John Horan, president of Colorado-based Horan & McConaty funeral services. Frontier, in fact, does not offer bereavement fares, having discontinued them in 2002. The airline offered them “back when last-minute fares were $800,” spokesman Joe Hodas says. “We just can’t offer discounts off an already discounted fare.” Still, those deeply discounted fares
