My mother has been in hospital and I've literally just been told by sister that my mother is dying. My mother is aksing to see me ... and I have to get back to the UK quickly ... funds are short and I need to know what "compassoin flights" are ... please, can anyone advise me??? I haven't seen my mother for almost two years and I must get back ...

i'm sorry to hear that your mum is so sick. my thoughts are with you.

it is my understanding that you have to first pay full price for the ticket and then apply to the airline for a refund. my cousin did this from Europe to attend a family members funeral and had to supply a copy of the death certificate with the application.

best to do would be to contact the airline that you would be flying as i'm sure they all have slightly different policies.

take care

k

Here's a discussion about bereavemnet fares:

http://consumerist.com/consumer/consumeris...ares-230233.php

although I think they're for after the person has passed on, unfortunately.

I don;t know where you're flying from, but Feb-March is one of the least expensive time periods for air travel to the UK.

Have you tried looking here?

http://www.kayak.com/


Best to you.

I am sorry you are going through a difficult personal time. BA do not offer bereavement/compassionate fares In fact I am at a loss to think of any major carries that still do.

In reality these fares often did not any significant advantage or savings over other fare classes that were available.

If you can give us some more specific details re Route and dates etc I can look what availability there is on different fare codes for those dates. Most airlines will be helpful re ticket changes in these circumstances without charging change fees.

Take a look a cheapflights.com.

Airlines used to offer bereavement fares but with the general drop in air fares a lot of airlines no longer do this. This fare was approximately 50% discount off the full fare, but discount sellers will almost always beat that price these days. Another thing is that airlines have realized that there is no longer any such thing as brand loyalty and the majority of airline tickets are sold on price, therefore there they are reluctant to maintain the considerations they showed customers in the past.

Go to the USA forum at www.britishexpats.com

I am sure there was a thread a month or so ago. I believe the US Airlines still do, it was all in the thread.

A good travel agent should also be able to help.

From which airport in the US to which airport in the UK?

Yeah, BA doesn't offer any compassionate flights nor can you ask them to bump someone off a flight for you if they are overbooked and you need to be somewhere.

I asked about this last year. The man on the telephone informed me that they used to until a couple of years ago. But, people were taking the piss out of the system, so they stopped offering it.

I hope you manage to get something sorted.

Thanks for your replies ...

Just to let you know that I came over on a Bereavement flight with BA - I'll let you know the price etc when I return to the US on Thursday.

My mother died one minute before I walked into the hospital door ... things have been very traumatic.

oh no! I'm so sorry

*hugs*

I am so terribly sad for your loss.

You were very lucky with BA, they refused me when I needed to get over to see my Mum before she died last year.

I'm very sorry to hear about your mother.

So sorry to hear the sad news. All the best to you and your family.

So sorry to read of your loss Karenina

Oh.....that's sad.

I hope being there with your family has helped.

Wow, unbelievably sad. Makes me think too...