Bereavement flight policy

flyer

I'm sure someone can help me out here.

Sadly, my 25 year old nephew has died tragically in Australia. I desperately want to go over for his funeral, but cannot afford the £1000+ prices coming up. I have heard about bereavement flights, but don't know anything about them. I have just called Emirates but ended up in some call centre abroad where the member of staff didn't even understand what I was saying to her.

Any help would be appreciated.

richardw

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Traditional airlines such as BA/Qantas offer compassionate fares, the main benefit with them is the flexibility that they offer compared with open market fares at similar prices. The best thing to do is call the airlines, https://www.saynoto0870.com may have cheaper numbers to call.

The airlines may want some form of evidence, ie death certificate, before authorising the booking. Some may also only include close family members.

Where in the UK are you?

Where in Australia would the funeral be?

flyer

I'm in Coventry, funeral in Brisbane. Emirates flights coming up at £1300 due to short notice.

Checked Qantas website and they only do it within Australia. I will explore others.

Thanks.

richardw

Perhaps call http://www.trailfinders.com/travel-centre/bhx they might have more information on their systems regarding flights.

This report suggests emirates don't do compassionate fares http://www.smh.com.au/travel/traveller-tips/fairs-fare-how-compassionate-are-our-airlines-20100120-ml3b.html

It is best to call people and find out over the phone, this isn't really a web thing.

Have you got any unspent tesco vouchers?

Moonchild

Hi, of course i'm very sorry to hear about your loss.

However Bereavement fares are rarely cheaper than fares you can get on the market, but they tend to have more flexibility. As a result, airlines have moved away from offering them.

I would find you may be better off using the time working on cheapest flights. I would forego Birmingham and focus on looking at flights from London as you have many, many more airlines (and you won't be offered the chance to connect via Heathrow which you would do in Manchester).

Also, have a quick look at Air Asia. They finish UK flights in March, so there is limited demand, and some of their flight prices at short notice can be excellent. If this turns out to be the case, and you are struggling to work them out, just post and many people can help. They fly to Coolongatta (sp?) - the Gold Coast, very close to Brisbane via Kuala Lumpur from London Gatwick.

flyer

My family have flown with Air Asia before into Coolangatta. They are good, but still coming out at over £1300.

Looking at London options now. Thanks.

richardw

Appears http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_GB/homepage have £958 from Heathrow to Brisbane going tomorrow.

flyer

Thanks Richard but that's impossibly short notice for visas etc. Note how the prices shoot up at the weekend!

richardw

I thought an ETA was pretty quick, but yes, you need to double check the Visa/ETA situation and timescale and allow for this.

flyer

richardw wrote: »

i thought an ETA was pretty quick, but yes, you need to double check the Visa/ETA situation and timescale and allow for this.

It is instant but I'm at work and couldn't do it until tonight. That's cutting it a bit fine!

barbaraemmerson

another vote for trying to fly via either KL or Singapore - try Air Asia, Malaysian Airlines (MAS) or Royal Brunei Airlines(RBA). Breaking the journey at KL and getting an onward flight may come up much cheaper. Lived in Brunei for many years and RBA often had cheap deals - or try KLM via Singapore