Can anyone suggest the cheapest way to get to a funeral in Oz at short notice?

abigailsrevenge

My brother in Canberra has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and has been given only a few months to live. He visited the UK a few weeks ago to say our family goodbyes.

My other brother and I would like to travel to Oz to attend his funeral but the flight costs are horrendous. When my brother and his wife came over here they paid Au$9000 - yep, nine thousand - each because it was such short notice.

Obviously, we cannot afford such a price! I have asked Qantas about bereavement fares but they are internal only.

Any suggestions, anyone? It's very difficult to search sites on the net to find if it's cheaper to have lots of stopovers etc, as I don't know where to start!

NiftyDigits

Try Kayak. Max price will be around £1000 each, though a fair bit less is certainly possible.

Voyager2002

Lots of airlines fly to Australia and offer bereavement fares, but you need to speak to them directly rather than look on-line. I think I would begin by calling BA, but of course there are many more. Bear in mind that a death certificate is required to book these fares, so at this stage all you can do is ask about general policies. Since you don't know the exact date of travel you cannot be quoted exact fares.

An alternative solution might be to "attend" the funeral by means of Skype or some kind of web-cast, and plan to attend a service of remembrance a year later.

alanrowell

Bereavement fares aren't cheap fares - they are flexible fares that allow you to change the return date