The price of airline compassion

Marjorie Runco recently wrote in to report her amazement at how much Continental Airlines had charged her for a flight to attend her sister's funeral in Austin, Texas. Although Continental offers a bereavement fare discount that cut the cost of a round trip flight by 50 percent, it bases that reduction on its regular economy-class rate. That price was normally $1,800, but was temporarily on sale, for $1,300, which meant with taxes, her ticket cost her $689.

As the airlines have masked the sticker price of their nonrestricted fares with a host of advertised discounts, online specials and last-minute e-savers, regular round-trip ticket prices can be staggering, which is why so few travelers these days pay full fare.

The case of sticker shock that Marjorie suffered is a common reaction among passengers forced to make sympathy visits on short notice, without the options of advance reservations and a Saturday night stay or the time or frame of mind to do much comparison shopping. Rather than showing compassion, she asks, are airlines taking advantage of bereaved travelers who have little choice but to pay these stiff fees?

With the exception of the one-price, generally low-cost airlines such as Southwest, most major carriers offer a category of special bereavement fares for travelers who must fly on short notice to attend the funeral of an immediate relative. US Airways also offers compassion fares for those who must attend to the medical emergencies of a relative.

Like Continental, TWA, Delta, American and United offer bereavement fares based on a 50 percent discount off their regular round trip economy fares. Northwest increases that discount to 70 percent.

Rather than a straight discount, US Airways quotes its bereavement and compassion fares on a flight-by-flight basis.

Calling to get a price for a bereavement fare for a flight this weekend from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, I was quoted a round trip rate of $775 and was advised that represented a big discount over the normal round-trip, economy-class fare.

Compared with some of the tempting loss-leader fares that bring the cost of a transcontinental fare down well under $300, $775 doesn't seem to be all that compassionate. But then I checked on USAirways.com for the regular round-trip coach-class fare for a last-minute booking and realized what a bargain that $775 actually represents.

Care to guess the US Airways walk-up round-rate for one seat on two nonstop flights on a trip that includes a Saturday night stay and a return flight on a red eye (with no meal service)?

Would you believe $1,931, not including taxes, fees and airport charges?

It's enough to cause someone to have a heart attack.

Of course, the almost 60 percent bereavement fare discount makes US Airways look very compassionate.

And it also makes bereavement fares relatively convenient to use. Qualifying passengers include all immediate family members of the deceased, defined as a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. Cousins and close friends, however, need not apply, which means they'll have to pay full fare if they want to pay their respects. This fare dilemma gets even more acute if more than one family member makes the trip, as is often the case.

The fully refundable tickets can be booked at any time on a straight space-available basis, with no blackout dates. Because it's sometimes hard to tell in advance how long it will be necessary to stay, tickets may also be issued with an open return.

As far as required documentation, a passenger must be able to provide the name of the deceased, relationship, along with the name, address and phone number of the funeral home. In the case of compassion fares, the passenger must provide the name and phone number of the patient's hospital and name of the attending physician. In general, surgery or illnesses that are not life-threatening don't qualify.

Even if you didn't realize you qualified for a bereavement fare and wound up paying full fare for the trip, you can file for a refund after you get home.

You can buy a lot of compassion for $775.

Of course, compared to someone who was able to buy that ticket two weeks in advance and paid only $603, $775 doesn't seem quite so good. How about a passenger who is able to take advantage of a last-minute e-saver fare to San Francisco, making a reservation on the Wednesday before departure, flying on the same planes, a Saturday evening departure and a red-eye return, for a round-trip fare of $269, as has been the case on frequent occasions?

When two passengers sitting in adjacent seats can pay more than $500 difference in fares, one of them is sure to be in mourning, not to mention those nonrelatives forced to pay $1,931.

If the airlines really want to show compassion, why don't they permit qualifying passengers to fly in any available seats at the lowest published fare, without advance booking restrictions instead of forcing them to pay through the nose?

The answer, of course, is that the airlines charge those fares because they can. Passengers, especially Pittsburgh-based passengers, have few other options other than Vanguard, which has flights to eight other markets. There are other major airlines than US Airways, but their bereavement fares are just as expensive. If you have frequent-flier mileage, you might try to use that for a free flight, although that's often difficult to do on short notice. It's also wise to ask about other fare options, such as senior coupons, which may be less expensive.

You can drive to another airport and try to get a reservation on a carrier like Southwest.

You can drive, take a train, or catch a bus, but all three become less possible the farther the trip.

Or you can swallow your grief, pay the fare, and be glad that you don't have to cough up three times as much for the flight.

Seen in this light, Marjorie, it's easy to mistake compassion fares for crocodile tears.