How do bereavement flights work, and how do you book one?

A short note before you start

This guide is general information for the United States, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Bereavement flight policies are set by each airline, not any federal or state agency, and change without much notice. Confirm the current rule on the airline's site or by phone before you book.

What is a bereavement flight?

A bereavement flight is any trip booked because of the death or imminent death of a close family member, usually on short notice. Most people searching the term hope a "bereavement fare", sometimes called a compassion fare, will make that last-minute ticket cheaper. The discount itself has shrunk over the years; today the bigger value is usually the waived change and ticketing penalties, plus the ability to book a same-day or next-day seat that would otherwise cost full walk-up price¹⁰. A bereavement flight is not the same as an employer's bereavement leave policy, and it is not an automatic refund on a ticket you already own, though some airlines handle both requests on the same call.

Which airlines offer bereavement flights?

The list of carriers with a real, published bereavement fare has shrunk. These are confirmed from each airline's own current policy page.

Policies change often, so if the trip is time-sensitive, call the airline and ask what it currently offers rather than relying on any list, including this one.

How to book an Air Canada bereavement flight

Air Canada's process has more steps than most US carriers.

1. Call Air Canada; the fare cannot be booked online. Have the family member's name, your relationship, and the hospital, residence, attending physician or funeral home details ready¹.
2. Book travel that starts within 10 days of the call and does not extend past 60 days out; Air Canada does not process requests after travel has already been completed¹.
3. Choose an Economy Standard, Flex, Comfort or Latitude fare. Economy Basic is excluded for travel within North America, but included for bereavement travel outside North America¹.
4. Within 7 days of returning, email [email protected] with your booking reference and one piece of proof attached: a death certificate copy, a funeral director's or coroner's statement, a provincial death registration, or a treating physician's letter on letterhead¹.
5. Send the documentation on time. Air Canada's policy states that missing the deadline can mean paying the price difference up to the regular fare¹.

Air Canada's definition of immediate family is broad: spouse (including common-law, same-sex and ex-spouse), parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, plus many step- and in-law relationships¹.

How to book a bereavement flight on Delta or another US airline

The process is similar across the US carriers that still offer one, though the timing window differs.

1. Join the airline's loyalty program if you have not already. Delta requires SkyMiles membership and Alaska requires Mileage Plan membership; both can be joined free on the call².
2. Call the reservations line (Delta also accepts an app message); none of these fares book online².
3. Give the family member's name, your relationship, and contact information for a funeral home, hospital or hospice.
4. Book inside the timing window: Delta and Alaska require travel to begin within 7 days of the death or imminent death, while WestJet requires the round trip to finish within 30 days of booking².
5. Ask the agent to compare the bereavement fare with the lowest published fare on the same flight, since it is not guaranteed to be the cheapest ticket on the route².

A child flying on a Delta bereavement fare gets the adult fare or the child's fare, whichever is lower².

How much does a bereavement flight cost?

There is no fixed, government-set bereavement discount on any airline. Each carrier sets its own, and it moves with the route, the date and how far out you book.

• Before discontinuing its program in 2014, United described its former discount as 5 percent off the lowest available rate when the ticket was issued¹⁰.
• Current reporting puts typical bereavement fare savings around 5 to 25 percent off the lowest available fare, and both Delta's and Air Canada's own policies decline to promise a fixed percentage¹⁰.
• Price a normal fare, a basic fare and a miles redemption before you call for a bereavement fare, then compare the total cost of each¹⁰.

Does this vary by state?

No. Unlike probate deadlines, a bereavement flight discount is not set by state or federal law. Each airline writes its own policy, which is why the family member list, booking window and required documents differ by carrier in the table above. The one rule that applies everywhere, on every airline and every fare, is the federal 24-hour hold or cancel rule below.

The 24-hour rule: a right that applies regardless of bereavement status

Separate from any bereavement policy, a federal rule gives every ticket buyer a short window to change their mind. For a ticket bought 7 or more days before departure, an airline must let you cancel for a full refund within 24 hours with no penalty, or hold the reservation at the quoted price for 24 hours before you pay⁹. This can help in a family emergency: book right away to lock in a price, then cancel free the next day if the funeral date moves.

Step-by-step checklist

• Confirm your relationship fits that airline's own definition of immediate family

• Check whether your airline currently publishes a bereavement fare, using the table above

• Call the reservations line; none of these fares can be booked online

• Have the funeral home's, hospital's or hospice's name, address and phone number ready

• Ask the agent to compare the bereavement fare against the lowest published fare

• Send any required documentation by the deadline, such as Air Canada's 7-day-after-return email window

• Keep a copy of your confirmation and any documents sent, in case of a dispute

What to record in a family guide

The details that make a bereavement flight call faster during a hard week are worth keeping in one place, alongside the wider tasks in a funeral planning checklist or a what to do when someone dies list. This is the kind of information a family guide, such as your guide, keeps together.

• Names, phone numbers and airline loyalty account numbers for close family members who might need to travel quickly
• The airline each family member flies most, and whether it currently offers a bereavement fare
• A note that airlines usually ask for documentation after booking, not before
• Contact information for the family's preferred funeral home, since several airlines ask for it to verify the request
• A reminder that the federal 24-hour cancellation rule applies to any ticket bought 7 or more days ahead, on any airline

Common mistakes

• Assuming every airline has a bereavement fare. American and Southwest do not, and United ended its program in 2014⁶.
• Assuming the bereavement fare is automatically the cheapest ticket, when a separate published fare may be lower².
• Trying to book online, when every carrier above requires a phone call or an agent message.
• Missing a documentation deadline, such as Air Canada's 7-day-after-return email window, which can reverse the discount¹.
• Forgetting to ask whether the fare covers a traveling companion, not only the immediate family member.
• Not asking about baggage and seat fees, which still apply on top of a bereavement fare².

When to get professional help

A phone call to the airline is enough for most bereavement flight requests. Bring in a travel agent or the airline's customer relations department if a request is denied and the trip is still time-sensitive, if the itinerary spans multiple carriers, or if a refund was wrongly denied. The US Department of Transportation accepts complaints for refund disputes that may violate federal rules. If the flight is for the funeral itself, the executor checklist covers the wider list of first-48-hours tasks.