Comments on: Top Ten Secrets of Air Travel Insiders

By: Romie Bourne

Romie Bourne — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:30:52 +0000

WOW James - lighten up. Rick is trying to help us all and doing all the leg work that none of us have time to do. If you can do it better or have more “inside information” then maybe you should start your own website. And by the way, bereavement fares are alive and well. I took advantage recently when my grandmother died and the airline was amazing.

By: EMILY DEAN

EMILY DEAN — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:51:04 +0000

I WAS LOOKING TO BOOK A CHEAP FARE ON SKYBUS, BUT THEIR
BOOKING CALENDAR ENDED AT MAY 31,2007. WHY ARE DATES NOT AVAILABLE FOR A YEAR IN ADVANCE AS WITH MOST AIRLINES?

By: Otto Bear

Otto Bear — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:47:10 +0000

Last minute bereavement fares worked for us.
We called American as they were the only ones to listen to us. Showed up in Toronto after driving 2 hours. Brought all the information with us. Hospital, time of day he died, doctor’s phone number, time of death, anything to prove our case which helped greatly.
We flew out within an hour. What we paid essentially was 2 for 1. I don’t know how American did it but it is possible.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:05:53 +0000

Rick,
The link “RSS feed for comments on this post” doesn’t seem to work.

Please advise.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:03:27 +0000

I’ll be flying from Canada to Asia due to a relative who passed away.
Isn’t it cheaper to use travel agents than to go straight to the airline’s ticketing office?

Would an airline drop the price and make it cheaper than an agent/broker if they knew you were traveling for bereavement reasons?

By: Rick Seaney

Rick Seaney — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:36:38 +0000

Hi Audrey, #19

The watered down spirit of the long gone “Rule 240″ is in each airlines contract of carriage — which addresses issues with “at fault” delays and cancellations — as I said some contracts actually use the old “long gone” name as a title (I’ll never figure out why some number is better than a description, but so be it).

Each airline is different so you have to look at the section in the links each airline (posted at the bottom of the article)

By: Net

Net — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:21:54 +0000

Audrey, 240 really does not exist anymore. However, when people who pretend to “know how it works” bring up 240, most agents will just do whatever it takes to get rid of you simply because those people (you know, those who are so sure they know everything about everything and quote antiquated rules) out of their face. I suspect that Audrey’s experience had more to do with getting rid of her than the fact that it is still a rule.

By: Audrey

Audrey — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:00:27 +0000

I don’t think it’s true that rule 240 doesn’t exist anymore, at least on Northwest. I used it a couple of months ago and the agent knew what I was talking about and put me on another airline when my flight was canceled on Northwest. Not sure if it’s changed since then, but I know it did exist pretty recently. so not sure how accurate these tips are.

By: james

james — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:12:04 +0000

I’m not testy - I just don’t find these “insider” tips that compelling or profound. And even a novice traveler knows “fly cheap airlines”

But I do appreciate your excellent pun:

You are dead wrong on bereavement airfares

By: Rick Seaney

Rick Seaney — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:08:13 +0000

Definitely Brandon, contrary to popular belief there are humans at the other end of the line at airlines and they do listen from time to time and are willing to help if so empowered.