Jul 14 2010
A Few Tips For Emergency Travel: How to Get To Your Destination As Soon As Possible
You cannot plan ahead for some travel. Illness or a death in the family often come unexpectedly, and its a challenge to get travel arrangements together on short notice, particularly if getting to a loved ones bedside requires crossing long distances. Nonetheless, you can do some things to make those travel arrangements easier when the need does arise. From obtaining an emergency pasport to buying your ticket on a flight, you can make a plan that will bring you promptly to your loved one.
If your family lives too far away for you to drive to them, you might qualify for a special airfare price known as a bereavement or compassionate fare. This special purchase price for airline tickets is offered solely to persons traveling to a family funeral or to say goodbye to a dying loved one. These prices will be very close to the best bargain prices available, and will definitely cost you less than if you decided to fly someplace for business or pleasure at the eleventh hour. These discounts can be anywhere from 10% to 75%. Typically you will find that bereavement or compassionate fares will cost half the price of a regular airplane ticket.
It is not completely easy, though. You will be able to buy your discounted ticket right away, as long as you have the proper paperwork, when traveling with some airlines. For other airlines, you may have to pay full price initially and then submit the appropriate documents within three months upon your return. If you had to travel out of the country, it will be a little more challenging to qualify for the reduced bereavement rate. Ensuring that you traveled for a valid cause can be harder to prove, so in those cases you can only obtain a refund on your purchase price once you have returned from your trip and have the death certificate in hand. In addition, if you have had to travel out of the country by flying with more than one airline, you must request a bereavement fare from each one separately.
Since international travel requires a passport, you will need to have one in order to fly out of the country to meet your loved one. If your passport is damaged, missing or no longer valid, you may request a one day US passport renewal in order to make the trip.
The information you will need to provide in order to obtain your bereavement fare needs to be presented either in person or over the phone to the airline. The requirements varies by airline, but there are some major details that are usually always required. These details include the name of your loved one, your relationship, the name, address, and phone number of the hospital or funeral home, date of the service, and the name and phone number of the physician. If your airline only offers discounts after the trip, be sure to also have a copy of the death certificate. This information is simply used to verify your qualification for a bereavement fare.
You see, emergency new passports and one day passport renewals, combined with bereavement fares, are mechanisms you can set in motion when you must make an emergency trip abroad to take care of a family member who is about to die.
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