Whereas some airlines maintain “bereavement” or “compassion” fares for last-minute emergencies because of the death of a loved one, Southwest has publicly stated that they do not offer such discounts or emergency-fare programs.
Instead, it promotes low fare programs in combination with a fare structure that is unbiased and treats all passengers similarly, irrespective of their circumstances.
Why is Southwest Different When It Comes to Bereavement Fares?
As per the latest commentary, Southwest Airlines decided to eliminate bereavement fares for pure commercial reasons: having a separate fare structure for emergencies or losses would then require raising their regular fares across the board to compensate. By having a single fare model that is the same for everyone, they hold that “the best overall travel value in the industry” can be offered.
In essence, instead of only granting a special fare in times of crisis, Southwest’s design is about providing all customers with inexpensive fares; therefore, dedicated grieving fares are unnecessary.
Flexible Tickets, Simple Change Policies
Although bereavement fares are not available, Southwest’s fare structure still provides some flexibility that can be effective in an urgent travel situation.
There are no or little expenses if tickets are changed or canceled for anyone holding tickets in categories other than the lowest basic fare.
Such flexibility extends until 10 minutes before the scheduled departure (according to fare type) allowing for sudden changes to be taken care of.
A traveler with frequent-flyer points (or rewarded tickets) has additional options particularly if prices for cash pay are exorbitant at the last minute.
While sw does not announce these options as Southwest airlines bereavement fares; its flexibilities provide several similar reliefs for urgent travel by way of immediate booking and penalized changes or cancellations.
Mapping the Southwest Idea Against Other Airlines
To understand better Southwestern policy, it can be helpful to compare those who do extend bereavement fares:
Historically, other airlines have extinguished bereavement fares altogether, just like Southwest.
Your Mileage May Vary.
As a result, travelers in need of last-minute emergency travel often find themselves having to choose either to pay full fare (as is the case with Southwest) or contact airlines that reject bereavement fare bookings to see if a seat offered on such a fare is available at all — and perhaps at a better price.
Interestingly, quite a few now warn that bereavement fares are often hardly less expensive because last-minute commercial fare and discounts could undercut them.
What To Do If You Need To Travel Suddenly
If you have a situation that warrants urgent travel for a funeral or family emergency and you are considering boarding Southwest, here are some viable tips:
As the ticket value fluctuates, the earlier you book, ordinarily, the cheaper it becomes; so sometimes a regular fare may turn out to be cheaper than a compassion fare of another airline.
Buy tickets for flexible fare prices instead of the basic fare. Flexible fares grant you the opportunity to cancel or re-book should there be a modification in your travel plans.
Explore if you have any redemption points or frequent flyer miles since redeeming those credits would cost you less than cash for last-minute fares.
Call an alternative airline, especially those that still provide ‘bereavement fares,’ to check on viable options should time and documentation allow.
If you decide to book your tickets with another airline under compassion fares, make note of its documentation requirements: some of them require death certificates or letters from hospitals to validate fare.
Conclusion
The reality of bereavement should have been one thing common to the working of airlines, but the idea of a bereavement fare has been diminishing; hence an airline offering it is more a rare sight. Because of the movement in the market, which makes frequent price fluctuations mean that usually, the last-minute fares would do pretty high or sometimes even lower than compassion fare; this makes for a very weak business case for a separate subsidized emergency fare.
Against that backdrop, Southwest’s maintenance of fares at low rates throughout the year for all travelers, along with easy mandate change/cancellation policies, seems pretty reasonable. No, there are no guarantees for discounting in hard times; but also no extra hurdles.
In case of emergency travel, it still stands as an option; especially so, considering their flexibility and low fares. But again, if getting a compassionate discount for bereavement is on top, then you might need to check out other airlines that still extend such fares, knowing full well that they would not be cheaper than traditional last-minute tickets.
