Need to find cheap airfare, family member ill

BunnyBunnyBSNRN, ASN, BSN · Dec 3, 2003

I am sorry for your family's pain right now.

I have been a travel agent for 5 years now, and the only advice I can suggest is to call the airlines directly and ask about regular and condolence fares.

Condolence fares are made just for this type of problem, but they are not cheap! They are fully refundable and fully changable with out fees or penalty. This is good in this situation b/c if your SIL finds he needs to stay longer than originally planned, he can make the changes needed as many times as needed for up to a year and not come out of pocket any more.

Other than that, I would suggest Travelocity.com or Yahoo!Travel.

Good luck!

Sara

sprtbikegrlsv65 · Dec 3, 2003

Priceline.com is the best! you can do last minute trips for fairly decent amount!

ThirdWorldGirl · Dec 3, 2003

I've used hotwire.com for most of my travels to D.C. and have been very pleased with the costs.

Agnus · Dec 4, 2003

Usually if you contact the airline directly they will help you out. I know that they all (or most all) offer a berivement fare. But you must tell them it is for berivement.

In your case it sounds as important if not more than berivement.

If you don't go quickly tell them they will be selling you a berivement ticket anyway because you did not get there in time due to their excessive regual rates.

Good luck and God speed

P. S.

As far as Fedex or UPS call them directly IF they use your airport it might be a possibility?? However, they do not fly into every major airport. Check your airport to see if these currier service plane come in there and then call them directly.

AimersTriageRN · Dec 4, 2003

In my experience, cheaptickets.com has been very good. Also, I recently flew to Nashville from AZ on Southwest and got an excellent fare on their website.

Aimee

bagladyrn, RN · Dec 4, 2003

Southwest generally has some of the cheapest fares, and it's the same for each way whether you buy one way or roundtrip. They do not come up on the sites like cheaptickets or travelocity, so you have to go directly to their site.

Paige Turner RN · Dec 4, 2003

Thank you for all of your advice and well wishes. Will be online using all your good tips thanks again.

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2003

Hey, Paige -- Last year I used a site called (something like) lastminutetravel.com for a quick trip to FL. They were the most economical for my particulars.

Not sure if the above is the correct name, but it's probably close enough to locate with a quick search.

Geeg · Dec 5, 2003

Hotwire is good, but you must be very flexible with flight times.

unbridled · Dec 5, 2003

My brother is a UPS pilot and they no longer carry passengers. They did for 2 or 3 years in the late 90s (maybe into the 2000s), but then decided to get out of the passenger business.

You will probably get better fares into Nashville since Southwest flies in there; but it never hurts to check Memphis or Knoxville.