WestJet Bereavement Fares: Who Qualifies and How to Book

What is covered, and what is not

• The airline's own operated flights. Bereavement rates are reportedly not available on partner airlines or on vacation-package bookings.
• Specific fare families. Sources disagree on exactly which — some say the two entry-level fare types, others include a premium fare. Ask when you call.
• A travel window applies, reported variously as 14 or 30 days from booking for outbound and return. Confirm the current figure, because it determines whether a delayed return still qualifies.
• Change fees are reportedly waived, which on a trip with a moving date is the practical benefit.

The airline says it may not be the least expensive option

This is worth repeating because it comes from the airline rather than from us: its own material notes that the bereavement fare may not be the least expensive option available at the time of booking.

That is honest and it is also typical of these fares generally — they are built from an unrestricted fare, so on a route with reasonable availability an ordinary ticket is sometimes less. Ask for both quotes and take whichever actually serves you. The flexibility and the breadth of eligibility may still make it the right choice even when the number is not lower.

What to have in front of you

• The full name of the person who has died, as it appears on official documents.
• Your relationship to them, or your role if you are the executor or legal guardian.
• A death certificate, or a physician's letter where the travel is for an imminent death.
• The name and phone number of the funeral home, hospital or hospice.
• Your rewards number if you have one.

Cross-border travel

• Check the passport first. A passport is required between Canada and the US, and many other countries want six months' validity beyond arrival.
• Check entry requirements by nationality, not by residence. A family can hold several passports and face several requirements.
• Sort children's documents early, including consent letters where only one parent travels.
• Remember the partner exclusion. If the itinerary needs a partner airline for part of the journey, the bereavement rate reportedly will not cover it.

The first hour: a short list

1. Find the passport if the trip crosses a border, and check the expiry.
2. Check whether you qualify — including as an executor or guardian, which people overlook.
3. Enrol in the rewards programme if you are not a member.
4. Call rather than booking online, and take a call-back if offered.
5. Ask for both quotes, bereavement and ordinary.
6. If you have already travelled, ask about the retroactive refund.

What families most often get wrong

• Ruling themselves out on eligibility. The definition reaches to executors and legal guardians, and people with no blood relationship assume they do not qualify.
• Not asking after travelling. The retroactive refund is rare among airlines and genuinely worth pursuing if you have already flown.
• Trying to book online. It is phone-only, so the call has to be built into the plan.
• Building an itinerary around a partner airline, which the bereavement rate reportedly does not cover.
• Assuming the bereavement fare is the lower number. The airline's own material says it may not be.
• Booking a vacation package, which is outside the programme.

Several family members travelling at once

• Ask about everyone in one conversation if more than one qualifies — one call rather than four, and it keeps the family on consistent terms.
• Check whether each person qualifies separately. One may be a sibling, another the executor, and both routes may apply.
• Book separately rather than as one record if people are deciding at different times.
• Spread the arrivals rather than forcing everyone onto the same day.
• Agree who is collecting whom, particularly for late arrivals at smaller airports.

If you have already travelled

This deserves repeating because it is almost unique to this airline. If you flew recently for a funeral and paid an ordinary fare without knowing the bereavement fare existed, a refund may still be available — credited to a rewards account, on bookings made directly.

Have the documentation ready, know the booking reference, and ask. On virtually every other carrier that conversation would be pointless. Here it is worth having.

How Fond Travels can help

• We check whether you qualify against a definition that reaches further than anywhere else, including executors and legal guardians.
• We make the call, since this cannot be booked online and wait times can be long.
• We get both quotes, because the airline itself says the bereavement fare may not be the least expensive.
• We check the partner and package exclusions before the itinerary is built around a rate that will not apply.
• We raise the retroactive refund if you have already flown, which on this airline is a genuine possibility.
• We answer at any hour. These calls do not happen at convenient times.

If you need to travel after a death in the family, call +1 (323) 800 6001. A travel expert answers any hour.