My brother recently had a traumatic brain injury after a fall. After a week of suffering, it was determined he was brain dead and the decision was made to take him off of life support.

I was faced with the task of buying a ticket out to the midwest. I immediately called United for assistance with bereavement fares. They supposedly provided a discount over the cost of the ticket. The discount was only 5%. When I called the agent, he told me that the normal fare was $2000.00. This was to fly from Vermont to Kansas City. With the bereavement fare it would only be $1900.00.

They also needed considerable information from me in order to save the 5% fare. I needed to provide the name of the hospital, the doctor who attended my brother, the hospital address, phone number, name of the funeral home, and the funeral home’s phone number. At that time, the funeral home information was not even available.

I did the necessary investigating and after several hours I had determined all the necessary information. The price of the ticket was still bothering me but I was also thinking I simply had to get out there for his funeral.

I did the one thing they probably didn’t want me to do. In checking on United’s own web site, I found I could fly to Kansas City for $1,163.20. Their claim of a 5% savings proved to be hardly that. I purchased the ticket online.

This still doesn’t sit well with me and I feel angry at United for their price gouging and attempts to take advantage of me in a time of desperation and emotional pain. It also makes me think twice about using this airline in the future.

Related articles

• Airline reneges after promising bereavement fare (sfgate.com)
• Getting a bereavement discount fare from airlines (seattletimes.nwsource.com)