Are Bereavement Fares Still Available?

Yes, but the landscape looks meaningfully different than it did a decade or two ago. If you’re wondering whether this is even still a real option, here’s the honest picture, including why some major airlines dropped the practice.

The Short Answer: Yes, at a Shrinking List of Airlines

As of 2026, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air Canada, WestJet, and Lufthansa still maintain formal bereavement fare programs. That’s a smaller list than existed in years past, which is exactly why this question comes up so often — plenty of travelers remember bereavement fares being a more universal option.

Why American and United Dropped Their Programs

American Airlines and United Airlines eliminated their formal bereavement fare programs around 2014–2015. The general industry reasoning at the time centered on a shift toward dynamic pricing models, where fares fluctuate constantly based on demand — airlines increasingly argued that a fixed percentage discount off a “full fare” made less sense in a pricing environment where the full fare itself was a moving target, and that flexible last-minute fares (sales, flexible date searches) could sometimes already beat what a bereavement discount would offer.

Why Southwest Never Had One in the First Place

Southwest’s business model has always leaned on simpler, more uniform pricing and highly flexible change and cancellation policies across all its fares, rather than a separate bereavement category. In practice, Southwest’s standard no-fee change policy and Low Fare Calendar have functioned as a substitute of sorts, even without a formal bereavement program ever existing.

Why Some Airlines Have Kept Their Programs

The airlines still offering bereavement fares in 2026 tend to frame them as a customer service and goodwill gesture rather than a significant revenue consideration — the discount is modest, and the real value for many travelers is the added flexibility (waived fees, easier changes) rather than the price cut itself. For airlines like Delta, keeping the program intact costs relatively little while providing meaningful goodwill during a customer’s difficult moment.

Is There a Risk These Remaining Programs Will Also Disappear?

There’s no way to predict this with certainty, but the trend over the past decade has been toward fewer formal programs rather than more, driven largely by the same dynamic pricing logic that led American and United to drop theirs. It’s reasonable to check an airline’s current policy directly before assuming a program you remember from years past is still intact — bereavement fare availability has genuinely changed over time.

What to Do If Your Airline No Longer Offers One

If you’re flying American, United, or another carrier without a formal program, calling and explaining your situation is still worthwhile. Airlines frequently retain informal discretion to waive change fees or offer some flexibility even without a named bereavement program — it’s just no longer a guaranteed, formally advertised policy.

Does the Industry Trend Affect International Airlines Differently?

Not uniformly — Air Canada, WestJet, and Lufthansa still maintain formal programs, suggesting this isn’t a universal shift across all major carriers, just a divergence in how individual airlines have chosen to weigh the customer goodwill value against the philosophical shift toward dynamic, less-discounted pricing structures.

A Quick Snapshot: Then vs. Now

Bottom Line

Bereavement fares are still available in 2026, but only through a specific subset of airlines — Delta, Alaska, Hawaiian, Air Canada, WestJet, and Lufthansa — following a broader industry trend that saw American and United eliminate their programs around 2014–2015 amid a shift toward dynamic pricing. If you’re flying an airline without a formal program, it’s still worth calling to ask about flexibility, even without a guaranteed discount attached.