Funerals

Currently, a number of Australian offer a published rate for families travelling out of state for a family funeral. Each has its own policies for documenting the validity of the funeral, ranging from a fax from the Funeral Director, to simply a call made to the Funeral Director to verify.

However, many and most funeral rates are far higher in cost than the most discounted airfares. The reasoning is that a funeral tariff permits the passenger to return, if required, the following day, etc. Whereas the most discounted fare may require either a minimum stay or at least staying over a Saturday night. The same applies to the Australian Rail.

In India, at present, there are no known funeral concession airfares for intrastate air travel. However, Indian Rail offer a funeral family rate for First Class rail travel. It has numerous restrictions and qualifiers, such as certified Death Certificate. There is currently no funeral tariff for 2nd or 3rd class travel, presumably because of the difficulty for some caste groups in even being able to document a death and at times, even a birth!

In the americas, the International carriers, DL, UA, US, AA etc do have funeral tariffs. However, the restrictions and policies vary drastically. One carrier has been known to be quite relaxed in forcing the passenger to validate the funeral before the flight, but reminding the passenger that they must present 'valid' proof (an often elusive term) that your bona fides stack up. When arriving at the check-in counter, the passenger has been asked for the 1. Death Certificate, 2. The Letter from The Funeral Director, and 3. Proof that they're related to the deceased! When the passenger cannot present the proof to the carrier's heretofore 'advised' requirements, the passenger is offered the choice to purchase a ticket at the THEN prevailing tariff. This means the passenger no longer has access to the 14 day advance purchase fares, the stay over Saturday night fares, or other restrictive fares. Their only option is to purchase, subject to availability, a point-to-point published fare which can run into the thousands! It can be devastating for the passenger and it can be yet another notch in the long list of 'We told you so...oh and by the way, have a niiice day!) scenarios.

Historically, the already reduced fares of some airlines, such as Southwest, or similar, do not traditionally publish such fares, stating that their fares are already far lower and less restrictive than other airlines.

If your travel needs to be on one of the 'biggie' carriers in Australia or the americas, considering speaking to a supervisor at the reservation centre, explaining your situation and explaining that you already have all of the documentation they should ask for (make certain you do!). If it's a good day, you sound contrite or mournful enough, you may find that the supervisor has authority to grant you one of the discount advance-purchase fares, without having to book far in advance. However, in the same thought, they may still require that you honour the other conditions of the fare, such as staying over a Saturday night.

Finally, if you are a member of their Frequent Flier scheme...and you actually have a Substantial record of flights with them...not the occasional one or two a year, but instead the amount to yield a platinum or black card, then there are other 'considerations' the carriers may take towards assisting one of their WKRP's (well known respected passengers). VIP's are what every passenger thinks they are and what they claim as a right due them. The airlines consider those who fly as, or demand to be, or have been presented as VIP's, receive that very specific service the passenger demands- Vain, Insolent, Plebs!

The tradition of open casket funerals began when the first Europeans to settle in North America brought with them the tradition of laying the body out inside the home before it was buried. It was during this time that neighbours could visit the home of the bereaved and take a final look at the deceased.This act of viewing the dead soon became part of what modern funerals call the "wake".

Because there was no modern funeral home, cabinet and furniture makers were commissioned to "undertake" the task of building the caskets for the deceased, which would require them to go to the home and take measurements of the body before building the caskets in their shops.

Eventually, as the modern funeral home began to take form after the Civil War, funeral homes continued to use the tradition of the "wake", which was once a three day/night vigil to ensure the deceased was in dead as loved ones "watched" over the body.

If you are cremated it is a matter of choice whether you have a gravestone. If your ashes are buried in a small plot, you may have a gravestone. Others have a small plaque placed in a wall, behind which the ashes may be placed. Others have their ashes scattered at sea, and so on, in which case there would be no gravestone or the equivalent.