Bereavement Fares Fall Victim to Airline Industry Woes

Among the casualties of the aviation industry’s financial woes are low-cost bereavement fares.

The airlines temporarily eliminated bereavement fares last summer, when they briefly flirted with a simplified, everyday-low-price fare structure. Now bereavement fares are back, but the discounts for people traveling to attend funerals are in most cases insignificant.

We called the major airlines, asking for bereavement fares from Los Angeles to New York. United and American quoted us identical fares of $1,086, a discount of 16% off the regular round-trip fare of $1,300. Continental quoted us a round-trip fare of $990; better, but not by much.

During our survey, a United service agent apologized for her employer’s fares--”they’re outrageous,” she said--and advised us to call Delta. Delta came up with a round-trip fare of $590, half-off the unrestricted coach fare, the best deal we found. Before last summer’s fare upheaval, discounts of 50% were routine.

To qualify for the fares, the airlines require you to present some sort of proof at the airport: a letter from the funeral home identifying you as a relative, a copy of the obituary mentioning your name or a copy of the death certificate.

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Computer error in your favor, sort of: A computer glitch has resulted in overcharges for up to 325,000 GTE Corp. customers in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, the company said this week.

But when GTE straightens the problem out, these phone customers will come out ahead.

That’s because GTE has promised to refund the overcharges at 7% interest, better than what customers can earn nowadays on certificates of deposit (not to mention GTE’s own preferred stock).

GTE said billing problems arose in January when technicians updating the company’s billing software accidentally erased the portion that recognizes zone calls. Consequently, customers making zone calls were billed at the higher toll-call rates on their bills for January. The company has repaired the software.

There’s a big difference between rates charged for zone calls (those within 12 miles of your home) and toll rates (local calls beyond 12 miles). For a five-minute telephone call, toll rates are nearly three times higher.

GTE said it hasn’t yet determined exactly how many customers were overcharged. Spokesman Dan Smith said the company is developing a software program to find the mistakes; the errors won’t be corrected until April or May.

No estimate on the amount of the overcharges is available, but it could easily run into the thousands of dollars. Times reader Jeanette Walsh of Azusa, who alerted us to the problem, told us she was overcharged by $6.21.

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Proposed 900 number rules: The Federal Trade Commission is proposing rules to further protect consumers who dial 900 numbers or other pay-per-call services from being billed for unwanted charges.

If adopted, the proposal would:

* Require companies that use 900 numbers in selling products or services to state the total cost of the call in their advertising.

* Require companies that advertise on television to display the charge for a 900 call next to the telephone number, in type the same size as the telephone number.

* Prohibit companies using 900 numbers from offering services targeted at children under 12. Parental permission is required for children under 18.

* Prohibit companies from using an 800 number to connect callers to a 900 number.

The FTC expects to adopt the 900 number regulations by July 26.