Is it me or is it much harder to make flight reservations?  I am trying to book a flight to Florida in March and in order to avoid additional $ on the return flight, I have only ONE return flight I can choose....with a 2 1/2 hour layover in Newark (and it's on a different carrier)!

I made similar reservations last Feb and had NO issues like this.

Somebody shoot me now.

…I asked about using UPS Ground, but was told that wasn't an option.

It MIGHT be due to the date you picked for your return flight, whether all flights that day were booked, etc.  If you're flexible on the return date, or even the departure date, you might find some better deals.  You might also want to consider an alternative airport ... if you have one relatively close by.

I don't mean to be intrusive, but as a part time assistant at a mortuary I'll take the liberty to offer some information.

If there won't be any services in Indiana (any or all of a visitation, Rosary, Requiem Mass) you'll want the funeral home's "Forwarding remains to another funeral home" package.  They will do the removal from the place of death, handle the required paperwork, embalm (usually required for air shipment, but won't include cosmetology, hair care, or dressing), and arrange for air shipment to Spokane.  You (or the person handling your arrangements) will want to purchase a "combo air tray" (designed to transport a body without a casket) in Indiana and purchase the casket in Spokane.  The reason for this is that the airlines charge by weight and a 100 lbs. or more will be saved if the body isn't flown in a casket.

Usually a Spokane funeral home would be contacted to receive the remains at the Spokane airport.  I'm sure Father Puskorius (or another priest at The Mount) would have an appropriate recommendation.  If the only services in Spokane will be the committal at the cemetery (the other services having been held in Indiana), arrangements could be made for a trusted friend with a pickup (with canopy or landau cover) or van to pick you up at the Spokane airport and take you to the cemetery, that would be perfectly legal as long as they have the proper paperwork (which should arrive from Indiana with the body).  I believe there is a livery service in Spokane that would provide a hearse for this, at a much lower cost that using a full service mortuary (I'd have to research this).

For a point of reference, about three weeks ago I picked up someone at the Spokane airport who was flown in from Arizona for her funeral in Kennewick, WA.  The airfare was about $400.  Once a retired deputy coroner from where I live had her father die in one of the Carolinas.  She and her husband rented a U-Haul van, packed cold packs around the body, and drove it non-stop to our mortuary in Washington.  Usually embalming would be required to cross state lines, but there are exemptions.  She, having been a coroner, knew how to handle things, and was comfortable with handling the body.

Before the airlines put restrictions on transferring frequent flyer miles, you could get a trans-Pacific round-trip Biz Class for $1100. Check today's round-trip prices… $5000-ish+.