Shipping and Flying with Cremated Ashes and Remains
It happens almost every day, the untimely death of a family member while out of state or even the country. Or a loved one dies in Florida while in retirement, but you live outside of Florida. What do you do when something like that happens and you want your loved one’s ashes sent some where different than where they passed? You are most likely going to have to fly or ship the cremated remains to their destination. There are many rules and regulations surrounding shipping ashes nationally or flying with them domestically.
Shipping Cremated Remains:
Once your loved one has been cremated; you do have the option of shipping their ashes once the direct cremation is done. However, there are many rules and regulations surrounding shipping ashes. First, cremated remains are only allowed to be shipped via USPS. They must be shipped overnight via Priority Mail Express. You must have something called a label 139 to accompany the ashes that will be shipped. The priority mail express will provide tracking for the shipment. You can also ship ashes internationally via USPS Priority Mail Express International. However, you must ensure the country will accept cremated remains. Also Priority Mail Express International must be an option to ship cremated ashes to.
The packaging of shipping cremated ashes is very important with a few requirements. If you use your direct crematory to help you ship the ashes, they should be able to do it all for you. If not, check out this link to UPS shipping guidelines for cremated remains: https://about.usps.com/publications/pub139.pdf. At Going Home Cremation, we offer the service of shipping cremated ashes for our families. The USPS prices tend to vary between $100-$300 depending on where they cremated remains need to be shipped to.
Flying with Cremated Remains:
You are legally allowed to fly with cremated ashes as long as you follow some specific guidelines. In the US, most airlines will allow you to fly with cremated remains, but each carrier has a different policy and you must double check their policy. If you are bringing the cremated remains on as a carry on, you must ensure that the urn holding the remains can go through the X-Ray machine, and allow TSA to see the full contents. Stone urns, metal urns, ceramic urns and any other material that is not easily x-rayed will not be allowed. Plastic, cardboard, and most wood urns are okay for the X-ray machine and should be allowed through the TSA security check point. The TSA will not open any urns or examine cremated remains, even if granted permission, so ensure cremation ashes are packed properly prior to going through security.
In Florida, when you are flying with cremated remains, you need two documents: A burial transit permit and a certificate of cremation. The crematory you work with should be able to provide you with both items with ease. You can also put cremated ashes in your luggage, and we suggest that if you do so, attach a copy of the burial transit permit and certificate of cremation to the ashes in your luggage. If you are flying with cremated ashes as a carry on, you should bring both of these documents with you in case there are any questions. If you have any more questions, contact TSA and check out this link about their guidelines: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/cremated-remains.
At Going Home Cremations, we can help. We are able to help you ship or fly with you your loved one’s cremated ashes. Visit our website https://www.GoingHomeCremations.com or call 941-320-1179.
