Best time to Call QANTAS?

[PaulyB]

Hello . After having spent 3 very frustrating hours on a Sat morning with QANTAS chat and phone attempting to update OneWorld Classic Flight Reward with extra flights, I have given up.

I made my original booking with a terrific guy in Hobart on Thursday. Does this mean during the week is the only time to do it? Tricky when my desired flights are rare. I'd love to know when the best expert times are.

And - really? Are one hour wait times on the phone normal these days? Wow!

Thanks!

 

[Pleb Status]

Current wait time for LTG is undefined (but the warning message sounds like it is long) with no opportunity to request a call back.

The QF ticketing issue still has not resolved itself so my intervention is required....

 

[Willy2212]

Calling from New Zealand I seem to get put through to the Auckland call centre and have never had more than a 10 minute wait

 

[Jo145]

Anyone have a suggestion on how to get through in an emergency, ie needing to change a flight the day of travel with only an hour to spare. I make travel bookings for 20+ work colleagues, none of whom have high status. It drives me nuts that I can't get through to someone when it's urgent. Have taken to using one colleagues Chairman's Lounge FF number just to get through. Also, anyone know why the wait time has tripled over the last 6 months or so? I feel Q have downsized their contact team by a factor of 50%!! @RedRoo, and comments?

 

[PaulyB]

As the original poster on this, there is a nuance that I think is worth adding. The better times to call is extremely useful but the broader issue is also 'who do you get'?

Generally when I call, the level of willingness has been high but the communication skills and deeper understanding required for anything 'out of the box' has been challenging to say the least. This is particularly evident with chat but also with offshore processing.

Waiting for an hour in peak times is deeply frustrating at the best of times but if it is the only way I can get a Hobart response (which has been excellent in every case) or on the weekend a Capetown call centre (same) then it's probably worth the investment.

As Linewood said back on Saturday "As Allan says Qantas is a world class airline, does not say world class call call centre.".

I feel I had to be rescued twice with my ROW booking which, just this morning after 6 days has finally been resolved. It would have made a movie story but the whole thing should have been a non-event.

Thanks for all the input.
Final comment: Never book anything close to a complicated booking via chat.....

 

[nonscenic]

Rather than telephone I have found that online chat via the Qantas App is much better. My wife and I were travelling via Shinkansen from Hokkaido to Tokyo and received the dreaded text message to say our flight from NRT to MEL the next evening had been delayed by 12 hours.
I was able to contact Qantas on my app via the online chat using the onboard wifi (that kept dropping out in the many tunnels) and arrange an alternate flight the same evening as the original flight from HND- SYD. I even arranged seats 70J and 70K (among the few spacious Window-Aisle seats ) in a heritage 747 flight home without waiting on hold

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Have taken to using one colleagues Chairman's Lounge FF number just to get through.

I completely understand your frustration but I can't imagine QF HQ would take kindly to repeated use of a CL number to skip the queue.

 

[kermatu]

@RedRoo, and comments?

Sadly there's no longer a RedRoo presence on AFF

 

[sietes]

I can second the recommendation to avoid chat for complex bookings. This is also the recommendation from chat representatives who have consistently told me i need to call reservations after an hour or two wasted trying to get them to complete bookings.

 

[Ekka]

Hello . After having spent 3 very frustrating hours on a Sat morning with QANTAS chat and phone attempting to update OneWorld Classic Flight Reward with extra flights, I have given up.

I made my original booking with a terrific guy in Hobart on Thursday. Does this mean during the week is the only time to do it? Tricky when my desired flights are rare. I'd love to know when the best expert times are.

And - really? Are one hour wait times on the phone normal these days? Wow!

Thanks!

LTG sounds fascinating, but what does it actually mean?

There’s your answer. Brisbane time. Everything in Bris is still 20 years behind, which means you get the service that could be had 20 years ago!

A merchant banker, and young with it.

How old are you, cretin?

 

[Ekka]

As you are so young (14-?),and such a complete fool, you'll be unaware that the Q in Qantas stands, not as popularly known for Queensland, where Qantas started, but for queue, and you are clearly at the rear.

 

[kermatu]

LTG sounds fascinating, but what does it actually mean?

LTG stands for lifetime gold status with Qantas. Basically gold status therefore no access to the premium call line.

 

[get me outta here]

Bit of name calling here @Ekka unnecessarily so. For someone who's been a member since 2005 the meaning of LTG shouldn't be too much of a stretch ...

As you are so young (14-?),and such a complete fool, you'll be unaware that the Q in Qantas stands, not as popularly known for Queensland, where Qantas started, but for queue, and you are clearly at the rear.

LTG sounds fascinating, but what does it actually mean?


A merchant banker, and young with it.

How old are you, cretin?

 

[lastrow]

I have personally found that the best time to call is on a week day at 7.15 am. (Eastern Standard Time). This way you will probably get through to Auckland where it is 9.15 am and the new shift has just started and so the operators are still fresh with clear minds. I recently booked a return flight Hobart to San Francisco in J plus internal flights, all at convenient times and all, with one exception were reward bookings. The girl in Auckland (who had a Scottish accent) could not have been more helpful, giving me plenty of options including connecting times.
Now I know you will say because I live in Hobart I should have used one of the excellent local operators, however the problem is getting through in a reasonable wait time. At 7.15 am it will probably be instant.

 

[Scott K]

As you are so young (14-?),and such a complete fool, you'll be unaware that the Q in Qantas stands, not as popularly known for Queensland, where Qantas started, but for queue, and you are clearly at the rear.

Ah good sir. It appears doth wheels have fallen off thy keyboard. May I offer thee a hand to return it to its natural state? It's been fine on a yore since a lad older than myself has stumbled my way with such great speed that their cart hath broke to but a jigsaw.

 

[Pushka]

I completely understand your frustration but I can't imagine QF HQ would take kindly to repeated use of a CL number to skip the queue.

And it will be the CL member who suffers as they have obviously given out their FF and pin.

 

[Pushka]

LTG sounds fascinating, but what does it actually mean?


A merchant banker, and young with it.

How old are you, cretin?

You are responding to something that was a Joke Joyce. (I’ve just done another @Hvr.)

 

[UP4014]

From memory to cover world time zones, call centers are Tucson, Auckland, Hobart and Johannesburg. Premium status did have a separate call center which I will try and check still is separate.

They rotate through depending on the time of day.

 

[Scott K]

From memory to cover world time zones, call centers are Tucson, Auckland, Hobart and Johannesburg. Premium status did have a separate call center which I will try and check still is separate.

They rotate through depending on the time of day.

I've been dropped through the the Platinum line a couple of times when my call has exceeded an hour. I guess the lesser used like takes up some of the queue on occasion.

As discussed earlier, School run times in the afternoon. But the school run in the AM tends to be the times that people get their PAs to make calls first thing in the morning - so I wouldn't advise that time for anyone. I've had a bit of success at the post 11pm time - which often is when I finish work. And at 6am have on a few occasions manged to spear through in about 14 minutes.

 

[pjb1803]

The “chat” used to be a good alternative as it only popped up when an agent was available. Now they clearly handle 2 or 3 at once. I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes for an answer to a straightforward question. I keep getting apologies and asked questions that are irrelevant. But no answers. It says agent is typing then nothing happens. Part time bots???

 

[Scott K]

The “chat” used to be a good alternative as it only popped up when an agent was available. Now they clearly handle 2 or 3 at once. I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes for an answer to a straightforward question. I keep getting apologies and asked questions that are irrelevant. But no answers. It says agent is typing then nothing happens. Part time bots???

That's my experience. On one occasion I had chat going at the same time I was waiting in the phone queue, growing frustrated as my basic conversation was taking astonishingly long. I ended the chat the moment the phone person picked up.
As a side note - I have always had really pleasant service talking on the phone though when I finally get through.