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!

 

[pjb1803]

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.

I agree completely
Chat time for straightforward stuff like requesting wheelchair assistance is 30 minutes and if I can get a call back I do that instead, as have been let down by chat staff on more than one occasion. The phone staff weren’t at all surprised when I told them

 

[Pleb Status]

Current wait time for an LTG is '33 to 45 minutes' with no call back request available....

 

[ramboflyer]

In my experience asking for a call back never worked because nobody called back. I have used the chat service a couple of times for non complex matters e.g a couple of days ago I wanted to know how many points to change the date of a reward flight and the answer was given quickly. A poster on this forum put a link up which opens up the chat window and works a treat and is a great way to get a chat person quickly. The longest time I have waited is about 10 minutes.

Of course the best way to avoid long wait times to speak to someone at Qantas is to change frequent flyer programs!

 

[kermatu]

And it will be the CL member who suffers

I'd like to see that!
Unlikely though as sounds like the poster has the CL's details as s/he books travel for them. But number shouldn't be abused when a call isn't related to that CL's travel.

 

[kermatu]

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???

Not just Qantas but most sites that feature chat facilities are initially bots. How else do they respond in a few seconds.
I only use it for the most general information. Never trust a flight or hotel booking to chat. But stuff like opening hours, services available etc chat is fine. Though AFF is usually a better source.
You need to ask very specific questions and you'll either get totally generic responses or silence and you know there's no-one there or available to handle your case. Once you get specific answers it's better but I still wouldn't trust it.
Have used chat to fix account issues for things like subscription services. You get a real person pretty quickly on some sites.

 

[cvmceg]

Last night around 7.30pm.
~25min wait time for call, requested call back.
Remembered chat window so tried that, chatted with an agent in ~3mins, problem solved (linking bookings) in ~2mins.
Call back received ~25mins as suggested. I said thanks but problem solved.

Pays to do both

 

[Pushka]

I'd like to see that!
Unlikely though as sounds like the poster has the CL's details as s/he books travel for them. But number shouldn't be abused when a call isn't related to that CL's travel.

That’s not going to work so well when the dual authentication by telephone text kicks in fully.

 

[BriarFlyer]

This morning I found a better award choice for a 2019 trip than what I'd booked a while back, but I couldn't change it on-line. Chatbot gave me a generic automated response. Afraid I'd miss that one perfect-day/route seat, I called and got the long-wait-time-call-back-later recording AND the option to SMS a consultant.

I gave it a go and 2 hours later the new ticket was in my inbox. So much easier than calling, calling, calling. The consultant called when he got to the payment stage, and during the call I confirmed the flight details. He was in the Auckland office.

 

[kermatu]

This morning I found a better award choice for a 2019 trip than what I'd booked a while back, but I couldn't change it on-line. Chatbot gave me a generic automated response. Afraid I'd miss that one perfect-day/route seat, I called and got the long-wait-time-call-back-later recording AND the option to SMS a consultant.

I gave it a go and 2 hours later the new ticket was in my inbox. So much easier than calling, calling, calling. The consultant called when he got to the payment stage, and during the call I confirmed the flight details. He was in the Auckland office.

Did you give all the info you had in the original SMS? I haven't heard of this feature before.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Did you give all the info you had in the original SMS? I haven't heard of this feature before.

Yes, I provided details of my booking and what I wanted to change to. My name but not my FF number or password. Once he confirmed that the change could be made, and I agreed to the change fee, he called to finish the booking.

I've not come across this before either, and being a lowly NB I have spent long hours on hold and/or waiting for callbacks.

ETA: I checked my FF account and the points difference had been refunded instantly.

 

[kermatu]

Yes, I provided details of my booking and what I wanted to change to. My name but not my FF number or password. Once he confirmed that the change could be made, and I agreed to the change fee, he called to finish the booking.

I've not come across this before either, and being a lowly NB I have spent long hours on hold and/or waiting for callbacks.

ETA: I checked my FF account and the points difference had been refunded instantly.

Thanks. Looks like a useful service, with opportunity to discuss with an agent before final decision.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Thanks. Looks like a useful service, with opportunity to discuss with an agent before final decision.

It worked well in my situation. I knew what I wanted, could see availability on-line, but couldn't implement the change. Other issues and situations, maybe not ... although it may work as another form of callback. I was asked during SMS change for a convenient time for the call but I didn't test that with a specific time. I said "anytime" and the call came within a minute.

 

[UP4014]

Like others here have not had success With the chat system. So now when it comes up I will ask why the beer choice has changed or the meals are served in a cardboard box in Y and what a downgrade it was.

When they can't answer I respond saying did they want to answer my question or don't they care to find out the answers especially as 'they' invited me to ask a question in the first place.

 

[sietes]

I've been trying to book a complicated 280k award and my experiences calling Qantas over the last few weeks has been varied to say the lease.

I tried chat and was told that i had to call to make the booking as it was too complex for the chat operator. This was on two separate occasions.

During the week it seems as though you are up for a couple of hours on hold to get onto a 'consultant' who is not really able to help you. In the evening the hold was more like an hour, but again getting put through to someone not really capable of helping. My longest call was over three hours just to be cut off by the operator with no call back from them.

I tried this Sunday just gone with two different results. Firstly i called at 8am EDST and call back was operating with an estimate of a 15 minute wait. Left my number and sure enough got a call back. Took about half an hour to get an itinerary together, put on hold for another half hour to 'calculate taxes'. Over an hour into the call and again the call dropped out.

I was determined to get the thing booked so called back hoping to resurrect the booking. This is where i finally understood why people keep hanging up and calling back.

Again call back service was on with an estimate of an hour this time. About 50 minutes later got a call back. It was Cynthia from Qantas PREMIUM. Speaking to me. A NB! I briefly let her know what had been happening. She could see my booking but assured me that she would call me back if we were cut off. Withing 20 minutes the itinerary was booked, taxes paid and i had not been put on hold once. Oh what a difference it made speaking to her. I could not express to her how grateful I was.

TLDR. Try calling on a Sunday morning.

 

[JohnK]

Admittedly the premium line so have never had more than a 7 minute wait (yesterday in fact) but I've found Saturday or Sunday evenings to be best for either line. The later the better.

I've had to wait longer on some recent calls.

Qantas does not do customer service very well or consinsently. Shouldn't have to play call centre roulette to get the desired result you know should be possible the first time.

Rather than telephone I have found that online chat via the Qantas App is much better.

Then I must be unlucky as I've not had a single positive experience with online chat. The agents I have had are not very knowledgeable and a waste of time.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Finally geared myself up to phone (just LTG, so no premium status). Got the dreaded long delays message, but they then offered me an SMS. I much prefer electronic communications so opted for it. Once I confirmed I had received a text initiating the conversation, the phone call ended. I have texted my request and we will see how we go. It’s a simple request to link two Qantas bookings.

Update - well that was great! Took about 15 minutes to get a reply saying the records are now linked.

 

[Haplo]

I think LTG should be given the same priority as a Platinum member and LTS should be given the same priority as a Gold member.

Wishful thinking, might be too hard for their IT.

 

[ellen10]

I've been trying to book a complicated 280k award and my experiences calling Qantas over the last few weeks has been varied to say the lease.
Again call back service was on with an estimate of an hour this time. About 50 minutes later got a call back. It was Cynthia from Qantas PREMIUM. Speaking to me. A NB! I briefly let her know what had been happening. She could see my booking but assured me that she would call me back if we were cut off. Withing 20 minutes the itinerary was booked, taxes paid and i had not been put on hold once. Oh what a difference it made speaking to her. I could not express to her how grateful I was.

TLDR. Try calling on a Sunday morning.

I too have been very fortunate to get Cynthia to sort out my bookings .... she is marvelous ...... the best operator I have spoken to.

 

[pauly7]

I got access to to trial SMS customer service as well, it’s great - I was at work so texted back and forth when I could (rarely have time at work for live online chat or call) over space of about 1.5 hours and got an award booking changed. Good use of technology, agent was great.

 

[Mattg]

I called Qantas around an hour ago (2am Sydney time) and was put through to somebody in New Zealand in under a minute.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to help and said I'd have to call back during Australian business hours.