Yes, unfortunately - playing ring a ring until you get SA is an excellent solution because the odds are significantly better that you will 1) get someone who comprehends what you are saying, 2) knows enough about OWA and ticketing generally and 3) cares enough to follow through.
However, I haven't always found them to be perfect and sometimes there is no guarantee you will get through. From memory - and this is hazy - I think the afternoon was best but someone maybe able to confirm that.
In two months of managing a OWA (fortunately booked prior to Sept 30) I have encountered every piece of wrong info (incl can't change a booking) . I even turned to alcohol it was so stressful at times.
The only thing that got me through was just checking out how much I thought the person at the other end knew at every stage and how confident I was with their info. If it hadn't been for input from people such as Mr H I think the whole thing would have fallen in a heap.
In the last month alone there has been about 14 hours worth of calls out and then the callbacks after the line dropped out, from the people who actually DID call back.
So, patience, maybe a bit of alcohol or some other relaxant and self-education. And just hang up if you can tell plainly that they have no idea.
Your experience and frustrations echo mine.
I have successfully had ticketed, 3 other Business class Oneworld Award Fares, totalling over 40 segments, so I've got a fair idea of what I'm doing.
It is now 8 days since I paid the monetary component and the points were deducted for the current addition to a fare ticketed in August. The points were deducted from my 1.5 million balance. The ANZ bank had the transaction sitting on my statement for 5 days waiting for Qantas to send the approval code. They didn't send it. I lost my award seats and had to shorten our holiday by 10 days to find award seats,
Believe it or not, they failed a 2nd, 3rd time and now a likely 4th time. I have now had my 3rd itineray suffer from Qantas incompetence. Thirty three phone calls. Call centre submitting errors are ongoing. I have given my card details 4 times and over $8000 has been sitting as pending in 2 banks, waiting for Qantas to send the approval code the bank provides them.
As I write, I have been on hold for 30mins with Suva call centre. The agent said she can't see why there was an error. She told me she will get to the bottom of it. For some reason I have no confidence in them.
I have kept a detailed log of the 8 day test of endurance. and will share it when the saga ends. My alcohol consumption has increased.
It is not the call centre agents failing, it is the lack of training Qantas has given them. Complexity of some fares, like theOneworld Award Fare is understandably a test for them. They then have to rely on another team in the call centre to submit the itinerary for ticketing. Points, money and adding flights to an existing ticket are stumbling blocks.
At all times I treat the agents in a civil manner and thank them. Exception being when they provide an outright lie, like telling me their call centre is in Sydney. I let them know I am ropeable, but tell them my anger is not directed at them.
Thirty third call and I've now been on hold for 60 mins ! Do I hang up or continue to wait for her to get back? She said she would get to the bottom of it and put me on hold. I've invested 60 mins of my time so far putting trust in her commitment.
I'll keep on hold and use my wife's phone to call again.
I would prefer to wait 4 hours to get Hobart call centre than wait a minute to get Fiji, Phillipines or South Africa. I didn't ever think I'd being saying that.
Alan Joyce has fixed the call centre waiting times but has created a mental health issue for it's customers and those undertrained in call centres.
It may be time to instigate a class action against Qantas and for Alan Joyce to confront his mismanagement.
After posting this the agent got back to me after 1hr 12mins on hold. She told me everything has been fixed, it has been submitted for ticketing and she will call back in 30 mins..We'll see.
I have some leeway I wanted to cram a couple of more internal Euro flights into. I am looking at flights from GVA-HEL on AY. In the booking engine AY1532 shows as operated by Nordic Regional Airlines. I think from memory that is a no-go right under the OWA rules? I understand you need to fly on OW carriers but I was just wanting to confirm if this would be allowed with a AY Flight Number.
