Qantas Call Centre Long Wait Times

My understanding (from unofficial sources) is that there is a pool of priority phone numbers that airport staff give to passengers which rotates every few weeks.

I will attempt to publish the currently active number(s) in this post:

1300 304 318
1300 659 161
1300 025 396
1300 659 116

1300 024 715
1300 025 390
1300 659 115
1300 659 134
1300 659 502

 

[Mr H]

And good backup plan re saying QF need to find us some seats - I guess the tricky bit about that is I’ll have to find/buy a separate US domestic leg to get us to a west coast airport eg LAX

Just to be clear - QF does not need to find you some seats. They could just give you a refund. If you are asking for release of revenue seats then you are asking them for a favour.

It is also not a back-up plan. You cannot have a Plan A and Plan B. You need to decide asap which course of action you are wanting to follow - wait for JL to come through or try to make a new plan. Yes, this would involve finding a way to cross the US but there should be options if you are prepared to change planes en route.

 

[Leroy]

Credit where it's due, I followed up some very outstanding non refunded points and funds (Late 2022 on flights Qantas cancelled with no alternative). Called 1300 659 161, was on hold for 20 minutes and had everything sorted without an issue through to Fiji.

Points are already in my account, now just to see how long the money takes!! Was trying to avoid calling due to being on hold for 3 hours last time with no ability to resolve, however it seems to be much less of a hassle through the phones.

Also could have just gotten lucky!

 

[Pele]

First call to QFF in over three years. Wasnt looking forward to it.

Called 1300 659 161 after lunch today. Bronze status. Purpose to book classic reward tickets originating from Doha which cant be done online.

Call one- advised waiting time was about 15 minutes, which it was, agent answered went through the details, he priced up the taxes, then it dropped out. Total call time 28 minutes.

Call two- answered after 10 minutes on hold. Told him the details. He understood what i wanted. Problem was it wasnt showing the availability as the agent on the previous call had blocked it. Went on hold while he tried to sort it out as he said it should drop back into inventory. Sure enough he managed to get the tickets. Step by step at snails pace we went through all the details. I paid the taxes and got a PNR and should get the email with eticket confirming it in 24 hours. I am confident this will happen as all RJ flights i have booked recently get ticketed at exactly 24 hours if you have provided APIS info. Total call took 68 minutes which is quite bad considering there was nothing complicated about it but they did what i wanted and compared with some of the horror stories on this thread i will take it.

Both agents were located in Fiji.

 

[RichardMEL]

OT to QF, but I just wanted to share... I called AA via aus number (I had heard stories before but never had need). I got, I assume, MNL call centre (but hey no wait time!) .... all I wanted to do was delete the screwed up FF# in an AA booking (it had my QFF# there but thought it was AA# and aa.com wouldn't let me change it). The AAgent was... clueless. utterly clueless. First he asked me what country I was calling from.. then claimed I could not use QF with AA.. then because he saw an AA# in the PNR(a non legal one) he wanted to put me through to AAdvantage. I said no it has nothing to do with them, I just need the FF# changed to QF and not AA. This seemed to confuse him so much. eventually he put me on hold.

It took him, I kid you not, 30 minutes, to change the number in the booking. At least he finally figured it out but... yeah

so.... how's that stack for comparison?

 

[robinsparkles]

OT to QF, but I just wanted to share... I called AA via aus number (I had heard stories before but never had need). I got, I assume, MNL call centre (but hey no wait time!) .... all I wanted to do was delete the screwed up FF# in an AA booking (it had my QFF# there but thought it was AA# and aa.com wouldn't let me change it). The AAgent was... clueless. utterly clueless. First he asked me what country I was calling from.. then claimed I could not use QF with AA.. then because he saw an AA# in the PNR(a non legal one) he wanted to put me through to AAdvantage. I said no it has nothing to do with them, I just need the FF# changed to QF and not AA. This seemed to confuse him so much. eventually he put me on hold.

It took him, I kid you not, 30 minutes, to change the number in the booking. At least he finally figured it out but... yeah

so.... how's that stack for comparison?

I've been so burnt by my friends in Cape Town that I think you were lucky your changes were done correctly at least. I'd take a 30 minute frustrating call with the right outcome any day at the moment.

 

[blackcat20]

I'm so put off that I refuse to try again to change our domestic connection; we'll just turn up early and hope for an earlier flight (I'll even take Y if we have to).

 

[NM]

It took him, I kid you not, 30 minutes, to change the number in the booking. At least he finally figured it out but... yeah

so.... how's that stack for comparison?

Your request was resolved in one call in around 30 mins ... sound very impressive when compared to QF call centre responses reported here

 

[RichardMEL]

Your request was resolved in one call in around 30 mins ... sound very impressive when compared to QF call centre responses reported here

Fair (ahem) call... but obviously my point was more about competency of agents. I mean I am not sure how much simpler a request could be except a seat change I guess. I mean I wasn't asking for flight changes, reroutes, reward seats or anything like that.

as an aside AA call was answered fine, but there was NO prompt for any FF info or any way to differentiate a status caller or anything which I found interesting.

 

[Danger]

My experience a few months ago is that JL is not interested non helping you out. You will not get them to release seats. You may also find that JL sectors had become married and a problem with one will become a problem for the other. If your ticket was issued by QF, you will need to deal with QF and get them to find a solution. You are most likely to have joy with this if you can suggest solutions yourself. If your main objective is to return to Australia from New York, look for routes that have availability to an airport with direct QF fights and suggest that QF open a revenue ticket for you to get back to Australia if there is no regular award availability. If you/they cannot find a solution you are looking at a refund, which I presume you do not want.

My experience differs. Back in March, I was ticketed ORD-xHND-SYD in JL F and J which was rescheduled ORD-NRT, two days in Japan, then HND-SYD. This was when transit between HND and NRT wasn't permitted, let alone spending two days in the country. I asked QF to ask JL to release an F seat JFK-HND that would connect with HND-SYD and it was approved.

 

[Port Power]

I have just had an excellent experience. I rang 131211 at 6:58am to have a classic reward J seat released for a flight in March PER-SYD. After entering the various numbers, a lady with the slightest accent (Fiji or Manilla) answered on the first ring. No waiting at all! She said no J reward seats available on that flight, to which I replied that as a WP, I am requesting one be released. She said she would put me on hold while she ticketed it. Three minutes of music and an “on hold” message, the phone rang again and I was answered by the excellent Pauline in Hobart. Something weird had happened and she apologised for the “cold” transfer. She could see the name the call transferred from and flagged it to check out later. Pauline remembered when she started in HBA 22 years ago, and said the staff in these new centres would become more confident with experience.

She also apologised that I wasn’t directed to HBA immediately. From 7:00am AEST premium calls are directed to HBA. AKL if earlier.

Anyway, a J seat was released, she also selected my preferred seat, and the E-ticket has already arrived. All done within 10 minutes and a friendly chat waiting for the “bot” to allow release of the seat. My first time requesting a release, but it has been mentioned often enough on AFF that I decided to try.

 

[Guvner]

Good to know QF can fix problems when they choose to.

 

[Mr H]

a lady with the slightest accent (Fiji or Manilla) answered on the first ring

Is the Manila call centre actually a thing? I know a lot of people mention it, but all my calls have been dealt with by Fiji or Cape Town.

 

[Port Power]

Is the Manila call centre actually a thing? I know a lot of people mention it, but all my calls have been dealt with by Fiji or Cape Town.

Yes. The HBA agent specifically mentioned the Philippines call centre. It was established for ticketing in particular.

 

[DC3]

Is the Manila call centre actually a thing? I know a lot of people mention it, but all my calls have been dealt with by Fiji or Cape Town.

Yeah, baby. Manila is waiting for your call.

Patience, Grasshopper.

 

[MJHoops]

My experience differs. Back in March, I was ticketed ORD-xHND-SYD in JL F and J which was rescheduled ORD-NRT, two days in Japan, then HND-SYD. This was when transit between HND and NRT wasn't permitted, let alone spending two days in the country. I asked QF to ask JL to release an F seat JFK-HND that would connect with HND-SYD and it was approved.

How long did they take to approve the request?

 

[Andy72]

My last few calls have been answered in minutes. I had a ticketing change with a missed connection due to an alaskan airlines schedule change, the cape town agent couldn't reticket it, promised to ring back and never did. The other 2 calls were both answered in Cape Town and issues we resolved in minuted

 

[MJHoops]

My experience differs. Back in March, I was ticketed ORD-xHND-SYD in JL F and J which was rescheduled ORD-NRT, two days in Japan, then HND-SYD. This was when transit between HND and NRT wasn't permitted, let alone spending two days in the country. I asked QF to ask JL to release an F seat JFK-HND that would connect with HND-SYD and it was approved.

Ok. Update after 2 calls to QF and 1 to JL. First was to Mary in Fiji. Answered about 10mins. Told the request has been sent. Just wait and JL will call (not email - I double checked with her) me

Call to JL. Deny any receipt of any request. Long wait. Circular conversation til she suggested she conference call in Qantas - great! - after 15mins she said that’s taking awhile so can I please just call Qantas (as she told me times one hundred, fair enough)

Call to QF 131313. Penelope answered about 30 mins. In Cape Town I think. Long delay as she talks to “support team”. Comes back and logically explains the reinstatement request attempted to be sent from other agent was for the (non existent) cancelled flight from HND-SYD

So. She has sent reinstatement request for JFK-NRT-MEL. She says this goes to her supervisor and then by email to JL. Her view is JL should accept it due to the schedule change by JL. Her expectation is this will take 2 business days

Pray for me people (first world problems I know). I do now think points are far less valuable than I used to after this merrygoround

Cape Town making sense
Fiji turns out pleasant to talk to but no idea what they were doing

 

[Mr H]

Cape Town making sense
Fiji turns out pleasant to talk to but no idea what they were doing

This captures my experience and expresses it better than I ever could.

 

[clifford]

This captures my experience and expresses it better than I ever could.

That wasn't the case for me. The guy I dealt with in the Fiji call centre sorted my reschedule problem quietly and quickly. All good.

Never had anything but incompetence and/or abuse from South Africa.

 

[MJHoops]

That wasn't the case for me. The guy I dealt with in the Fiji call centre sorted my reschedule problem quietly and quickly. All good.

Never had anything but incompetence and/or abuse from South Africa.

I’ve had both. Haha. Last time was Aug 2021 for a refund issue on domestic. I asked for cash refund (long story) and Cape Town said I’ll check with my manager and then approved it

Later called - we have no record of that

Complaint via website responded to similarly and trotting out standard terms and conditions re travel credit only