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

 

[DC3]

I have not been reading this thread that much. Is not getting re-ticketed common ?

Not a problem at all. Seems we are all happy that everyone always gets connected to the Call Centre without any delay and that their e-tickets come through within a few minutes. This will save you from doing any research, upthread.

 

[pippen_2k]

Not a problem at all. Seems we are all happy that everyone always gets connected to the Call Centre without any delay and that their e-tickets come through within a few minutes. This will save you from doing any research, upthread.

Your little dig would be warranted if I asked about call centre wait times but I didn’t

 

[DC3]

Your little dig would be warranted if I asked about call centre wait times but I didn’t

<deleted>

 

[levelnine]

More terrible service from Qantas.

Flight cancelled, offered an unacceptable alternative, click 'change' on the booking page and it simply reloads the page. Website once again not match fit.

Call Qantas as a Platinum, wait 10 minutes, through to Fiji, operator unable to see the flight I want to change to even though it is a simple golden triangle domestic flight that is on the website for sale, says they'll need to contact someone else and it'll take 5-10 minutes, placed on hold for 30 minutes, I terminate the call.

Wasted enough of my morning. Will try again tonight.

 

[Ade]

Day of week	Tuesday 06 Sep 2022
Time of call	1123 CBR time
Number used	13 12 11
Status	Platinum
Hold time	~6 min
Call Centre (if known)	HBA
Matter resolved	Yes (but not the result that I'd hope for)
Details	Wanted to see if bulkhead seats can be selected on QF81 08/09. Before hearing the options there was a message played to the effect that there are huge number of calls and there will be delays in getting to speak to an agent. Selected the options,, ~6 min waiting time, connected to Frank from HBA. Lovely agent, very helpful. Recognized my WP status and thanked me for my loyalty and support. This is the first time I'm hearing this, new script, perhaps? Or Frank was genuinely thankful for WPs loyalty and support. Explained that I'm looking to select 23A/B or 24J/K for my flight, but couldn't. He had a look and said "Aha, those seats are reserved for CL and WP1 and may not be released until 4 hours prior to departure. And in this case, it looks like there is already someone seated on those seats" And he went on to explain that "Until about 2 years before, WPs were able to select bulkheads, if & when they were available, which was normally 48 hours prior to departure. But that privilege is now reserved to WP1s and CLs only, so sorry. When you get to the airport, ask the check-in staff, they may be able to allocate the bulkhead". I thanked Frank for his help, and provided him a 5-5-1 rating post call.

 

[Ansett]

Called VIP Team yesterday mid afternoon on hold for 14 minutes got through to Hobart but sadly no luck getting a seat released.

 

[RooFlyer]

Called VIP Team yesterday mid afternoon on hold for 14 minutes got through to Hobart but sadly no luck getting a seat released.

Is the VIP team at Hobart CC? I thought it was a separate team in Sydney. Don't tell me the WP1 service is being enhanced as well!

 

[encryptededdy]

Is the VIP team at Hobart CC? I thought it was a separate team in Sydney. Don't tell me the WP1 service is being enhanced as well!

It used to be a seperate team in Canberra but this was killed in 2020

 

[encryptededdy]

Day of week	Tuesday 06 Sep 2022
Time of call	1:40pm Singapore time (3:40pm Sydney time)
Number used	+65 64157373 (called from Singapore)
Status	Platinum
Hold time	No Hold
Call Centre (if known)	HBA
Matter resolved	Yes
Details	Qantas rescheduled my flight to one at a bad time, but MMB didn't let me pick the one I wanted. Solved in literally 90 seconds (PNR + Flight number I wanted, then a thank you and hang up). I trust Hobart to actually process the booking correctly and issue the ticket without having to wait for them. Total call time was 5min including IVR + survey at the end.

 

[levelnine]

Solved in literally 90 seconds (PNR + Flight number I wanted, then a thank you and hang up). I trust Hobart to actually process the booking correctly and issue the ticket without having to wait for them.

I had such a frustrating experience today with the same issue.

Flight cancelled (reward booking), alternative offered not great, called up as a Platinum for a second time today, this time got Manilla, was told I couldn't move it to any other flight because they didn't have reward availability.

The offshore call centres can be really quite terrible at times.

 

[encryptededdy]

I had such a frustrating experience today with the same issue.

Flight cancelled (reward booking), alternative offered not great, called up as a Platinum for a second time today, this time got Manilla, was told I couldn't move it to any other flight because they didn't have reward availability.

The offshore call centres can be really quite terrible at times.

Yeah, mine was a reward booking too. I mentioned the website didn't show good alternates and how I suspected it was because they didn't have reward space, and she said that's odd, but "as you know, once we cancel a flight I can put you on any flight you want that day".

I could have sworn that Manage My Booking used to show even non-reward flights in this sort of situation but maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe it was "enhanced".

 

[Ade]

I couldn't move it to any other flight because they didn't have reward availability.

Just out of curiosity, if an agent says this for a reward booking - what is that the airline can do to help the customer? Does the agent on the phone talk to some supervisor who can then release reward seats ? OR do they simply say nothing can be done and offer a refund ? OR do they suggest a date change or route change and waive off any additional points & taxes (assuming the pax is flexible)

From a logical standpoint (and this might have been discussed earlier) - If the booking is on QF metal, it is best for QF to somehow release the required number of reward seats and offer it to the affected customer. But is this the only way out OR are there any other viable options that QF can do to keep the customer happy?

From personal experience, when I had a similar issue with QF reward booking on partner airlines - the agent on the phone did suggest that they can try to book me on a different partner airline to get me to my destination, however, this is no doable right away and it needs to be "approved" or something to that effect. In the end, I did not pursue that option, I took a refund instead and flew SQ.

 

[encryptededdy]

I wonder if the WP Phone Queue is back to the old standard where it's almost always Hobart?

Am I just the luckiest person on earth? Maybe my Qantas PCV is through the roof (no way that's true, I travel on way too many Classic Reward Flights). All my calls since that post (so like, over 8 calls, not all documented here, some to link bookings etc.) have been answered by Hobart, or Auckland if I call in the middle of the night.

In fact since making WP earlier last month I've only been answered by non-Auckland/Hobart once, and that was my very first call. Maybe they're giving me a taste of how good it can be so I can renew, then they'll put me in the regular phone queue again

 

[levelnine]

Just out of curiosity, if an agent says this for a reward booking - what is that the airline can do to help the customer? Does the agent on the phone talk to some supervisor who can then release reward seats ? OR do they simply say nothing can be done and offer a refund ? OR do they suggest a date change or route change and waive off any additional points & taxes (assuming the pax is flexible)

If you get HBA or AKL, they simply put you on your preferred alternative (here I'm talking MEL-SYD where there are ample options on QF metal).

If you get anyone else, they say no award availability, tough luck.

 

[Ade]

"as you know, once we cancel a flight I can put you on any flight you want that day".

This statement can be ONLY true if the agent is somehow able to "convert" a $ ticket to a reward ticket OR request a reward seat on any service flying that AND is confident to get a reward seat released.

Now if ANY part of the above statement is true, then why not allocate the necessary number of reward seats to the customer EVEN before issuing the change notification in the customer's QF app, so that the customer doesn't have to call the customer service?

I could have sworn that Manage My Booking used to show even non-reward flights in this sort of situation but maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe it was "enhanced".

So far I never had any reward flights cancelled, so I'm not sure if there has been an "enhancement".

Manage My Booking used to show even non-reward flights in this sort of situation

This statement makes me think that the agent wields more power that they let us believe ... if MMB can show $ tickets as part of a change notification issued for a reward booking change, then QF has some mechanism to release more reward seats even before the customer intervenes. So why not just do it so that the customer need not worry about the change in their booking.

 

[serfty]

This statement makes me think that the agent wields more power that they let us believe ...

I would suggest SOME agents have more "power".

Qantas Schedule change policy indicates affected customers can be rebooked onto an alternative Qantas flight in the same cabin as originally booked as long as they have availability in that cabin, even if the original booking class (fare bucket) is not available. It appears many agents cannot do this, either because they can't, don't know how or don't want to.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just out of curiosity, if an agent says this for a reward booking - what is that the airline can do to help the customer? Does the agent on the phone talk to some supervisor who can then release reward seats ? OR do they simply say nothing can be done and offer a refund ? OR do they suggest a date change or route change and waive off any additional points & taxes (assuming the pax is flexible)

I had an award sector moved to a bad time, so I called to get it changed and got Hobart second go. I could have been moved to a later time in the day as there were still award J seats available on that flight. That time was still not great for me but I would have accepted, except the agent then offered to ask 'the droid' if a revenue seat could be released for me (I'm WP) on a flight in the middle of the day (I hadn't thought of that ). Droid said yes and I was a happy camper.

I guess the agent could ask the droid to release a seat for SG etc, but very unlikely to say yes I think, and may not accept the request at all.

I've never struck a Hobart agent who couldn't at least try to do what I was asking - including immediate e-mailing of overdue eTickets. As for Cape Town and Fiji - its apparent that most of them cannot do certain things that Hobart can do and/or they haven't been trained to do them.

The call centre you get is everything when it comes to award seats and their curation.

 

[VPS]

So according to this posted to Twitter today by Qantas call times have decreased from 129 minutes in March 22 to 7 minutes in August 22

 

[serfty]

I thanked Frank for his help, and provided him a 5-5-1 rating post call.

If you ever want to know you could make a request in the following thread:

Seating Availability/Allocation/Configuration Help Desk

>>>> ADDED 30 Sept 2010 > END OF UPDATE

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Here's a seatmap for WP more than t-80 before: X's are blocked.



After T-80 (Different flight, but it is illustrative)

 

[jpp42]

So according to this posted to Twitter today by Qantas call times have decreased from 129 minutes in March 22 to 7 minutes in August 22

What about the rate of unticketed rewards flight changes, or OWA tickets inadvertently cancelled?

It seems that one of the ways they quickly reduced hold times was converting agents in Manila who used to work on ticketing & internal support desks, to customer-facing agents...