Have lived here in the Philippines for several years, and have encountered so many "local" call centers of airlines, credit cards, banks, etc., here comes my observations.

Filipino are in general good in English (+ dancing and singing) but bad in geography and math presumably due largely to poor public education (no offence).

Quite likely, call center respondents don't know which is northern, Taipei or Tokyo, and how much is 25% discount of 16k miles (again, no offence, but I've straggled to explain those things over phone and counter here in Manila so often just to fail at most).

1. Make your request or enquiry as simple and straightforward as possible. No "if, then."

2. Ask your request sequentially: never mention 2nd request until and unless 1st one is cleared.

3. Be prepared for long on-hold. When you call, make your PC, iPad, or TV standby just to kill time.

4. Don't expect you get a call back. Instead ask the agent's name and/or number and call him/her later.

5. Don't expect they have read or understood T&C of ticket or miles program. It's your task and duty here in the Philippines to explain that your request is allowed under T&C section no. X.

6. When something seems done, and you get a confirmation, do pay maximum attention to investigate it. Chances are date is different, name is misspelled, itinerary is skipped, flight segment is inverse, connecting flight is unconnected, business class becomes economy.

7. Call other lines, e.g. Cantonese or Mandarin, or go to CX counters in your city, to fix multiple or complicated requests, seriously.

Otherwise, welcome to the Philippines!