Originally Posted by og
I had to arrange urgent tickets LAX SYD ABX in the last two days. I was extra pissed off by the US 1800 xxxxxxx phone number which, when the west coast US QF res centre is closed, is transferred to Australia. There was no option to enter the FF number and hence this new WP had to join the queue like the other FF member - 30 minutes before talking to a real person. If only callers could enter their FF number before the trans-Pacific transfer.
I am glad I travel with my IP softphone on my laptop. All I need is reasonable speed internet access (most US hotel broadband internet is good enough) and I can make calls from our Sydney PABX. Very handy when travelling and making calls home. And the IP phone here on my desk at home in Brisbane is an extention off a an IP PABX in the US, so I can make US calls from home without incurring international call rate. The best of both worlds. I can choose the country I wish to call from and to. For example, the Hilton Honors Diamond Desk is only available via US 1800 phone number, and not the Australian phone number, which actually diverts to Singapore after hours.
But it would be nice if QF dumped its international callers into the same IVR system to prompt for FF# before queuing. Surely tyhat can't be too hard to do. But I assume they only have a limited number of "lines" to Australia and queue the callers in the US until a line is free to direct them to Australia.