The difference I notice isn't just from "standard/general" phone line to "elite line," but also which call center I get. If calling later in the evening, I always get the Tuscon call center with its friendly, personable, helpful service agents, who actually seem to really enjoy their jobs and their employer. I ended up talking to a couple of supervisors there while they worked out the kinks in an intern'l itin, and I was very impressed with their managerial style. It's worked like such clockwork for me that if I'm needing to call AA, I just wait 'til later at night when I know I'll get Tuscon.

Like the other AA res. agents, their calls are timed and their call times are monitored...they just seem to have done a more friendly, personal, and professional job of striking the balance between helping this customer and moving on to the next one. The "crapshoot" I experience is when I get ANY other call center besides Tuscon--sometimes they're really helpful, sometimes no matter how complicated your itinerary or question, and no matter how brief and concise one tries to be, they just can't get you off the phone fast enough, and their attitude toward AA is often clearly less than positive.