If you could tell the agent was speaking English, count yourself lucky. Sometimes when people at UA reservations answer the phone I have no idea what they're saying or what language they're speaking.

I have had crappy agents (in the USA and abroad) and great agents (only in the USA) on both US and UA, so I'm not sure it's an airline specific thing. I've read several articles to the effect that US is bringing many of its call centers back to the US ^ from India and Mexico or whatever other 3rd world country they're in as a result of passenger complaints. I give them huge credit for doing that.

The thing the airlines don't seem to understand is that there is so much more to being a reservations agent than taking a class or two and understanding how the computer system works. They also don't seem to get that customers who are "power users" of united.com or itasoftware.com STILL need competent help once in a while and are not just being lazy by picking up the phone.

A good agent has INTERNALIZED the rules, fare codes, and other nuances of the res system and elite status preferential treatment, and somebody who's probably never seen an E170 much less ridden on one (or any airplane for that matter) probably could spend 5 years on the job and still not "get it." A good reservations agent is a PROBLEM SOLVER and not simply a pass-through between the customer and the reservations system. Any of us who've ever dealt with outstanding agents in the USA or Canada are well acquainted with the difference between the two. It's just like having a good administrative assistant who's just learned to type after taking a class versus one who's been at it 30 years and can read your mind almost before you can. The difference is staggering.

I think in many cases when reservations agents (especially those abroad) have no idea what the answer to a question is, they make something up and then dig in their heels and insist they're right (as in, "Seats on your flight are under airport control" even two weeks out). Given the number of people who claim they've hung up on foreign reservations agents, the agents have probably learned that if people bail on them and call back the problem will go away (and in fact, it's in the agent's interest for customers to do this as it keeps the agent's average time per call down).

Maybe someday things will get better. Sigh...