Hours-Long Hold Times - No Option for Call Back?
May 8, 2022, 3:02 pm
#16
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Snohomish, WA
Programs: AS MVP Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 2,793
I believe it is a union issue. IIRC, reservation agents are unionized and the social care team is not. The union likely did not appreciate their work being handed by non-union employees.
May 8, 2022, 8:58 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,833
My go-to method of communication when dealing with AA is usually Twitter--even if the response time is long, they can still take care of most reservation issues like schedule changes....I really wish the AS Twitter team could be empowered to do the same as it could potentially take some pressure off the phone/chat/text reservation agents.
Still agree that there should be a way other than calling to help us for all the airlines.
May 8, 2022, 11:30 pm
#19
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA 1K/AS 100K …Bonvoy Titanium..Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 1,117
I always use the APP/website to deal with a flight that had been canceled. I used it this morning when my SFO-JFK was cancelled. It gave me multiple options and I was done with new flights within 5 min. I did call in because the cancelled flight PNR was the same as the new flight and that confused me. Not to rub it in but it is good to have status and waited less than 2 min.
May 9, 2022, 12:07 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,848
Not to rub it in but it is good to have status and waited less than 2 min.
Lucky me… none of my few AS flights so far this year has been cancelled.
May 9, 2022, 2:18 am
#21
Join Date: Dec 2015
Programs: AS MVP 100K, DL Platinum,WN A-list, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 264
Last year when Delta terminated twitter support and call center was overflowed, on a regular day wait time for call back was extremely long.
People needed to call Singapore center.
Great advantage if you speak another language - more easily to be connected.
People needed to call Singapore center.
Great advantage if you speak another language - more easily to be connected.
May 9, 2022, 7:22 am
#23
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,838
The point is that Delta allows much more rebooking flexibility during IRROPS through their app.
May 9, 2022, 1:37 pm
#24
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,763
For most of my issues I can concisely and clearly articulate my issue with all the necessary information in a quick DM. And I generally don’t need an immediate response, or a back and forth. An asynchronous channel seems like a cost effective way to serve many customers.
May 9, 2022, 2:26 pm
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,848
I highly recommend AS' text message support for this reason. Text your query to 82-008 and you'll be connected with a proper reservations agent who can action anything that doesn't require collecting money (they can only accept payments over phone). Even though I don't think there's any prioritization for elite members (hold times are usually longer than when I call in), the convenience of being able to type out my request is totally worth it to me.
I just noticed that a couple of my future reservations have some sort of changes. The website doesn’t show any useful information (not even what the ticket used to look like; just says “call us”), so I will research what changed and see if text is a viable solution (trip involves Finnair flights).
May 9, 2022, 5:49 pm
#26
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,124
I have never been able to make a DL change online without being asked to pay the full fare difference. Ten reservations, ten changes. No competitive adavantage there (although call back times are shorter, only a little over an hour).
May 9, 2022, 8:35 pm
#27
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,838
During IRROPS, fare differences are waived on Delta. You can pick any available routing, and do it yourself. That requires a call to Alaska, and you might have to wait 9 hours. Ridiculous.
May 10, 2022, 9:26 am
#28
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: sometimes, strangely, I find myself at home
Programs: I need to do better in managing my affiliations. Oops, I overshot the runway for status next year.
Posts: 651
Things change and this time for the better.
According to Alaska Airlines mobile app as well as the full-web version, I needed to call about a reservation change. I was pleasantly surprised to be on hold for about 2 minutes before a real person answered.
According to Alaska Airlines mobile app as well as the full-web version, I needed to call about a reservation change. I was pleasantly surprised to be on hold for about 2 minutes before a real person answered.