LondonElite

No in Germany. I called the usual Centurion number.

sbrower

Update on mine. After having the problem with call backs not actually working (Yes, the call comes from a 602 number), I finally dialed and waited. I called at 9:18pm Pacific time. The call was on hold until about 12:30am Pacific (3 hours, 15 minutes). It was then answered by a very nice agent who, after duly investigating, cancelled my Cathay Pacific reservation for Saturday night, and told me a refund would be forthcoming (less the $300 per ticket for cancel fee).

LoungeLizardHugo

Yeah, I was offering the opportunity for OP to contribute, but looks like post was just a flex

Agreed, once (5x actually) bitten twice shy in regards to IAP/AmEx Travel. Just horrendous, why in the world would AmEx continue to associate themselves with such a terrible customer experience. Once you make a flight arrangement on AmEx travel there is no updating or changing unless you call in and subject yourself to an interminable wait and usually an incompetent rep. Not worth the 35% bonus or occasional sale fare. Worth it to pay more and have opportunity to instantly update on an airlines website.

Mediahound

I was on hold over 3 hours today and then they disconnected the line without ever answering. This was the 3rd time..

I got so fed up that I phoned AMEX Platinum customer service and asked if I could dispute the charge since AMEX Travel is a separate company and it would just be like disputing a charge with any other travel agency who is non-responsive. I was told yes, and then opened up a dispute for me. My flight has a waiver on it do to the current coronavirus situation and all I was trying to do was cancel it, but the travel agency (AMEX Travel), would not even pick up the phone.

I will see how this dispute goes as they have to investigate it like any other AMEX dispute but hopefully AMEX just closes it in my favor because they probably cannot contact AMEX Travel themselves.

This entire experience has been nothing short of pure anguish.

Assimilated Cajun

I also opened a dispute of the charge on my Amex Platinum card earlier today after numerous unsuccessful attempts to get through to Amex Travel. So far it's going just like any other dispute: A note about the dispute appears when I open my online account page; they sent me a link to upload the email from Cathay saying that I could get a refund through my travel agency, which I have done.

Then, about an hour after I opened the dispute, I got a call from a 602 number. Answered and got a recording that said "This is the promised call back from American Express Travel" and that I should press 1 if I am "the valued customer". So I pressed 1 and got the same music I had heard several times before while on hold. The music lasted about 15 minutes, then I got ringing; then silence for a few minutes; then more music; then ringing again; then a recording -- male voice this time -- saying "I'm sorry, but we are having technical problems. Please call back later."

QuoVadi

I had been considering disputing the charge for a flight I can't reach an agent to cancel, so thanks for sharing your experience -- I may pursue that avenue.
I'll have to say that Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel is even worse -- I've been trying to reach someone, anyone there for 4 days, to cancel a booking I made on their site. It makes no sense that I can't cancel a booking in the portal that was originally purchased in the portal -- suddenly I have to speak to someone?

Scott in LA

So, this just happened. Sat on hold for about 5-6 hours, and finally got through. The woman answered, asked my name, I told her. She said there was too much static and she couldn't hear me. Perfectly clear on my end--on a land line, actually. I upped my phone's volume, tried over-enunciating directly into the mouthpiece...kept saying she couldn't hear me. Finally she said "if you can hear me, I'm letting you know I will have to end this call now" and hung up. Utter craziness.

As I'm typing this, I also just realized that the callback I'm waiting for on my cell (from before when I made this call on the land line) still hasn't come through--so much for keeping one's place in the queue.

Kacee

Note that in most instances, you're not talking to Amex Travel, you're talking to Expedia. Amex corporate will only get involved if there's successful escalation. I found that posting on twitter got Amex's attention. Don't know if that will work now given the current travel meltdown.

LondonElite

Are you an American Express company representative?

mia

American Express Global Business Travel is not the American Express Company

American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) is a joint venture that is not wholly owned by American Express Company or any of its subsidiaries....GBT is a joint venture between American
Express® Company and a private equity group led by Certares.

https://www.amexglobalbusinesstravel...t-Us_Final.pdf


A

tsz

Pure anguish is the best way to put it. The @askamex twitter page is 95% people who are complaining about not being able to get through via phone, and everyone got a canned response of basically just stay on the line and keep trying. I do feel bad for the Twitter team but they simply aren't empowered to actually help.

https://twitter.com/AskAmex/with_replies

BuonaDomenica

same here can't get through to cancel within the 24 hours booking window. I have been trying since 12:15am Saturday. After 2 1/2 hours the call disconnects. Talked to Amex via chat and they can't do anything. This is lame for Amex to outscource this to Expedia. I can't cancel because I can't get through within the free cancellation window. I will need to do a charge back.

mia

American Express Travel (USA) was outsourced to Travelocity in 2004, changed to Orbitz in 2011. (Both now owned by Expedia.) Do you have any reason to believe that American Express would somehow have enough trained staff available to handle this spike?

Assimilated Cajun

American Express Platinum Travel agents are still answering their phones and trying to help. They have put me through to what they say is a direct line to Orbitz dba Amex Travel — which unfortunately has still resulted in long holds followed by disconnection — and one agent even called Cathay to see if she could persuade them to process my refund, but Cathay says Amex-booked reservations must be canceled/refunded through the Amex Travel system, and Amex Plat agents don’t have access to that system, I guess because it's really the Orbitz system. So yes, the non-outsourced part of American Express Travel seems to have been far better prepared to deal with this surge in their customers’ needs. Even in the best of times my experiences with the online/Orbitz part of Amex Travel have been characterized by long waits and incompetent and/or unhelpful agents.

If Orbitz is unwilling or unable to hire and train the staff members they need to service the products they sell, they should modify their system to allow customers to change or cancel their reservations, subject to applicable rules, on the same online portal on which they purchased the reservations, just as most airlines do. This change would require hundreds or maybe thousands of IT person-hours, but it would save countless thousands of hours for Orbitz/Amex customer service agents and their customers.

BuonaDomenica

yes the American Express Platinum Travel agents are still answering their phones and are really helpful. Took me 12 hours to get a flight canceled. (always got disconnected after two hours) I only had about 8 hours left on the 24 hour windows. The Platinum travel agent stayed with me on hold until an online rep answered the phone. What a horrific experience booking online at the Amex site. Not worth it so best to pay the $39 and talk to a real person for any bookings.