MPC hotline - in queue for 95 minutes !
 

Okay, I am after all a lowly Green MPC member.

I'm booking complicated multi-leg free reward flights all the time (I get all my miles from credit card purchases) and so I need to call the MPC hotline in Hong Kong quite frequently. I use the web-based redemption service whenever I can (for short flights), but I'm booking a RTW business class to South America via LHR and back to HKG via JFK ... which means I'm forced to call the hotline.

It was easy to get through before - I'm talking about 5 years ago - with very short waiting time to get through during office hours.

Lately, this is what I've been experiencing :

• office hours : either and engaged tone, or if the call goes through, it tells you to leave a message (sometimes the mailbox is full and it hangs up automatically)
• from 5pm - midnight : at least a 30 minute wait, usually around 45 minutes
• from midnight till 3am : sometimes shorter than 30 minutes, but quite variable

Today I called at 23.30, my call got answered at 01.05. That's 95 minutes. Listening to the "I can fly....... I can fly........" really drives me nuts!

The level of service once the call is answered, however, has remained excellent. And the service centre seems quite busy even after midnight HK time - lots of background noise (sometimes you can hear what the conversation quite clearly ... heard someone explaining what an "open jaw" was ...)

I know that those Diamond members out there face a very short waiting time once the call is answered. But I'm sure some Diamond members out there have faced a busy tone when they call during office hours? Has anybody reflected this to CX management? I think I'm not the type of client CX really needs to please (I only pay for 1-2 CX holiday packages a year, but I redeem 3-4 business class longhaul trips a year on CX) - but the waiting time is really not acceptable.

What do you all think?

Well it's a good thing that you're a Psychiatrist then, hehe...:p

I suspect you're seeing the usual woes of outsourcing and downsizing.

My status is with AA and have also had pretty long wait times - I usually just hang up and try my luck, sometimes have gotten shorter waits. Kinda like trying to time the lines at Disney properties, if you ask me!

Good luck! ;)

You are not alone, people have written to readers' column in newspapers (SCMP, Appledaily?) to complain about how difficult it is to get through to their call centre and how it is nigh on impossible to redeem miles. I am sure some have already complained to CX - but so what? This doesn't really stop people from spending $ with CX on revenue tickets, right?

Call me cynical but I think CX has achieved its objective. Get you hooked (they call it loyalty :rolleyes:) and go out of your way to collect millions of asia miles and then... erect barriers so you can't use them. And unlike BA, VS et al, there is a 3-year life on the miles. :mad:

I think you should tell us the trick to collecting so many miles!! :D

p.s. I am a diamond member so I never had such annoying experience but I do sympathize others out there.

I am hooked on this Asia Miles program - I wouldn't be able to travel so much if it didn't exist. I'm definitely not the type of person who would pay (real money) for business class tickets (I really don't mind economy because I'm able to fall sleep anywhere).

I've got Amex Centurion (3x points for the first HK$312,000), Standard Charterd Amex (4x points for the first HK$120,000), DBS Black Card (2x points for local, 3x points for overseas), and HSBC Premier Card (last year they had a 4x points for HK$50000/month for 6 months = HK$300,000).

Bought two (nice) cars fully paid by credit card, plus other purchases. I keep my points in my credit card until they expire (Standard Chartered and HSBC points have an expiry date). I only transfer them over to Asia Miles after making an award redemption request. I usually call 9 months or more in advance, so getting availability is not difficult.

But I'm in the queue for so long these days ....... and I really hate it! I only travel for leisure and so it's impossible for me to get to even Silver status. Having said that, I was silver once, long long time ago when I was at university ... that was before CX changed to the current brushwing logo.

My better half just signed up for MPC late last year as her travel would increase this year.

Now we are having second thots on continuing with Asia Miles as (1) the miles expire even with account activity and (2) the long wait times on MPC hotline.

I am green MPC member as well.collected lots points from credit cards.
Never attach silver.I usually call MPC at 3~5 am HK time.Thne turn to speaker.Maybe you can use AMEX concierge ask them call MPC change your itinerary?

I was wondering can the CX website desk handle mileage upgrades/redepmtions? They are shorter waits for the CX website desk and they are a lot more knowledgeable about changing/using a ticket. They are really helpful.

My itineraries are usually rather complex ... and quite flexible as to dates and routing. I'm usually searching for flights (using the oneworld program) at the same time as the MPC person! It'll be too difficult for the AMEX people to handle.

For example, I couldn't get HKG-JFK-LIM (on CX+AA) this time, so I changed to HKG-LHR-MIA-LIM (on BA+BA+LA) ... and then back to HKG by MIA-JFK-YYZ-HKG (AA+CX) ... I found that the Oneworld chart offers a better deal - my whole itinerary will require 160000 miles in business, whereas just a business class HKG-JFK-HKG is 145000 using the CX chart.

This means lots of calls to the MPC hotline (because I'm booking 11 months in advance, I need to wait for some flights to be released into the inventory - I call exactly 330 days in advance for AA flights...). The long waiting time is driving me crazy!

I thought reward seat release 355 or 360 day advance?(I am sure between 355~360)

btw how long take diamond member waiting MPC line?

About 5 sec.

AA (and JL) are 330 days in advance. It's 330 days even for AA members redeeming via AA website/call center. BA around 350 (unpredictable). CX : 370 days or so (the online facility is around 360 days. Better to call the service center especially for difficult to get flights like HKG-JFK, HKG-CDG).

Do tell us what cars you bought! We'd like to know! :D

I agree this is totally unacceptable. It is just about the most inefficient and unsatisfactory service (in terms of access) in an efficient city such as Hong Kong. Just imagine if someone is facing a tight deadline for issuing tickets or need to change/inquire urgently, what is this person expected to do?

This might just be one of the ways they deal with the lack of inventory for redemption!

And for CX gold it's not bad either. Longest I've waited is about 2-3 minutes. But because I call from New York, it's usually the middle of the night in HKG, which helps.

I was also thinking along the same lines. Btw, how does CX ensure that top tier customers get their e-mails answered first or is it first-call-first-served?