Phone 720x360 (from Unsplash)One of my friends recently contacted me and asked if I had any secret numbers to get through to United Airlines customer service. He said he was trying to rebook as a result of the most recent winter storm in NYC and had been stuck on hold for over two hours. I suggested he try calling the Australian number for United Airlines. He wrote back, “Good tip. They picked right up.”

Of course, this tip will only work for major airlines that have reservation agents all over the world like American, Delta and United. But it will also work for foreign carriers. If there’s a storm in the U.S. and you can’t get through to the airline’s U.S.-based agents, try Googling the airline’s name and reservation numbers so you can call their overseas call centers. The appropriate website should pop up with the different numbers, and by using VOIP services like Skype, it won’t cost you very much to call. And it should save you a lot of time and aggravation.

Here are all the numbers for the big three airlines:

 

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2 Comments On "How to Get Directly Through to an Airline’s Customer Service Center"
  1. Black Ice|

    We were the inspiration for this tip! No doubt Johnny recommended we call the Aussie number because we live in Australia. But we were actually in the US at the time, and the flight in question was only from EWR to LAX. My point is that calling the foreign call center worked even when there was no foreign component to the flight. In other words, no matter where you are and where your flight is to/from, a foreign call center may be able to help you out when the local one isn’t picking up the phone!

    1. Johnny Jet|

      You da man!

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