How to reach an airline’s reservations agent without waiting

With the exception of the Microsoft’s CrowdStrike global IT outage and Delta’s complete meltdown, U.S travelers were very fortunate to have a fairly smooth summer of travels. However, as road warriors know, all it takes is one big storm or an IT failure to mess everything up.

Most travelers also realize that airlines have no control over the weather but what many can’t understand or tolerate is when an airline that doesn’t have enough staff to answer the phones.

When there’s a storm or IT failure, I have spent hours on hold with many airlines including JetBlue (see photo below).

It’s so frustrating especially when an airline doesn’t have a callback feature. Thankfully American Airlines does so you don’t have to tie up your phone for hours. I feel for travelers who can’t make other calls or are afraid to walk into another room in case the call drops.

If you’re trying to reach an airline agent, here’s how to get through without waiting:

1. If you’re at the airport and your flight gets canceled, then make a beeline to the airline’s club (if they have one) and pay the day fee if you don’t already have a membership. Agents in there usually have more pull and aren’t that busy.

2. If the airline doesn’t have an airport club or they aren’t selling day passes, then get in line at customer service or find a vacant gate agent willing to help (a $20 bill might persuade them). While in a long line, call the airline’s 800 number, use their app’s chat feature (if they have one) and contact them via X (formerly Twitter).

If you’re not at the airport and the hold times are hours, then:

3. X is by far your best resource in these matters and that couldn’t be truer than with AA as they have a very good and large communications team. I’ve direct messaged them many times asking for help including this summer and they replied within 15 minutes (see screenshot below). It probably helps if you have status on the airline.

4. If X fails, then see if your airline has a chat feature. Sometimes agents there are a lot quicker.

5. One of the quickest ways to reach an airline is to call one of their international call centers. Use Skype so you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Here’s more on this tip.

6. A tip I learned last year but never tried is from David Slotnick of The Points Guy. David says, “Try an airline’s Spanish-language line.” I’ve never tried it but it seems solid, especially if you speak Spanish but I’m sure that’s not a prerequisite.

So, my advice is to try to do everything online and if you can’t, then don’t wait until the last minute to make any changes. This is also a good reason to book through a good travel agent because they will do the dirty work for you. If not, try the tips above.

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