Your call is so important to us that we’re going to play the same annoying music over and over again, much like how governments torture terrorists. At least play some good tunes right? There is no one on earth who enjoys waiting on hold to talk to an airline or hotel, and on top of that some call centers are better trained than others to handle your needs. Here’s an amazing hack to make sure you speak to the best call centers and never have to wait…
Step One, Get Skype, Add A Few Bucks Of Call Credit…
Skype has outstanding, like “wow, that’s cheap” rates for calls all around the world from anywhere. Just using your wifi connection you can prepay to call any number in the world, paying somewhere around 1 cent per minute! The key here is “anywhere”. If it’s prime time where you are it’s going to be quiet time in another part of the world.
Step Two, Look Up Alternate Call Center Numbers…
Again, if it’s peak-prime time don’t always call the airline or hotel in your part of the world as it’s likely going to be quiet somewhere else. Go to your airline or hotels website or google “international” call centers, where you’ll find a list of numbers by region. Not only will you get someone whose deathly bored doing the overnight shift, you may even get a better agent. For example, when calling Qatar Airways, I find the Doha call center to be far better versed and prepared to deal with issues than any of their other call centers.
Step Three, Repeat Over And Over Again…
Wherever you have wifi or phone signal this continues to be the best way to save yourself time waiting while also dealing with more professional agents from time to time. I recently loaded $5 of Skype credit onto my phone and it’s lasted me well over an hour of international calls. Since I value my time at a rate greatly higher than airlines value my time, I find that it’s the best money I spend…
