Tip: Call the International Flights Phone Number

Most of the major U.S. airlines that fly internationally have separate reservation/customer service phone numbers for international travel vs. all-U.S. routings. Every time we’ve called the number for international flight assistance, we’ve been connected to a call center in the U.S. Conversely, when we’re using the phone number for booking or changing a U.S. reservation, we end up talking to someone in Asia. This is not a bad thing, but we’ve found we can generally get more personalized assistance with a customer-service rep headquartered in the U.S. Thus, we always call the international flights number, and just “forget” which number we’re calling, or say something like, “sorry, I meant to push 1 instead of 2.” No one has refused to assist us. Bottom line, especially if you have a complicated situation, call the phone number for international itineraries, no matter what your actual destinations.