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There is no debate that British Airways Avios are awesome:

  • Flights cost as little as 4,500 Avios in coach (or 7,500 within North America);
  • Flights can often be booked on BA.com;
  • No close in booking fee;
  • Cancelling or changing a flight will cost as little as $5.60 and up to $55 only, but you will get all your Avios back.

[SEE: Use Avios to your advantage for a family trip ]

I love using Avios for Alaska flights along the West Coast and to Hawaii from the Bay Area.  Unfortunately, flights with British Airways partners, such as Alaska and Aer Lingus, are not displayed online and I have to call in to book the award seats. I have read plenty stories about how frustrating it is to call the British Airways phone number in the U.S., but I never experienced it until this past summer.

Earn your Avios points with the British Airways Visa Signature Card. Learn more about this card and compare other airline cards here.

US British Airways phone number – an hour on hold to fix a simple problem

british-airways-phone-number-usa-executive-clubMy daughter and I are going to Osaka in February 2017 with my best friend and her son. I booked her tickets back in March 2016 on Japan Airlines through BA website. During the summer, Japan Airline changed its schedule between Haneda Tokyo and San Francisco, totally screwed up my connecting flight between Haneda and Osaka. Since there is no way to fix it online, I had to contact the British Airways phone number in the US call center. I didn’t want to wait after work because there were only four seats in the new connecting flight that I wanted.  The music played, and played, and played. Finally after 50 minutes someone answered! I fed the agent the new flight info and within 10 minutes everything was done. A simple change yet it took a whole hour to fix!

Another disaster trying to contact the US British Airways phone number

Soon after that, I had to book my Alaska flights to Maui for next summer. I would need to call in to book the award seats. (TIP: add your credit card info and names of your travel companions to your Executive Club profile before you call. It will save you time later!)   I decided to look up another British Airways contact number because I don’t have time nor patience to wait an hour on the phone. Looking through the list of BA Executive Club call centers, I settled on the Hong Kong office, and was I glad that I did! It is now my go-to center every time I need to call the British Airways phone number to book award flights or other matters. My calls are usually answered within 5 to 10 minutes. Agents all speak very good English (though I personally have a little hard time understanding the British accent), very courteous and always willing to help. Most importantly, I am usually done within 20 minutes.

The only caveat, Hong Kong is 16 hours ahead of California (or 15 hours during daylight savings time). So if you need to call the British Airways phone number urgently during the day, you are stuck with calling the U.S. center. Also, I typically use Skype when I call and the connection sometimes is iffy. But agents usually ask for my phone number so that they would call me back in case we get disconnected. The Hong Kong office opens at 9am local time, which is the beginning hours of evening here in the U.S.

britishairways-phone-number-call-center-clock

So next time you need to call the British Airways phone number from the U.S., give the Hong Kong office a call. Below are the phone numbers and hours of North and South America call center plus Hong Kong office.

Phone NumberLocation Operating Hours
011-852-3002-1208Hong Kong Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm
1-800-452-1201North America and CaribbeanDaily, 7:30am to 8pm Eastern Standard Time
1-408-352-9323Most South America CountriesMonday to Friday, 9am to 7pm local time

Have you had good luck calling the British Airways phone number in other countries?  Leave your suggestions in the comments


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