Phoning Qantas from South Africa

[sanne]

I am hoping to secure 2 x J award flights online for SYD/JNB June 2018. They will hopefully become available whilst I am in South Africa in June this year. I am a WP.

If the internet is not good - quite possible as we are on safari, or there are no award flights available, I would like to phone Qantas from South Africa.

What in your experience is the most cost effective way to do this as it may take a while on the phone to book the flights. I see that Qantas has a South African phone #. Is that better than ringing the Australian #.

I would really appreciate any help with this. It's good to have a plan before I leave home.

Thanks.

 

[Daver6]

When I was in Namibia I needed to call Qantas a few times. I'd call using a VoIP provider. If the quality wasn't great they were more than happy to give me a call back on the hotel phone at their expense.

 

[sanne]

Sorry for my ignorance. What is a VoIP provider and how do I get one?

 

[samh004]

Sorry for my ignorance. What is a VoIP provider and how do I get one?

VoIP = Voice over IP

Essentially, internet telephone. Obviously, this requires internet.

 

[sanne]

Thanks. I have Skype. But if internet isn't great I may need to use mobile phone, hence my question of the best/cheapest way to do this. And if I should call SA QF or ring Australia QF.

I've had no experience with this and was hoping someone who had, could give me some valuable advice. Thanks.

 

[theblank]

Thanks. I have Skype. But if internet isn't great I may need to use mobile phone, hence my question of the best/cheapest way to do this. And if I should call SA QF or ring Australia QF.

If you cannot use Skype or any other kind of internet phone, there really isnt cheap options for you, apart from look at your australian telco's roaming costs which are not as bad as they used to be, followed by beg, borrow or steal a local phone/sim, and call the south african number.

Some Telco's now charge very little for incoming calls (10c min?). If you are brave you could try this.
https://www.mynetfone.com.au/Residential/Home-Phone/MyNetFone-VoIP/features/global-access-callback

 

[sanne]

If you cannot use Skype or any other kind of internet phone, there really isnt cheap options for you, apart from look at your australian telco's roaming costs which are not as bad as they used to be, followed by beg, borrow or steal a local phone/sim, and call the south african number.

Some Telco's now charge very little for incoming calls (10c min?). If you are brave you could try this.
https://www.mynetfone.com.au/Residential/Home-Phone/MyNetFone-VoIP/features/global-access-callback

Thanks for your suggestions. Would you recommend I ring QF in South Africa or ring QF in Australia. I will be asking them to hopefully release 2 J award flights so need someone who understands that WP can do this.

 

[travelislife]

Using vodafones $5 a day roaming I can use my exact same phone plan as in Aus, can you do this?

 

[sudoer]

Telstra also have a $30 for 3 day international travel pass which includes South Africa, if you are a Telstra customer and will have mobile reception. You'll get unlimited calls back to AU numbers for 3 days for the same cost as a 20 minute SA > AU call (without the pass). You'll also get 225MB of roaming data if you wanted to try booking via mobile first.

Optus' travel pass doesn't appear to include South Africa.

 

[sanne]

Telstra also have a $30 for 3 day international travel pass which includes South Africa, if you are a Telstra customer and will have mobile reception. You'll get unlimited calls back to AU numbers for 3 days for the same cost as a 20 minute SA > AU call (without the pass). You'll also get 225MB of roaming data if you wanted to try booking via mobile first.

Optus' travel pass doesn't appear to include South Africa.

Thanks for your suggestion. I am with Telstra so that is a good idea. I'll check that out.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Thanks. I have Skype. But if internet isn't great I may need to use mobile phone, hence my question of the best/cheapest way to do this. And if I should call SA QF or ring Australia QF.

I've had no experience with this and was hoping someone who had, could give me some valuable advice. Thanks.

i haven't experience wth Qantas SA but I once phoned Qantas Rome and they were a total waste of space and I ended up phoning Australia. Based on that huge sample of one, I would always phone Australia unless it was something very simple.

 

[sanne]

Thank you Flying Mermaid, I think I'll be phoning Qantas in Australia. I guess they have an international number to use.

 

[AIRwin]

I have called QF on a local number while in Asia and I remember it diverted to Australia after hours so you can also try that if it's cheaper?

 

[Guvner]

AIRwin has the answer. Phone the S.A number in the small window when the S.A office is closed and the Aus one is open. More than likely you will get redirected to the Aus call center at local S.A call costs.

 

[Flying mermaid]

AIRwin has the answer. Phone the S.A number in the small window when the S.A office is closed and the Aus one is open. More than likely you will get redirected to the Aus call center at local S.A call costs.

I had a look at the website and it claims 24 hours 7 days a week for South Africa. Some of the Asian ones are 9 to 5, some are 24 hours. I certainly phoned Rome and it answered at 10 at night. So not sure if it will divert or not - worth a try I guess.

when I phoned Australia from Rome, I have no idea what number I called! I was in a total state of stress after dealing with the Rome office, I can't remember!

 

[madrooster]

The South Africa office has the ability to transfer to Hobart if requested. I have done this before.

 

[theblank]

AIRwin has the answer. Phone the S.A number in the small window when the S.A office is closed and the Aus one is open. More than likely you will get redirected to the Aus call center at local S.A call costs.

Do the south africans complain about local customer service centres diverting phone calls overseas to people who cant speak proper saffer english?

 

[sudoer]

I guess they have an international number to use.

+61 2 9433 2329 or +61 3 9658 5302 would be the best numbers, these go through to the FF team. You'll get prompted for your QFF number and hopefully get sent to the front of the queue with your WP status.

 

[SpudOz]

Thanks for your suggestion. I am with Telstra so that is a good idea. I'll check that out.

I had to contact Qantas from Zambia in March. The phone system is horrendous and expensive. I used social media i.e. messenger. After I was identified by various questions etc, i was able to communicate that way and best of all had a record of my interaction. It worked well for me.

 

[Vic]

Have called SA number once. PERFECTLY able to deal with the enquiry.