British Airways USA phone number from the UK??

[danjappleby]

Hi All,

first post here so please be gentle!

We are in the middle of booking return flights using a BA Amex companion voucher with rewards flights and avios

We’ve booked our outbound flight from the UK online – all nice and easy. Now we need to add on the return flight, but as it’s a not a high frequency route, we need to call at midnight / 1am UK time to an overseas call centre that is open to stand the best chance of getting the seats and dates we want.

I’ve run into an obstacle as the BA USA numbers don’t seem to work from my UK mobile…?? I have tried the following numbers already:
+1 800 452 1201 (USA BA Customer Services number)
+1 877 455 2488 (USA BA Exec Club number)
But can never seem to get through using my mobile or Skype. I’ve called o2 who say those numbers may not be provisioned to accept calls from overseas numbers.

Can anyone help with an overseas BA office telephone number who will be open at midnight for us to book return flights?

Any help hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Dan

[stevenhp1987]

I’ve always just used Skype for toll-free US numbers.

What happens if you call the number via Skype? I believe you must choose US from the list of countries (at the top of the call screen in the app) and start with 800 rather than enter +1800…

I just tested the number on Skype. Connected just fine.

[danjappleby]

Aah, tried with Skype and managed to get it to work! Thanks for your help 🙂 All booked!

[Sassa]

Is it possible to book online at 1am UK time? Or is it better to call the BA office? I too need to book flights for a popular route for next August. I’ve been monitoring the availability and the PE and Business seats are instantly selling out the moment they’re released. Is it more effective to call rather than book on the BA website in order to stand a chance of bagging the seats? Thanks

[SteveJ]

@Sassa, the phone agent can hold the seats before anyone can nab them. Online the seat in only yours once you make payment, so you lose valuable time.

Ideally you want to be on the phone, through the queue, past security checks all just before 1am, then as soon as it ticks over 1am the agent can hold the seat. If you ring too early they won’t be able to stay on the line indefinitely. It can be a nailbiting game!

[Sassa]

@SteveJ, wow thanks for the valuable info! Super sleuth! What time would you recommend I call? Is there generally a queue?

Thank you!

[FatherOfFour]

Sassa wrote:

@SteveJ, wow thanks for the valuable info! Super sleuth! What time would you recommend I call? Is there generally a queue?

Thank you!

That’s the problem; it’s so variable. I’ve called 00:20 and not answered till after 1 but also at 00:40 and answered within 5 mins.

[rashomon]

@Sassa – my experience of first time booking using my 241 turned out to be a success. I managed to nab 4 CW tickets outbound to Singapore for my family for next Aug during school hols. still pinching myself on this as there are so few flights out East on the BA schedules currently.

I made sure I was set up with Skype and for a dummy run I dialled the number at 01:00 BST to go through the process a night before. Spoke to an agent that was based in the US and they confirmed I needed to ring the next eve for the dates I wanted (ie. 355 days in advance).

On the actual day itself, I called the BA number at 00:45 and I had all the necessary details in front of me for my party – passport numbers, DOB, BAEC numbers etc and of course my 2 companion vouchers.

I got through to an agent based in the UK with about 10 mins before the seats were released and I explained exactly what I wanted, He was really switched on and took down all the details he needed in advance and then a minute before 01:00 he told me he was going to go ‘very quiet’ for a while. Palms sweating I waited and then he came back on 3 mins later with confirmation he had my seats bagged! … 10 mins later and a quick exchange of more details and it was all booked up. Even the agent was pleased with himself as he had failed earlier in the week to nab even 2 CW tickets for others let alone 4. Ended the call super happy and I gave myself a quick high-five (everyone else asleep!).

Hopefully you have success also!

ps. for some reason I could only dial the BA Skype number using the app on my Mac … when I tried via my iPhone I got a permanently engaged dial tone.

[FlounderV]

Can anyone give me the right contact number for booking BA reward flights, either US or Japan, via Skype or otherwise?
It doesn’t seem to be easy to find online….

[Greygoose]

@FlounderV – once logged in,if you click on Help and contacts at bottom of BA homepage and then page down to Contact information and Executive Club enquiries, you should be able to see link for phone numbers. Select the relevant country and number info. should appear

[iaink]

Hi @rashomon, @danjappleby

Which of those two numbers (Customer Service or Exec Club) did you use? Any difference in queue length between them?

Thanks

[s2bgrant]

Sorry if this is a dense question.. why does it have to be 1am and not midnight?? Thank you!

[Rob]

Fares load at midnight GMT, so during British Summer Time it is 1am.

[NorthernLass]

Yes, it’ll be back to midnight in 4 weeks when the clocks change!