Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Escape from Phone Tree Hell

Does this sound familiar? You call a travel company to book a trip, make a complaint, request information, check on a reservation, or do some other relatively simple task, and suddenly, you're stuck in PHONE TREE HELL! It's that maddening world of endless phone prompts, droning announcements, and countless button pushes that get you nowhere...except to yet another recording. There's no escape!

Thankfully, the gentle folks at GetHuman offer some relief. This handy-dandy online database details the phone numbers and secret button combinations you need to dial to get connected directly to an actual human being. There's even a special Travel section on the site listing airlines, hotels, and other travel-related businesses.

For even more "secret" phone numbers (travel related and otherwise), be sure to also bookmark the appropriately named Hard to Find 800 Numbers. Here you'll find additional tricks for getting through those endless corporate phone mazes.

Happy dialing!