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Here is one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had with an airline customer service representative.

I searched for flights from Hong Kong to Busan with China Airlines, who offer the best schedule for me (I always avoid flights touching down before dawn and personally don’t mind a two- to three-hour layover).

I selected my flights, proceeded to the payment process and put in my personal information, when suddenly the web page went blank. I refreshed the page a few times but it had no response at all.

After a few moments, I got back into China Airline’s website, but the flights I had chosen were gone, with only business class left available (an extra US$350 for the round trip). I felt this was kind of ridiculous; a well-established flag carrier should have a well-developed website and I shouldn’t have to bear this extra US$350.

I therefore called the customer hotline. I really did not expect much since I have heard of some terrible experiences dealing with airlines’ hotlines over the phone.

However Emily – the representative who answered my call – acted promptly. First she checked the system and found my input, and then she sorted things out with her manager. This involved a bit of back and forth as I understand the dates I had selected were very busy, but I was amazed with their keenness to help me instead of fobbing me off and wasting my time, and was very pleased to be offered the flights which I had chosen initially.

Such a well-trained customer service team is not easy to find these days. Wallace Wong, Hong Kong