Aetna Internationaler Kundendienst, gebührenfrei

I am looking at traveling and want an international travel plan, so I found this number for Aetna's international customer service and thought I would give it a call. Talking to an agent about my options seemed like the smartest way to proceed, especially because I don't really understand how international insurance works. I don't have too many pre-existing conditions, but I always hear about things happening abroad and I'm getting older so I want to be prepared. 

Aetna is a major health provider, so I'm not surprised that I would have to wait for someone, but I was a bit surprised their phone lines aren't consistent. At one point, I was forced to start my entire phone call again and I wasn't the happiest about that. When it comes to an insurance provider, you want to have an easy experience because everyone knows that insurance can be a hassle. If I had to make a claim, I think what happened might be even more frustrating. 

So to start, I called and a voice assistant answered and said, "Calling Aetna International. Your call will be monitored and recorded for quality assurance. If you are a member or an international provider, please press 1. If you are a domestic provider calling from the United States, please press 2." It took me a second to digest what they were saying because this all seemed like a weird way to state things, but it worked in my favor because when I didn't respond the system moved onto a new list of options.

It said, "Please listen carefully as our menu has changed. If you are calling about a guarantee of payment or a letter of benefits, please press 1. All other callers, please press 2." I chose 2 and it sent me to a hold line which wasn't bade. It played loud, but upbeat jazzy elevator music, and from time to time the music would stop and someone would say please hold.

Finally, the music stopped and I thought I was going to get to talk to someone, but instead, a survey about the experience I had with an agent launched. This was extremely weird because I never talked with anyone. I tried to complete it but then it just said thank you and hung up. I ended up having to call and start all over again. While I was only on hold for five minutes, it was annoying that there was some type of glitch in the system. The second time it worked, but I did have to wait on hold again.