# Is it possible to call the desk at the a gate at the airport? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370 "2010-05-31T10:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swarog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Swarog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swarog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/1 "2010-05-31T10:09:28Z")
Is there a way to call the desk where the flight attendants announce boarding? It would be pretty cool for them to relay a message to my girlfriend who is waiting to board the plane. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/2 "2010-05-31T10:26:05Z")
Sure, they have phones there. Just give them a call. ---
**Author:** ![Swarog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Swarog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swarog)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/3 "2010-05-31T10:28:21Z")
BUT I DON’t KNOW HOW!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/4 "2010-05-31T10:37:52Z")
Oh, you want the number. Can’t help you there, Bro. It’s 2010. You could just call her cell phone. If it’s an emergency situation, call the airline. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/5 "2010-05-31T10:45:33Z")
**muody25** – emergency calls will be passed on, quite likely. But phoning to say hi? I doubt it, as they’d end up doing nothing but the “hi thing” all day long. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/6 "2010-05-31T11:52:58Z")
Most airports still have “courtesy phones” that are for use by the general public. They can likely be called from the outside; for example, here’s the info for [Philadelphia airport courtesy phones](http://www.phl.org/faq.html#14). That said, when you call this number, what will happen is someone will come on the public address system and say “ **muody25** ’s girlfriend, please pick up the white courtesy phone. **muody25** ’s girlfriend, please pick up the white courtesy phone.” Then your GF will have to find such a phone (which generally aren’t all that common in the departures area, IIRC), will pick it up and tell the operator who she is, and then you’ll be connected. It may be more trouble than it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/7 "2010-05-31T12:13:22Z")
Once I realized on the way out of the airport that I left something on the plane. I couldn’t go back to the gate because of security. I called the airline (United) and talked to at least three different people, none of whom would give me a number to call at the gate or transfer me to it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/8 "2010-05-31T13:53:22Z")
Former airline type … Yes, there are phones at each gate. No, you can’t have the number. It’s unlikely the central computer system has the gates’ numbers in it. Somebody at the airport ticket counter would certainly have it, but probably not somebody at central reservations. If somehow you got the number and called, the gate agent would be very likely to decide this is some coded message to a bad guy and launch a security alert. Having your GF detained for a few hours would not really send the message you intend. Bottom line: Bad Idea; don’t even try. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-call-the-desk-at-the-a-gate-at-the-airport/541370/9 "2010-05-31T15:35:33Z")
If its a really, really important message, though, you can call the airline and/or airport directly and they will use the public address system to get the person you are trying to reach to come to a service counter and they will relay the message. I had to do this once. I was stranded in Toronto (I hate Pearson airport) due to a screw-up by the airline, and couldn’t get to Heathrow on time to meet my husband, who was flying in from a business trip in Madrid. It would be nearly a day before I could get there. I couldn’t reach my husband since his phone didn’t work in Europe (and he was on a plane anyways!), so I called my mom who called Heathrow who called him up on the public address system once his flight landed. That was a fun trip.