US Dept. of Veterans Affairs GI Bill Hotline

Phone Number & Getting a Rep

US Dept. of Veterans Affairs GI Bill Hotline number

888-442-4551
Toll-free·Calls GI Bill Hotline·See main phone number & contact info
Q:

How do I talk to a human at this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs number?

A:Direct to a human
Q:

Does this phone number work 24/7?

A:No. Hours for this phone number are Mon-Fri 8am-7pm EST. The least busy day is Thursday, and the most busy day is Tuesday. See below for more and to learn where this data comes from.
Q:

How long will I have to wait to speak to US Dept. of Veterans Affairs GI Bill Hotline?

A:The average hold time is 3 minutes. The longest hold times are on Tuesday, and the shortest are on Monday.

All US Dept. of Veterans Affairs customer service contact information

This is the #4 most popular US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone number out of 6. Click above to go back to the main customer service number and other contact information, including US Dept. of Veterans Affairs email addresses, twitter handles, and live chat options.

More US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Customer Phone Numbers

Main Information Line

800-698-2411
Main phone number · Toll-free · 24 hours, 7 days · Direct to a human · If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7. Homeless helpline, press 6. Pack Act main menu, press 8.

Benefits Hotline

800-827-1000
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 8am-9pm EST · Press 1, then 0, then 4, then 2 · Check the status of the claim, press 8.

Debt Management

800-827-0648
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 6:30am-6pm CST · Call this number for the Debt Management department · Debt Management Center - If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7. Self-help options, press 9. Credit card or HCH payment, press 1. Education debt, press 2. Pension debt, press 3. Military debt, press 4. Disaster relief, press 5.

Health Benefits Hotline

877-222-8387
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 8am-8pm EST · Direct to a human · Enrollment in VA healthcare, press 1. Billing, collections, or insurance, press 2. Benefits administration, press 3. For any other questions, press 0 for the operator.

My HealtheVet Help Desk

877-327-0022
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 8am-8pm EST · Direct to a human · Please hold for the next help desk representative.

How do I get through the phone menu to a real live person?

GetHuman researchers routinely call this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone number to document the phone system.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Direct to a human
Here is how our research team describes the way the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone system greets you: Education helpline - If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7 now. Montgomery GI Bill verifying your attendance, visit our website or press 1. Direct deposit, automated payment history system, press 2. Debt Management Center, press 3. Spouse or dependent of a VA who died on 911, press 5.

What are the hours and when should I call?

US Dept. of Veterans Affairs operates the call center for this 888-442-4551 phone number Mon-Fri 8am-7pm ET. The short answer is that you should call on a Thursday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 879 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like US Dept. of Veterans Affairs staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.

The least busy time to call

The least busy day to call US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is Thursday. The most busy day to call is Tuesday. Again, this is based on a sample of 879 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.

The shortest wait on hold

We measured the shortest hold times to be on Monday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Tuesday.

The best time to call

In summation, the best day to call US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is Thursday. This is not the day with the shortest wait on hold in the phone system, but we still recommend it for its ideal combination of low call volume and short hold times. Plus we believe that US Dept. of Veterans Affairs staffs the call center well on Thursday.

Calling this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Customer Number

Adam Goldkamp is the editor / author responsible for this content.
Nov 23, 2023

I am a veteran who is ready to take advantage of my education benefits. I have struggled a bit since leaving the army, and I want to finish my college education to have more options for a new career. For that reason, I called the US Department of Veterans Affairs to talk about what my education benefits would look like so that I could plan accordingly. I'm unsure what the process looks like, and I need to talk to someone about how I get enrolled. 

Before making my phone call, I knew I would likely have to wait. Any veteran who has sought help at a Veteran's hospital knows that anything that has to do with the VA requires a wait. Therefore, I made sure I had plenty of open time and made the call in the morning before lunch. I had to wait through many options that had nothing to do with me, and the customer care agent who answered the phone could have had a clearer and stronger voice, but I accomplished what I set out to do. 

When I first called, I had to listen to a lot of messages that had nothing to do with me before I actually was able to listen to any real options that I could choose. The voice assistant told me, "Welcome to the Department of Veteran Affairs Education Benefits Assistance Service Line. For VA information, please visit our website at www.va.gov. If you are having suicidal thoughts, press 7 now to be connected to the Veteran’s crisis line. Please listen carefully as our options have changed. If you are a post-9-11 GI beneficiary calling to verify your enrollment status, please consider choosing opt-in via the text message you just received."

I am a post 9-11 GI veteran, but I didn't have an option to get any help from there, which was slightly annoying. There has been a gap between the time I served and now, so I'm not sure what text message they refer to. After all of this, I finally got some options, but I am unsure what most of them were. First, it told me, "If you are a Montgomery bill recipient beneficiary or dependent beneficiary calling to verify your attendance, please consider going online to verify via the school attendance link. Or you can press 1 to access our automated system." Then it said something about direct deposit and to press 2 to access an automated system. Then it said to press 3 to set up a payment plan and press 9 to talk to someone if you are a spouse or a beneficiary of a deceased veteran. 

Finally, it told me that if I wanted to talk to a representative, I could just stay on the line. This was about four minutes in at this point. It sent me to a hold line after this, and it wasn't a terrible wait, but the agent had a soft voice and a notable southern drawl that made him difficult to understand. I did get my information, but it took time. 

Adam has been tirelessly trying to help customers find the best tips and tricks to get through phone trees and writing many guides for prickly customer service problems. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inside Edition and Bloomberg.

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