Are there any ways to call 1-800 numbers in the US from Europe, for example in order to call American Airlines from the airport to re-route a cancelled flight rather than waiting in line for two hours and the airline only has a 1-800 number and has no in-country office that is open?
When you call a 001-800 number from a German telephone a computer voice tells you that this call is not free and standard international call charges aply after the beep. So yes, you can call those numbers but from a payphone you've probably got to pay 15-20 cents per minute...
Are you sure they don't have an in-country number? If you look on your ticket jacket most airlines will always have an in-country number even if not free.
If an airline has a ticket desk at an airport in a European country they are obliged by law to have a phone number that can be dialled by a passenger within that country.
Andy, I called my airlines' international desk here in the states before going overseas and got their local numbers for the countries I planned to visit. Sometimes the numbers are hard to find when you're over there and also, it seemed to me that some do not answer their phones 24/7. Good luck!
If you are a bit tech savvy, you can use Skype to call a US 800 number from anywhere. My wife does it all the time to call US only numbers from here in Canada.
It's free too :)
Pete