confirming flight reservations
 

I am an inexperienced traveler; only flown twice in my 50 years. I will be meeting my daughter in Spain, then traveling various cities in Europe. I booked a flight with Orbitz and e-mailed. them to find out if I have to call the airlines (American Airlines and Aer Lingus) to confirm the reservations before I leave. Their response was that some international airlines require passengers to call and reconfirm a certain number of days/hours prior to departure. Those carriers may cancel reservations for passengers who fail to comply. If you are traveling on an airline that requires reconfirmation we recommend you call the carrier to find out how far in advance you must reconfirm. My questions are : shouldn't Orbitz know if the airlines I am flying on require my confirmation? afterall, they're in the travel business. And, where do I call? Do most people call the airlines or just show up. I am really nervous about travelling and don't want anything to go wrong.

Perhaps that was true 40 years ago? But we have -not- confirmed reservations on any of several airlines within memory. And our flights are international and domestic several times a year.

FWIW, I prefer not to deal with orbitz and such systems. But I have and have not had any problems but they can be most restrictive about changes. I always call the airline and ask what kind of deal they have. Many times just as good as orbitz etc. and better T&Cs (terms and conditions).

regards - tom
ps - some heck of a good deals on SA from USA to South Africa now, all times of the year.

Thank you Tom for your response. I can rest easy now. Susie

The confirmation is more important traveling within Africa where cancelations do happen.

But it appears you are traveling only in Europe. I mentioned Africa, since this is the Africa board.

I'd call the airline directly on the outbound flight to confirm and ask about the return flight, mentioning you may not be able to reconfirm on the way back. It may make you feel more confident talking to the actual airline.

Have a great trip!

We got the hotels to confirm the reservations as we went, one way of finding out about delays, cancellations.

We had an experience in India where our homeward flight time changed during the month we were on the road, so we were glad that our guide called to confirm the flight for us the day before and we found out about the new time. I'm sure it would be easy enough to ask your hotel to do this, if you're traveling independently and don't have access to a phone for some reason. Most airlines will have a toll-free number you can call, just to be on the safe side.

I have been on several flights to Hawaii from California where the flight was overbooked and they bumped people who had not called in to reconfirm. So it can happen, but I imagine it depends on the airline's policy and on how busy the flight is.

FYI: When we've purchased airline tickets from Orbitz in the past, they have always e-mailed us about changes to the flight schedule... but of course this isn't very helpful if you don't have e-mail access while you're traveling!

Hi Susie

Re-confirmation was 48 hours prior to flight - in the earlier days.
Nowadays I cannot think of an airline who requires re-confirmation.
Would it be an idea to inform the airline on your cellphone number your are traveling with? That makes sure they know how to reach you in order to let you know of any changes - IF they occur.

Happy landings!

SV