I would say do it for sure, but I tend to forget sometimes.

Pays to be safe! I sent reconfirming emails to our B&Bs in Ireland, and got a reply from the Ashgrove in Bunratty that they had thought I had canceled our two rooms and didn't have any more.Weird. They did make arrangments with another B&B, but I was very disappointed as I had spent lots of time choosing the "right" place for us. Well, at least we knew this a few weeks prior to our trip, otherwise it would not have been fun looking for 2 rooms.So, unless you're staying in a big hotel, I'd definitely reconfirm!

Christina, I'm with you part way -- yes, I either have a confirmation or I don't. But more than once I've arrived at a hotel with the printed confirmation in my hand -- all details correct -- but there is no room available and somehow they seem to have lost the reservation. My favorite was at a hotel in Amboise, where after the girl looked at my printed confirmation carefully, she said, "oh, this was made 10 months ago. We don't keep our reservations that long". HUH?

Another time, I arrived at a wonderful boutique hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand to be told that they just realized that morning they did have a reservation for us, but it was never properly entered into the computer and there was nothing they could do except find us an alternate hotel.

Still another time, when they couldn't come up with how I could have the written confirmation in hand but they didn't seem to have a record of it, a clerk came up with the story that we had definitely cancelled it! How does one prove you didn't?

I've done hundreds and hundreds of reservations and never had a problem either, but then I've also had a few where there was a problem. It only takes one such issue to make you want to confirm in the future.

Never...I did once and it turned out badly...

I called to re-confirm my flight reservations to Madrid and somehow in the course of all that, the agent deleted mine instead. I found out when I arrived to depart at the airport, and had to travel a completely different day. Nightmare all around...

I keep the original confirmations and don't risk getting them mucked up by re-opening the issue.

BRR: I don't think you need to worry about your reservation at the Locanda Orseolo. It is a small hotel and with their extremely high level of customer service I'd be very surprised if you had any trouble with a previously confirmed reservation. Enjoy your stay there, it is absolutely wonderful, as I'm sure you've already heard. :)

Talking about credit cards and expiration dates. Do check the expiration dates on your credit cards and ATM cards..we tried to pay a hotel bill in Ravenna with our AMEX card, it had expired the day before. We had other credit cards with us so it was not a problem but it sure would be for a person that only has one credit card or just one ATM card.

After recent issues with www.Hotelclub.com, I would surely check your reservation. We turned up at the Club Puerata Del Sol, Mijas with a confirmed booking from Fairview Travel in Madrid for HotelClub only to find the hotel had been closed for 4 months.
When we contacted HotelClub they blamed the third party.

As someone who's worked around hotels and tours, I wholeheartedly vote for reconfirming arrangements, particularly if you're travelling with young children. As pointed out by others, better to nip problems in the bud a week out than at the front desk. Many sightseeing tours require that you call to reconfirm beforehand.

Regarding flights: when I said I check flight details once more, I mean by checking on-line; I don't actually call the airline. I trust the on-line system to book the tickets, so I have to trust what I see for the flight info - but if the details change within 3 hours of departure, we'll have already left for the airport.

Thanks All! Interestingly enough, since my original paranoid post...I received an email FROM our hotel in Nice, reminding us that we are coming ( Hotel Gounod ) And I emailed the little hotel
in Digne Les Bains that we would be arriving late...might be one of those places that isn't staffed round the clock, didn't want to inconvenience them in case they just wanted to leave us a number to call or something (and it will be Christmas eve...) I think the credit card/atm expiration date is a huge issue! I tried to get my bank to renew my visa early, because the exp. date on my visa is coming up fast, and I just wanted assurance. Wouldn't do it. I'm off to check my atm card this very second...Joyeux Noel et Buon Natale!

It's also a good idea to let the hotel know if you will arrive late. If you don't they may assume you're a no show and give away your room.

I always check directly with the hotels to make sure that they receive the reservation (if made by another company).
As we made the reservation far in advance, two weeks before vacation we write an email to hotels again for reconfirmation.
I take with me all these papers (even till now, never needed them).!!

Never.

We'll, I take that back. As someone who travels 50 roundtrips per year on business, I am often on the airlines website reminding myself of what tickets I've booked.

But calling the airline to confirm? Useless.

I always re-confirm hotel, and by now i'd have checked my airline tickets at least 2 million times:)

I didn't used to but will from now on. This spring when I emailed our hotel in Amsterdam to get some dinner reservations for us, they wrote back that the reservation had been screwed up (not by me, thank heavens) and they only had a suite left. Well, I got a good rate, and I love that suite, but paid more than I would have. I'll always call and confirm from here on in. I buy tickets from Orbitz generally and their reminders in the days before departure tell me that the air ticket is good.

Danna, the hotel should have given you the suite, if that's all they had, for the originally-agreed price. I think that's rather shady of them.

Gee, I've been traveling for close to 30 years and never contacted a hotel after my initial confirmation. After reading this thread, though....It's not a bad idea at all.

WillTravel, I agree with you except for the shady part. The problem came with the confusion on how the European 1 and 7 are written and my American handwritten faxed reservation form. Now granted, arriving on the 5th and leaving on the 1st should have been a clue, but the ownership had changed. I pushed for the same price, but this IS Amsterdam and they would have probably filled the suite. At the same time, this is the first suite my husband and I shared six years ago and I was happy to have this for my inaugural transatlantic trip with my daughter. It felt right, so a little more money didn't mean that much.

Cheers!

It's a very good idea to confirm your booking a week or so before your arrival and small-inn-keepers really really appreciate it!

If I can confirm by email, I do it routinely. I only need about 60 seconds to send a short message, or even forward one I have "in stock". It doesn't hurt and it might help.