I generally don't reconfirm hotels but did for recent France trip because I'd made the reservations months in advance and first-time-to-Europe relatives were with us, and I wanted things to go smoothly.

Since I had made reservations for hotel in 3 countries a few months in advance, I did reconfirm because you just never know if your info might disappear after such a long time. I talso just put my mind at ease since I always have my son with me and this time we also had my parents.

I never thought to reconfirm. But I am only in charge of myself or one other (not a group) and have only made the reservations a month or so prior to the trip.

I always book far in advance via e-mail and always re-confirm 2-4 weeks prior to departure. I also bring copies of all e-mail correspondence. I also have OCD.

For me it wouldn't even be a question, I always reconfirm everything I can. Planes, hotels, trains, whatever.

You don't have to call it "reconfirm", just e-mail a friendly note thanking them for advance reservation and add a question, like "what is the best way to get there".

I am a reconfirmer!

In the last 2 days I have been exchanging frantic (on her side) messages with dear Margherita, known to many on this board, who co-owns (with sister Elena) Al Poggiolo apartments in Montepulciano.

My colleague, wife, baby and parents failed to show up Sunday to take up their two-week rental of 2 apartments at Al Poggiolo.

It seems they had received a map of Montepulciano but had not (inexplicably) received the detailed driving instructions Margherita sent.

They decided, I guess, to wing it.

On arrival in Montepulciano they could not find the apartments and lacked the phone number enclosed with the driving instructions...They spent the night at a hotel, having failed to locate their destination.

So yes I would re-confirm, if only to re-confirm all the logistics (rather than the reservation itself).

Thanks everyone! Looks like thoughts are divided on this one. I've got the time and would prefer not to worry about the chance of a mix-up. I'm sure I can come up with enough "excuses" to send another email closer to our departure date. Cheers!

After reading and responding to this post I started thinking about our one hotel reservation for an upcoming trip that wasn't made through some sort of reservation service...so I e-mailed the hotel in the Loire Valley to re-confirm.

You can imagine my surprise when a same-day response started out with, "We are sorry but we do not have a reservation under your name for the [particular date]."

We eventually straightened this out but I would now revise my original repsonse about re-confirming to add that it certainly couldn;t hurt to do so and is probably a wise thing TO do.

How I loathe this practice. It implies that it is the buyer's responsibility to cover the vendor's negligence in honouring a contract. If the vendor does not wish to enter a contract more than x months in advance, that is their right, but if that is their policy, it is their duty to inform their buyers. Further, if a vendor feels a one night deposit doesn't sufficiently cover their costs in the event of cancellation, then it is their responsibility, not mine, to devise a more suitable policy (say, x per cent of the entire cost of the reservation, in the event of multiple night reservations).

Bad business practice is not a suitable remedy for other bad business practices. And now that I'm on a roll, may I be allowed to yell from the rooftops, that the very term 'reconfirm' is misleading, since it is only necessary if one was informed, FALSELY, that one was ever confirmed in the first place!!! If vendor finds the contract is no longer in his or her interest (as in the event he or she gets the opportunity to sell out their entire hotel to a convention crowd, for example) then naturally they may desire to terminate the contract, just as I would if my plans changed. However, in that instance I would like to be freed to seek another vendor of my choice, not be coerced into accepting an alternative of the VENDOR'S choosing.

Sigh. I can rant all I like, but when it comes to small local enterprises, I know who will win, fairly or no. So I have come to issue 'helpful' emails informing them of our time of arrival, etc., a week or so before we leave. I don't call it 'reconfirming' since I can't repeat anything that was never done in the first place, but at least it gives the vendor an opportunity to confess in advance. Even then, it is no guarantee. I've read reports here of people being told they were confirmed right up until they arrived at the church, so to speak. Then they were told the equivalent of, "I can't marry you, but you're going to just loooove my cousin Vinnie....."

Note that I am rarely concerned about the status of my reservations with chain hotels, which are generally better managed (a major point in their favour IMO, for all their lack of soul and character).

Regarding Elaine's mention of what cultural differences about reconfirming reservations or inquiries, it's happened to me too. I find that the staff are always prompt in confirming my reservation. However, I sometimes have problems in getting replies if I send them either reconfirmation emails or miscellaneous inquiries. I do have to be persistent and once or twice have been told that they are very busy with the current reservations so they couldn't reply promptly.

We just returned from 2 1/2 weeks in England and Scotland and did not reconfirm any of our reservations. None of them required a credit card # to secure. We did print out and take with us all responses--on a trip to Amsterdam we were once charged more for the room than the agreed upon rate so we learned a lesson from that experience. This time we failed to print out some maps/directions to a few places--big mistake in remote countryside locations.

I once stopped reconfirming airline reservations and ended up losing a whole day of a trip because a connecting flight had been cancelled (three months prior) and the airline had not let us know. Now I religiously reconfirm. I don't care what they say on the ticket. I never again want to lose a whole day of a European trip!