Reconfirmation

In tourism, reconfirmation is a contractual requirement that the traveller must explicitly re-notify to the seller that they still intend to use their reservation.^[1][2] If the traveller fails to reconfirm, their reservation might be cancelled. The term is mostly used in commercial aviation.^[1]

Airlines

Several airlines require the traveller to perform reconfirmation procedures, even though the airline ticket has already been reserved, paid, confirmed, issued, partially checked-in and flown. A typical reconfirmation rule is: for each flight (or more precisely, a "leg"^[1]) within the trip, the traveller must explicitly re-notify ("reconfirm") to the airline,^[3] by telephone or at the airlines' counter,^[4] that the traveller still intends to take the reserved flight. The call must be done within a determined range of time in advance of the flight. Example deadlines are: 6^[5] to 72^[3] hours. The earliest acceptable timing is not mentioned, but merely checking-in the previous part of the trip does not count as a reconfirmation for the latter part. If the traveller fails to reconfirm their flight reservation, the airline may cancel it.^[3] This also means that if the traveller is forcefully deboarded ("involuntary deboarding", or "bumping", in jargon) from a flight because of the airline's overbooking, the traveller can not receive the standard compensation.^[6]

The reconfirmation rule is an attempt to reduce no-shows.^[5] Airlines tried several penalties such as reconfirmation, and no-show penalty charges. The reconfirmation system began in 1952.^[5] It was hated from the beginning, and the policy was frequently revised and inconsistent.^[5][7]

During the 1970s, travellers were strongly advised to reconfirm,^[4] as cancellations actually happened,^[4] even on domestic flights.^[8] Since the 1990s, some guidebooks told that domestic flights do not need reconfirmation.^[9] By 2000, there was a notion that reconfirmation became something of the past, and travellers who actually did reconfirm may have decreased.^[10] However, as of 2021^[update], it is still allowed to mandate reconfirmation, so the risk of being cancelled remains.^[3]

Each airline has different reconfirmation policies, which are stated in their Contract of carriage. For a ticket that contains multiple flights operated by different airlines, one flight may not require reconfirmation, yet others may do. Each airline and each flight have different rules.

• Delta Air Lines: As of 2021^[update], "reconfirmation" is mentioned in their Contracts of carriage.^[11]
• American Airlines: As of 2021^[update], "reconfirmation" is mentioned in their Contracts of carriage.^[12]
• Lufthansa: As of 2021^[update], Lufthansa flights do not need reconfirmation.^[13][14]
• United Airlines: As of 2021^[update], "reconfirmation" is mentioned in their Contracts of carriage.^[15]
• Airlines which explicitly mandate reconfirmation: Ethiopian Airlines,^[16] Kenya Airways^[17]