flight confirmation question

I think it is important to always reconfirm flights just because you may not receive notification of a change. Until recently we had become very sloppy about rechecking schedules - never had a problem. But on US Air a couple of years ago they re-scheduled our first leg so that we would have missed our connecting flight to Rome by about 30 minutes. We hadn't checked and didn't get a notice. Through a fortunate accident we have discovered the problem with just enough time to catch a United flight that just made our connection. I now faithfully recheck all schedules two or three times.

Which airline is it? I haven't confirmed airline tickets in many years. If your itinerary has a booking code or e-ticket number you can often go to the airlines website and make sure it's in their system.

I think it's any time within 72 hours ahead.

USAir

Head over to the "manage flights" option at http://www.usairways.com Enter the codes I mentioned above, if your flight(s) pop up you're good to go. 24 hours before departure you should also be able to print your boarding pass at the same site.

I entered the code, and our flights/seats are there. But does this qualify as "reconfirmation"? The itinerary says "international flights must be reconfirmed 72 hours prior to flight time or are subject to cancellation the airline" (their wording, not mine!) But it doesn't tell me how to accomplish this "reconfirmation." Or whether they mean prior to 72 hours or within 72 hours!

Did you purchase the tickets via a third-party like Expedia? If so, that's just a typical "CYA" legal mumbo-jumbo they put in all their fine-print:) But if it will make you sleep better at night, simply call the airline.

I think you are absolutely right -- there is no "reconfirmation" process and it's just about checking to make sure there aren't any changes. Crazy! Thanks for your help!

Very important to check on your flight schedule ahead of time. Several years ago we were flying United to Europe. We did not get a call from them. I always like to get to the airport early (much earlier than my husband wants to). When we arrived the plane was BOARDING. If we hadn't gotten there early we would have missed our flight, and we were meeting someone at Heathrow to fly on from there to another destination. Close call. I always check ahead of time now.

If you make your reservations a long time in advance, you might want to check back every month or two. Go to the airline's website and pull up your itinerary by using the Record Locator. Print out the itinerary each time and save it, in case of a problem or change. I made reservatison 331 days out (maximum) for an upcoming trip to Italy. Checked United's website about 8 weeks ago and found a slight change in flight time. A "robo call" from UA on Saturday caused me to go check again and one of my segments -- Rome to IAD -- had disappeared! Long story but UA had dropped their non-stop FCO to IAD for two days only and one was out return travel day. We could 1) come home early, 2) rebook through France with a much longer travel time, or 3) stay two extra days. Two extra days in Rome isn't exactly punishment, but I sure am glad we were able to work this out well in advance, get lodging extended, budget for it. So keep on top of the airlines! It only takes a few minutes to prevent problems at the time of travel.