Reconfirmation

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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, it is still allowed to mandate reconfirmation, so the risk of being cancelled remains. [3]

Each arline 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.

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Computer reservation systems, or central reservation systems (CRS), are computerized systems used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSs were later extended for use by travel agencies, and global distribution systems (GDSs) to book and sell tickets for multiple airlines. Most airlines have outsourced their CRSs to GDS companies, which also enable consumer access through Internet gateways. Modern GDSs typically also allow users to book hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets as well as other activities and tours. They also provide access to railway reservations and bus reservations in some markets, although these are not always integrated with the main system. These are also used to relay computerized information for users in the hotel industry, making reservation and ensuring that the hotel is not overbooked.

Boarding pass Document provided to an air-travel passenger functioning as a ticket.

A boarding pass or boarding card is a document provided by an airline during check-in, giving a passenger permission to enter the restricted area of an airport and to board the airplane for a particular flight. At a minimum, it identifies the passenger, the flight number, and the date and scheduled time for departure. A boarding pass may also indicate details of the perks a passenger is entitled to and is thus presented at the entrance of such facilities to show eligibility.

Electronic ticket Digital ticket

An electronic ticket is a method of ticket entry, processing, and marketing for companies in the airline, railways and other transport and entertainment industries.

Hand luggage

The term hand luggage or cabin baggage refers to the type of luggage that passengers are allowed to carry along in the passenger compartment of a vehicle instead of a separate cargo compartment. Passengers are allowed to carry a limited number of smaller bags with them in the vehicle, which typically contain valuables and items needed during the journey. There is normally storage space provided for hand luggage, either under seating, or in overhead lockers. Trains usually have luggage racks above the seats and may also have luggage space between the backs of seats facing opposite directions, or in extra luggage racks, for example, at the ends of the carriage near the doors.

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A contract of carriage is a contract between a carrier of goods or passengers and the consignor, consignee or passenger. Contracts of carriage typically define the rights, duties and liabilities of parties to the contract, addressing topics such as acts of God and including clauses such as force majeure. Among common carriers, they are usually evidenced by standard terms and conditions printed on the reverse of a ticket or carriage document. Notification of a shipment’s arrival is usually sent to the "notify party", whose address appears on the shipping document. This party is usually either the buyer or the importer.

Airline booking ploys are used by travelers in commercial aviation to lower the price of flying by circumventing airlines' rules about how tickets may be used. They are generally a breach of the contract of carriage between the passenger and the airline, which airlines may try to enforce in various ways.

Global distribution system

A global distribution system (GDS) is a computerised network system owned or operated by a company that enables transactions between travel industry service providers, mainly airlines, hotels, car rental companies, and travel agencies. The GDS mainly uses real-time inventory from the service providers. Travel agencies traditionally relied on GDS for services, products and rates in order to provide travel-related services to the end consumers. Thus, a GDS can link services, rates and bookings consolidating products and services across all three travel sectors: i.e., airline reservations, hotel reservations, car rentals.

Flight Compensation Regulation

The Flight Compensation Regulation is a regulation in EU law establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations, or long delays of flights. It requires compensation of €250 to €600 depending on the flight distance for delays over of at least three hours, cancellations, or being denied boarding from overbooking. Delays shorter than three hours means no entitlement to any compensation of any kind even if the delay was classified as non-extraordinary. Airlines must provide refreshments and accommodation where appropriate. The Court of Justice of the European Union has interpreted passenger rights strictly, so that there are virtually no exceptions for airlines to evade their obligations for breach of contract.

Overselling or overbooking is sale of a volatile good or service in excess of actual supply. Overselling is a common practice in the travel and hospitality sectors, in which it is expected that some people will cancel. The practice occurs as an intentional business strategy where sellers expect that some buyers will not consume all of the resources they are entitled to, or that some buyers will cancel. The practice of overselling aims to ensure that 100% of available supply will be used, resulting in the maximum return on investment. However, if most customers do wish to purchase or use the sold commodity, it may leave some customers lacking a service they expected to receive.

Airline ticket Entrance ticket used for air travel

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Flight cancellation and delay

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A no-show is a condition when an expected person does not arrive or appear somewhere they were expected to be. In aviation, no-show is when a ticketed passenger doesn't show up for their flight. Such passenger are also sometimes called a no-show.

2017 United Express passenger removal Instance of forced airline passenger deplaning

On April 9 2017 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, United States, four paying customers were selected to be involuntarily deplaned from United Express Flight 3411 to make room for four deadheading employees. The incident is widely characterized by government officials and United Airlines itself as an example of mishandled customer service. According to United spokesman Jonathan Guerin, the flight was not overbooked. United decided to remove four passengers in order to reposition a crew to cover a flight in Louisville the next day. Included among the deplaned passengers was Dr. David Dao Duy Anh, a Vietnamese-American who was injured by law enforcement personnel when he was physically dragged from the Louisville International Airport-bound flight. Dao, a pulmonologist and folk musician, refused to surrender his seat when requested because he needed to see patients the following day. Chicago Department of Aviation Security officers (ASO) were called to remove him from the plane; in the process, they struck Dao's face against an armrest, then pulled him, apparently unconscious, by his arms along the aircraft aisle past rows of onlooking passengers. Prior to the confrontation, United agents offered travel vouchers to passengers to vacate their seats to make room for four deadheading Republic Airways employees, but none of the passengers accepted. United then selected four passengers for involuntary removal from the flight, one of whom was Dao, and the three other passengers agreed to leave. Flight 3411 was operated by Republic Airways on behalf of United Express, a United Airlines regional branch.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Beaver, Allan (2013). "reconfirmation (preview)". Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press. A Dictionary of Travel and Tourism. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  2. ↑ "IATA Passenger Glossary of Terms" (xlsx). IATA . 2018-07-15. Row 665 "Reconfirmation". Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-03. (link can be found on the right bar under "Related Links" on IATA Passenger Standards Conference (PSC))
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Schedules and Tickets". Fly Rights – A Consumer Guide to Air Travel. US Department of Transportation. 2019-10-04. Archived from the original on 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  4. 1 2 3 "VI. Reconfirming". Air travelers' fly-rights (Third revised ed.). Washington D.C., USA: Civil Aeronautics Board. 1976. p. 13. hdl: 2027/uc1.c101988132 .
  5. 1 2 3 4 Frederick, John H (1955). "15. Airline passenger handling – Reconfirmation". Commercial air transportation (4 ed.). Homewood, Illinois, USA: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 418. hdl: 2027/mdp.39015023079653 .
  6. ↑ "Overbooking – Involuntary Bumping – exceptions". Fly Rights – A Consumer Guide to Air Travel. US Department of Transportation. 2019-10-04. Archived from the original on 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  7. ↑ Cherington, Paul W. (1958). "Appendix IX-D – The "no-show" penalty problem". Airline price policy; a study of domestic airline passenger fares. Boston, USA: Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University. p. 431. hdl: 2027/mdp.39015023100541 .
  8. ↑ Comptroller General of the United States, ed. (1978). "2. How tariffs affect passengers – Tariffs an infringe on consumer protection – Case A". Airlines passengers: are their consumer rights protected? : By the Comptroller General Report to the Congress of the United States. Washington D.C., USA: U.S. General Accounting Office. pp. 5, 8. hdl: 2027/uiug.30112012413966 .
  9. ↑ Birnbaum, Stephen (1989). Birnbaum's Great Britain, 1990. Houghton Mifflin. p. 23. ISBN   9780395511480. (URL is Google Books)
  10. ↑ Airline customer service : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, June 28, 2000. Washington D.C., USA: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2004. p. 47. hdl: 2027/uc1.b5183360 .
  11. ↑ "Contract of Carriage: U.S." Delta Air Lines, Inc. 2021-02-18. E) Compensation For Involuntary Denied Boarding. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  12. ↑ "Conditions of carriage". American Airlines. 2021-04-29. Oversold flights – Involuntary denied boarding. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  13. ↑ "Do I need to reconfirm my Lufthansa flight?". Lufthansa. Retrieved 2021-08-03. It is not necessary to reconfirm your booking for Lufthansa flights.
  14. ↑ "General Terms & Conditions – Conditions of Carriage for Passengers and Baggage (flight ticket GCC)". Lufthansa. Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft. 2021-07-01. 5.5 Reconfirmation of Reservations. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  15. ↑ "Contract of Carriage Document". United Airlines, Inc. 2021-04-13. Rule 25 Denied Boarding Compensation – Compensation for Passengers Denied Boarding Involuntarily – d. EXCEPTIONS. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  16. ↑ "Do I need to reconfirm my online reservations?". Ethiopian Airlines. Frequently Asked Questions – Online Booking. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  17. ↑ "Flight Reconfirmation Requirement". Kenya Airways. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
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