Why haven’t I been charged for my honeymoon flight?

Here’s a question that came to me by way of the Monday afternoon Washington Post chat on travel (and by the way, if you haven’t dropped in to ask a question, please do). Karen Luong booked her honeymoon flights from Baltimore to Naples, Italy through Orbitz in mid-June. She received reservation number from the online agency, but hasn’t been charged yet.

How can she be sure she has a ticket?

This is a question that’s come up a time or two. What, exactly, is a ticket? Is it a record locator? A ticket number? A reservation number for your online travel agency?

She writes,

I spoke to an Orbitz Customer Service Representative on July 3 and I was told that the airlines (Delta and Air France) was responsible for collecting ticket charges and that was why the charges have not appeared on my credit card.

When I spoke to the airlines, I was told that Orbitz was responsible for collecting the ticket charges. I was reassured again and again by Orbitz, Delta, and Air France that as long as I had my ticket confirmation and e-ticket numbers then I was confirmed on the flight and I had nothing to worry about.

However, it has been almost one month since I booked these tickets on Orbitz and my credit card has still not been charge. I am very worried that something has gone awry with my reservation and as this is for my honeymoon trip I am very worried that I might miss my honeymoon as a result.

Hmm. I’ve heard of airlines that are slow to refund money. But slow to charge? That’s a relatively new one.

Here’s how it should happen: You book your airline tickets, and you’re charged right away. You also get all of the necessary confirmations, including record locators, from your agent.

Orbitz was correct; in my experience, having a record locator and ticket numbers means you have a real ticket. But I might have called Delta and Air France to double-check, particularly if there had been no charge to my credit card.

Call me skeptical, but in this day and age of electronic reservations, some of which get lost, I’m not entirely happy unless I have something in writing from the airline verifying my itinerary and ticket status.

I suggested that she ask Orbitz about the charges. A few weeks later, I got an update:

I am just about at my wit’s end. I tried contacting Orbitz again, but they keep giving me the same line that the charges will appear on my credit card in a few days. It’s been almost a month now!

Finally, I contacted Orbitz on Luong’s behalf. I just heard back from her:

I got a very nice email from Orbitz. They said they would help me resolve the issue. And now my credit card was finally charge for the plane tickets. It’s a big sigh of relief.

What if she hadn’t been charged, and Delta or Air France had denied her boarding? She’d have to buy tickets at a far more expensive walk-up fare and then take the matter up with Orbitz, which would have almost certainly been a time-consuming and frustrating process.

So when can you be certain that you have a ticket, and not just a reservation? Everyone seems to have a different answer to that question.

(Photo: g arda/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Laura

    This is another situation where using an experienced, professional travel agent would have saved her weeks of worry, and a lot of wasted time!

  • Phil

    Laura is absolutely right, use a real, alive, in person professional travel agent to avoid all the hassels of a no face, not really interested in your travels, just your money on line travel agency.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Laura – I agree with you; however, a lot of people do NOT put a value on their time nor put a value on not worrying, etc. They only look at the hard dollars such as a brick & mortar travel agent is going to charge me $ 30 to book a ticket.

  • Thalassa

    I’m sure the charges should have come from Orbitz, btw. The post doesn’t specify who actually billed her, and I’d be curious.

    One other thing: Those of you who are trumpeting the travel agencies? Are you travel agents? A little transparency would be nice.

  • Mary Graham

    I can’t for the life of me understand why Orbits refused to help their customer and would only do so when you got involved and made a call. What is wrong with them??? Oh, I know, they really don’t like their customers at all, can’t be bothered with them.

  • Mike Z

    Sorry, but booking a single ticket isn’t complicated. Its not like there were 20 legs on an around the world flight here. And all she wanted was for the travel company to charge her so she had piece of mind that her tickets were indeed valid. This shouldn’t be a problem that a travel agent would be needed for. I would suggest she take that $30 booking fee that the gent would have taken and apply it toward a travel insurance policy.

  • sam

    Chris you are correct in regards to the issue of an airline ticket, the credit card authorization is simultaneously processed along with the airline ticket.
    The steps are as follows when you make a airline reservations:
    1- When the airline reservation is made a person receives a “Record Locator”
    2- When the ticket is processed the person receives both the Electronic Ticket Number AND THE Credit card approval number. These numbers are printed in the actual ticket.
    3- There ARE RARE times due to a mix up between the “airline or or supplier”, that the charged amount DOES NOT hit the persons credit card.

    AS long as the person has all 3 “codes”..Record locator/ e-tk # and approval code, then it’s is up to the Credit Card firm to post the charge.

    In regards to the building a relationship with working with a travel agent, I perfectly agree that people should take advantage of this resource. I continue to be amazed to read the situations that people appear to discover.

    Considering this new and improved TSA airline security program, I look forward to future conflicts because a person did not properly follow the documentation process when making a airline reservation.

  • Carver

    I haven’t used a travel agent in years. When you book a ticket with a brick and mortar travel agent, does the charge come from the travel agent or the airline? IF it comes from the travel agent, how exactly would a travel agent have helped in this case?

    The OP would have gotten a charge from the travel agent and still might not have had a ticket, shown up and still been screwed.

    @Arizona

    Laura – I agree with you; however, a lot of people do NOT put a value on their time nor put a value on not worrying, etc.

    That’s simply untrue. Basic economic theory tells you that in every transaction, people consider their perceived value of the goods and services as compared to the price charged. If the price charged exceeds the perceived value, the transaction will not take place.

    In this case, its not that we don’t value our time, its that we used a derivation of the Lerned Hand’s formulation (for the math geeks)
    B=PL
    B = investment in precaution, e.g. insurance, using a travel agent
    P= probability of harm in not investing in the precaution
    L = magnitude (scope) of likely harm, e.g. lost of investment, time, etc.

    Most of us intuitively understand that a travel agent fees are not justified in simple cases, e.g. a well traveled destination by a reasonably sophisticated traveler. The odds of loss are minimal to begin with and can be further reduced with some homework.

    For example, I am flying to Los Angeles from San Francisco tomorrow on my preferred carrier. I have a fully refundable ticket. Because I bought it later than usual it’s basically a walk up ticket. I might miss the flight, I might mispell my name, I might change my mind, the flight might be cancelled… It doesn’t matter as the ticket if fully nonrefundable. If anything goes wrong, I do not expect to spend more than 5 minutes resolving any issues. Accordingly, I perceive a travel agent to provide me with $0.00 benefit and did not use one’s services.

  • Charles

    I want to know exactly how a local travel agent would have helped in this case. Suppose the entire process had happened exactly the same, but using a live travel agent. When you booked the trip, you would have paid the travel agent, not the airline directly. The travel agent will book your travel on a computer program not that different from Orbitz. The airline then charges the travel agent. Would the travel agent have noticed if the charge had not happened? Probably eventually, but likely not very quickly and maybe not before the trip. Then, they get to the airport and their tickets are not valid. Is the travel agent going to eat the cost of fixing this problem? It’s my understanding that travel agents make no money on airline tickets other than a booking fee they charge (list $35). Will they really be willing to eat a couple thousand dollar mistake?

  • James Barnes

    Chris; as someone in a previous life worked in the training department for US Airways…you asked; “What, exactly, is a ticket? Is it a record locator? A ticket number? A reservation number for your online travel agency?” Simply put….having a ticket number means you have a ticket. An airline record locator is generated at the time of the booking……whether the ticket issued at that moment or not. (FYI….the ticket number is 10 digits with the first 3 digits identifying the issuing carrier. I believe Delta’s 3 digits are 016). That is what she should have requested.

  • Jeffrey

    Arizona – You travel more a lot more then the average person and probably provide your travel agent with a lot of commissions. If you had a problem with 1 small cheap flight she would probably go out of her way to help you because of this. If an average person who flies once or twice a year has the same problem the travel agent will not be as willing to help in my opinion.

    I prefer to book my own travel because if there is a problem I can fix it myself and make sure that it gets done ASAP instead of having to wait on someone else who has less to lose then I do.

  • David Z

    Believe it or not, our company’s had isolated cases where the customer booked a flight, was given both a ticket number and record locator, yet was not charged immediately. We even had one isolated incident where (miraculously) the person flew without hitches, yet wasn’t charged until some time after.

    Be darned if I know how or why that happens.

  • http://na P.J. Zornosa

    She should have used a travel agent – that’s a given. Since she contacted the airlines that she is scheduled to fly and they confirmed everything there’s reassurance there.
    I would suggest she go to either an Air France and/or Delta Ticket office in person or to the airport ticket counter and verify IN PERSON that she in fact has the reservation and will not be denied boarding when she departs.

    It could be that Orbitz or the airline (or both) may have made a mistake in their charging for the ticket. It also may be that their administration just “hasn’t gotten around to processing the charge” which in reality is not her problem.

    I am certain that she WILL be charged for her ticket at some point, but if she verifies in person that she does in fact have a ticket she should be “covered”.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Thalassa – “One other thing: Those of you who are trumpeting the travel agencies? Are you travel agents? A little transparency would be nice.”
    - – - – - – - –
    I am not a travel agent, not an owner of a travel agency, not employed by a travel provider (i.e. airline, cruise line, tour operator, etc.), not employed by a company that provide products and/or services to the travel industry, etc. I think that some trips such as international travel, once-in-a-lifetime trips (i.e. honeymoons, anniversaries, etc.) and complex itineraries (i.e. using different airlines) should be booked with a professional brick & mortar travel agent.

    My reason is that things do happen. Instead of calling a call center in India or the Philippines or calling a call center in the US with $ 7.50 per hour script readers, it is nice to have someone that you can drop into their office or speak with a professional to resolve the problems.

    For our honeymoon, we went to Hawaii. It was our plans to go to Oahu. My travel agent recommended Maui and Kauai instead of Oahu. We were glad that we listened to our travel agent. Some people might like Oahu (Honolulu) but it is too commercialized for us compared to Maui and Kauai.

    In regards to brick & mortar travel agents, it is my guess that 60 to 70% of them are worthless…this is no difference for other industries. It is very hard to find a good travel agent as well as it takes some time (trial & error) to find a good travel agent.

    Did I use a travel agent for my upcoming international trip? No because I cash in miles for our airline tickets (a travel agent can’t assist here) and cash in hotel points for our hotel stays (again, a travel agent can’t assist here). However, I did consult with a travel agent about the trip and paid for the time.

  • LeeAnne

    OMG, I am SO tired of reading all these absurd “you should have used a travel agent” comments. For a PLANE TICKET? You’ve got to be kidding me. Who in their right mind would work with a “real live, in person travel agent” to book a simple flight?

    Sorry, but that’s just poppycock. That’s like telling someone they should work with a professional shopper/wardrobe designer just to buy a t-shirt. Total overkill.

    The fact is, regardless of who is doing the selling, it is incumbent on the seller of the ticket to DO THE JOB RIGHT. Clearly, in this case, somebody did something wrong – either Orbitz (which, btw, IS the TA in this case), or the airline. This problem could just as easily have happened with a “real live in-person” TA, who could have been just as incompetent as whoever it was that fouled this ticket up. Working with a TA does not guarantee competence. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories of trips screwed up by TA’s, who then suddenly became unavailable to solve the problem that their incompetence created.

    The bottom line is, the seller of the travel product, whomever it is…live TA, online agency, airline…needs to do their job right. When they don’t, the customer will have to pursue it — which is exactly what this customer did. And when that pursuit does not solve the problem, Christopher is there to provide the necessary nudge to whomever screwed it up.

    “Real live TA’s” are just as likely to screw up as any other travel seller. Enough with the TA propaganda.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Mary Graham – “I can’t for the life of me understand why Orbits refused to help their customer and would only do so when you got involved and made a call. What is wrong with them???”
    - – - – - – -
    It is simple…Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. are BOOKING sites NOT travel agents. Their objective is to draw people to their sites to see their advertisements so that they can get paid by their advertisers and to book travel so that they can get paid. They don’t ask questions about your preferences, don’t give advice, etc.

    If you call them, you are calling a call center in India or the Philippines or calling a call center in the US with $ 7.50 per hour script readers. It is my guess that none of the individuals in these call centers are travel agents and probably most of them have not traveled outside of the India, the Philippines, the US and etc. They probably do not have the skills set to solve problems or even empowered to solve problems.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Mike Z – “Sorry, but booking a single ticket isn’t complicated.”
    - – - – - – - -
    You are correct booking a ticket for JFK to LAX for example is simple. I know that Chris Elliott has made the recommendation in previous articles that people should considered using the services of a brick & mortar travel agent for honeymoons, once-in-a-lifetime trips, etc. I think that it make sense to use the services of a brick & mortar travel agent for international travel.

    In the case of Ms. Luong, they are going to travel from BWI to JFK, JFK to CDG and CDG to NAP. Since there are more flights, there are more chances that something could happen like a weather delay or a mechanical delay. While the odds are low, things do happen and it is nice to call someone to assist you if you need it versus calling a call center in India, the PI or a call center in the US with $ 7.50 per hour script readers.

    Even if Ms. Luong decided that she didn’t need the services of a brick & mortar travel agent to assist her on her honeymoon travel plans, she should have went to the Delta website to book the tickets. If she needs to make a change, she will need to call Orbitz to make the change since they are the ‘travel agent’ of record for the ticket not Delta.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver – “That’s simply untrue. Basic economic theory tells you that in every transaction, people consider their perceived value of the goods and services as compared to the price charged. If the price charged exceeds the perceived value, the transaction will not take place.”
    - – - – - – - -
    I agree with the theory but it has been my experiences that most people do not include all hard dollars costs and soft dollars into the equation. I think that most people look at the price and choose the lowest. I used to work for a company where a VP of Sales made his regional sales managers to fly Southwest to save $ 10 to $ 50 to come to a monthly meeting…all of these regional sales managers could have taken a direct flight to the meeting thus reducing their travel times by four (4) to eight (8) hours. By the way, he is no longer with the company.

    There are people that will choose a flight with connecting flights (that added 3 to 8 hours to their travel time) lower than a direct flight to save $ 10 to $ 50. If I am on vacation, I don’t want to spend an extra three to eight hours in the airport. If I am on business, I don’t want to spend that time in the airport.

    It would probably cost Ms. Luong $ 25 to $ 50 to book the tickets with a travel agent. How much time did Ms. Loung spent in calling Orbitz over the four weeks? How much time was lost in worrying about the ticket which could have been spent on other things? How much productivity was lost at work or home because she was worrying about the problem at Orbitz? Did the stress and worrying affect her health?

    In your example of flying between SFO and LAX, it doesn’t make sense to use a travel agent. I have been booking my own flights once the airlines added online booking to their websites. In the case of Ms. Loung, she was flying international with three flight segments. Chris Elliott has made the recommendation that most travelers should consider using the services of a brick & mortar travel agent when planning for a honeymoon, once-in-a-lifetime trips, etc.

  • Jason

    The airline which takes you over the Atlantic is issuing the ticket regardless of where the reservation made or if any other airlines used. After you confirm your selection on orbits its send the request to issie a ticket to Delta. Delta issues ticket, notifies orbitz, orbitz notifies you. Even you book a package on orbitz you will see a separate charge for the air, unless its bulk fare. Some credit cards will show ticket number on the statement.

  • Jason

    I booked a flight on aa.com before Thanksgiving for travel in January. My ticket was not issued and credit card was not charged till after Christmas because it was busy travel period an airline was first issuing trickets for people who booked for travel prior my dates.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Jeffrey – “Arizona – You travel more a lot more then the average person and probably provide your travel agent with a lot of commissions.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - –
    No…I have used the services of a travel agent four times in the past ten years. Recently, I spoke with a travel agent (not counted in the 4 times) about an upcoming international trip for suggestions (didn’t book anything but paid her for advice\time) but the last time that I actually booked something with a travel agent was 2005. I book my own airline tickets, hotel rooms and car rentals…been doing that since online bookings became available. Before online bookings, I used to call the airlines, hotels and car rental companies to book my tickets, rooms and cars.

    For personal vacations outside of the US, I will cash in miles for our airlines tickets and cash in hotel points for our hotel rooms so a travel agent can’t assist here. We have stop taking tours and been doing independent traveling. However, we will use a travel agent if we want to take a cruise or a tour.

    You are right that I do traveled more than the average person. Over 20 years of traveling for business, I have learned a lot. I don’t know everything about travel but I do have a lot of experiences that I can draw upon. For the average person that is taking their once-in-a-life trip like a honeymoon, anniversary, etc, I think that the services of a professional brick & mortar travel agent should be considered.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ LeeAnne – “OMG, I am SO tired of reading all these absurd “you should have used a travel agent” comments. For a PLANE TICKET? You’ve got to be kidding me. Who in their right mind would work with a “real live, in person travel agent” to book a simple flight? Sorry, but that’s just poppycock. That’s like telling someone they should work with a professional shopper/wardrobe designer just to buy a t-shirt. Total overkill.”
    - – - – - – - -
    If it was direct flight from BWI to their final destination then that is a simple flight. Their itinerary is on two airlines and three flight segments for their outbound and return. This is their honeymoon and it does make sense to have someone there to assist you if a problem or issue occurs.

    It is possible that they could find a brick & mortar travel agent that specializes in travel to Italy or have a lot of experiences with travel to Italy which could be beneficial to Ms. Loung.

    @ LeeAnne – “This problem could just as easily have happened with a “real live in-person” TA, who could have been just as incompetent as whoever it was that fouled this ticket up. Working with a TA does not guarantee competence. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories of trips screwed up by TA’s, who then suddenly became unavailable to solve the problem that their incompetence created.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - -
    You are correct. It is much easier to drive to the office of a brick & mortar agent to resolve the issue than trying to deal with the problem with a call center in India, the Philippines or a US call center with $ 7.50 per hour script readers.

    @ LeeAnne – “The bottom line is, the seller of the travel product, whomever it is…live TA, online agency, airline…needs to do their job right.”
    - – - – - – - – - – -
    I consider Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc. to be booking sites not travel agents. They called themselves online travel agencies but they do not perform the same services of a competent professional brick & mortar travel agent in a traditional travel agency. I am not talking about booking an airline ticket but referring to vacation packages, honeymoon packages, tours, cruises, etc. They don’t ask questions about your likes, dislikes, don’t give advice. Everything is about the price not the experience.

    I think that a competent professional brick & mortar travel agent can add value for special trips. Back in June when Chris wrote about OAT, I wrote that it was my opinion that some of the bad reviews that are posted on the Internet about OAT could have been eliminated if OAT changes their distribution method since a traveler can only purchase an OAT tour directly from them. It was my opinion that if some of the travelers that wrote bad reviews had dealt with a brick & mortar travel agent, a B&M TA would have not recommend a tour (a tour is not for everyone, an ‘adventure’ tour is not for everyone, etc.); steered them to a different tour with OAT; would have recommended another tour company; would have different and proper expectations for an OAT tour; would have recommended another tour from a different company, etc.

    When you deal with an online booking site, they just book what you want regardless if it is the best thing for you.

  • http://www.roamingtales.com Caitlin @ Roaming Tales

    The OP said: “When I spoke to the airlines…”

    Chris said: “But I might have called Delta and Air France to double-check…”

    Um, she did, right?

  • Bill

    I’m gonna side with LeeAnne here. I’m awfully sick of the “use a professional travel agent” thingy.
    I used a professional travel agent because the person I was travelling with was also using a professional travel agent. It was way more than twice as much work. We had to make a change and I was expecting (because I was told of) a total of $150 in change fees. I got $600 back from the travel agent as it was apparently the airline’s error…but was still stuck with $300 in so called “legitimate” fees. The thing is, if the change fees would have been over $150, I would have just not bothered to make the change.

    The person I travelled with skipped the travel agent on the next trip and booked the whole trip online.

  • Carver

    @Arizona

    I respectfully disagree. Yes, the OP ultimately spent alot of time and misery on the phone. However, that was a very unlikely occurence which is why most folks don’t insure against it. The overwhelming majority of flights happen without a hitch. It would be imprudent for someone to effectively buy a $30 insurance policy for every flight.

    Also, no one has answered specifically how a travel agent would have been useful. Charles suggested that the charge would have posted from the travel agent so unless the travel agent is proacticely checking his charges he or she wouldn’t know that the ticket wasn’t issued nor would the OP. In fact, not using a travel agent probably saved her honeymoon trip.

    Regarding the honeymoon, true, this was the OPs honeymoon, but its still a simple flight, albeit an international. By that logic, a honeymoon flight from SFO to LAX requires a travel agent. Now if the OP had a complicated trip or many moving parts, etc. I would say, sure, get a travel agent

    It is true that some people just buy the cheapest price. But that’s not normative. If it were, we’d all be eating every meal at Denny’s and McDonalds and buying Yugos (ok Im dating myself)

    I think we both agree that your former VP of sales was an idiot. However, the fact that he’s the “former” VP suggests that his pennywise poundfoolish ways were not normative nor appreciated by the company.

  • flutiefan

    just wanna throw this in there…
    i work for an airline, and i CONSTANTLY see travel agent errors. it seems especially frequent with American Express travel for corporations. the mistake that occurs most often is for the travel agent to book the ticket, but never pay the airline for the ticket. the TA and the passenger get a confirmation number (PNR), but the ticket is not paid for and therefore the customer cannot travel. it happens nearly every day. when i call our help desk (just to make sure that it wasn’t a “computer glitch”), 9 times out of 10 they say they sent multiple messages to the TA, but no one responded.

    so some of the posters are correct that a PNR isn’t the be-all/end-all for guaranteeing your flight. it just shows that a reservation was made. the 10-digit ticket number (which i never use, and my system at the airport can’t even look up) i would assume means everything is A-OK.
    it’s also correct that Travel Agents aren’t infallible, and can complicate trips more than someone booking their own ticket ever could.

    it’s sad that people and companies are handing over their hard-earned money to these agents, who gladly take the money, but never send it to the airline for ticket payment. (most times, the passenger just pay for the ticket with me at the counter–so in effect they’ve double-paid, once to the TA and once to the airline, and deals with their TA later, so they can make the flight.) that’s either incompetence, or else it smacks of fraud.

  • Geoff

    I have had adozen clients that have had a paid in full ticket / vacation that never saw the charge and I still received my commission. Companies are so big and depend upon computers to do too much. If Usair if off 1000.00 a month, do you think they go looking for it? Bet not.

  • Ernest

    Using a ‘real’ travel agent does not mean your trip will go off without a hitch. As Arizona Road Warrior posted on this story, a lot of TA’s are not professional, they are just like every one else and DO make mistakes. Good luck finding your travel agent at 0200 on a Saturday from another country when things don’t work out.

    If you do your own planning then you know it was done, know who your contacts are and you are responsible if things don’t work out.

    Will the TA eat the loss if it their fault? Mine didn’t and it cost me about $3000.

    I do not have a problem paying a TA for their services if I could find one that was reliable. The problem with trial and error is that a few thousand dollars is too much to loose on the errors. I can fix a lot of travel problems without costing me that much.

    I try to take 4 international trips a year and stay a month each time although I have stayed in some countries for as long as 3 months. I have yet to have a problem when I arrange my own trips. I would gladly have a TA take over my planning if I could be sure that they would not mess it up.

    I think a good way would be for them to enter into a contract with the customer (me) that says if they do it right, they get a fair commission. If they screw it up, they pay for everything and go out of business right after the televised public flogging. I have never used the 3rd party agencies like orbitz or priceline because as bad at TA’s might be, they are even less concerned about professionalism.

  • Nobody

    Use a real, live travel agent. You can never have enough people pointing the finger at the other people. In the end, they always turn it around to the person at fault. No matter how illogical or bizzare, it’s always one person at fault. You. Accept it. You will feel better right from the start if you accept it. Then approach each one of these representatives as a helpless wreck. “I don’t know what I messed up here, but could you please help me.” That makes them feel superior, the reason they wanted the job in the first place–to help people. They don’t want to hear your story. They want you to move to the next station where, “Everything will be taken care of.” Then they can go back to discussing the latest movie release, the game, Washington–whatever is really important to them. If you don’t accept this and insist on making a point, you’ll get “your new soft drink, but with the dish rag squeezed over the cup.”

    “Never go through the drive thru. They’ll f’ up your order on purpose and you’ll get all the way home before you find out! And that f’n pr’ back there is laughin his a’ off! Never go through the f’n drive thru!”–Leo Getz (Whatever you want, Leo…Gets…Get it?)

  • kanehi

    When I book a ticket I make sure an e-ticket, confirmation number and charges are all complete.  When I book online for packaged deals for air, hotels and/or cars I call the hotel for confirmation and go online to confirm w/ the airline and car rental companies.  I too would be worried if my card hasn’t been charged in a couple of days and no confirmation e-mail has been sent.