score:6
Try getting a ticket number from the airline. There's a "booking number" (usually 6 letters/numbers, e.g. ABCXYZ), and there's a "ticket number" (usually a long set of numbers, e.g. 013987654321). The ticket is typically issued after the booking is made and payment has been accepted, and it's an official contract between you and the airline, so once you have a ticket number you can be much more confident that you'll actually get onto the flight.
Upvote:1
Authorized payments are as good as completed. I buy a lot of goods online with a prepaid credit cards and the seller always ships my items when the payment is still in "authorized" state.