diff --git a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/confirmation/page.tsx b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/confirmation/page.tsx
index 66a7bf9c3..7d9cd691a 100644
--- a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/confirmation/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/confirmation/page.tsx
@@ -93,23 +93,16 @@ export default function ConfirmationPage() {
     data: _booking,
     refetch: refetchBooking,
     isLoading: isBookingLoading,
+    isError: isBookingError,
   } = useQuery<BookingWithTicket>({
     queryKey: ["booking", bookingId],
-    queryFn: async (): Promise<BookingWithTicket> => {
-      try {
-        return await apiClient.get(`/bookings/${bookingId}`);
-      } catch (error) {
-        return {
-          id: bookingId || "",
-          pnr: pnr || undefined,
-          status: "PENDING_PAYMENT",
-          totalMinor: passengers.reduce(
-            (sum) => sum + (selectedSchedule?.baseFareAdult || 0),
-            0,
-          ),
-        };
-      }
-    },
+    // Let a real fetch failure surface as a real error (React Query's global retry:1
+    // default then retries once automatically) instead of silently returning a
+    // fabricated "PENDING_PAYMENT" object — that used to mask genuine failures (a
+    // transient blip right after a cross-domain redirect from the payment gateway is
+    // common) as normal pending state forever, since a caught error that returns data
+    // looks like a success to React Query and never gets retried.
+    queryFn: (): Promise<BookingWithTicket> => apiClient.get(`/bookings/${bookingId}`),
     // Payment status must never be served from a stale cache — the app-wide default
     // (providers.tsx) is a 60s staleTime, which would otherwise block React Query's
     // own refetch-on-window-focus from firing (it only refetches stale data). Without
@@ -333,6 +326,30 @@ export default function ConfirmationPage() {
     );
   }
 
+  // A real fetch failure (not just "still pending") — surface it honestly instead of
+  // silently pretending the booking is pending, and let the user retry the check
+  // without needing a full page refresh.
+  if (isBookingError) {
+    return (
+      <div className="booking-page">
+        <div className="container mx-auto px-4">
+          <div className="max-w-6xl mx-auto flex flex-col items-center justify-center py-24 text-center">
+            <p className="text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400 mb-4">
+              We&apos;re having trouble loading your booking status right
+              now. This is usually temporary — tap below to try again.
+            </p>
+            <button
+              onClick={() => refetchBooking()}
+              className="btn-primary"
+            >
+              Check again
+            </button>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+
   return (
     <div className="booking-page">
       <div className="container mx-auto px-4">
diff --git a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/dmoney/success/page.tsx b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/dmoney/success/page.tsx
index cf132bc7f..c63cea9aa 100644
--- a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/dmoney/success/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/dmoney/success/page.tsx
@@ -55,13 +55,20 @@ function DmoneySuccessContent() {
     // Manage Booking sessions don't carry a bookingId in the client store — the detail page
     // it lands on re-fetches the booking's real status itself, so there's nothing to verify
     // client-side here; just hand off without claiming an outcome we can't confirm.
-    if (!bookingId) {
-      if (!cancelled) {
-        router.push(target);
-      }
+    if (manageBookingRef) {
+      router.push(target);
       return;
     }
 
+    // Normal booking flow: bookingId comes from a Zustand store persisted to localStorage.
+    // This page is always reached via a real cross-domain redirect from the payment gateway
+    // (a full page load, not an in-app navigation), so that store has to rehydrate from
+    // localStorage asynchronously — bookingId can read as empty on the first render or two.
+    // Wait for it instead of treating an empty first-render value as "nothing to verify",
+    // which would silently skip this page's whole verification step and hand off to
+    // /booking/confirmation without ever having checked payment status here.
+    if (!bookingId) return;
+
     verifyBookingPaid(bookingId).then((result) => {
       if (cancelled) return;
       if (result === 'SUCCEEDED') {
@@ -82,8 +89,7 @@ function DmoneySuccessContent() {
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;
     };
-  // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, []);
+  }, [bookingId, router, updateStatus]);
 
   return (
     <div className="min-h-screen bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-900 flex items-center justify-center px-4">
diff --git a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/telebirr/success/page.tsx b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/telebirr/success/page.tsx
index a47fdd07c..94d66121b 100644
--- a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/telebirr/success/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/telebirr/success/page.tsx
@@ -55,13 +55,20 @@ function TelebirrSuccessContent() {
     // Manage Booking sessions don't carry a bookingId in the client store — the detail page
     // it lands on re-fetches the booking's real status itself, so there's nothing to verify
     // client-side here; just hand off without claiming an outcome we can't confirm.
-    if (!bookingId) {
-      if (!cancelled) {
-        router.push(target);
-      }
+    if (manageBookingRef) {
+      router.push(target);
       return;
     }
 
+    // Normal booking flow: bookingId comes from a Zustand store persisted to localStorage.
+    // This page is always reached via a real cross-domain redirect from the payment gateway
+    // (a full page load, not an in-app navigation), so that store has to rehydrate from
+    // localStorage asynchronously — bookingId can read as empty on the first render or two.
+    // Wait for it instead of treating an empty first-render value as "nothing to verify",
+    // which would silently skip this page's whole verification step and hand off to
+    // /booking/confirmation without ever having checked payment status here.
+    if (!bookingId) return;
+
     verifyBookingPaid(bookingId).then((result) => {
       if (cancelled) return;
       if (result === 'SUCCEEDED') {
@@ -82,8 +89,7 @@ function TelebirrSuccessContent() {
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;
     };
-  // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, []);
+  }, [bookingId, router, updateStatus]);
 
   return (
     <div className="min-h-screen bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-900 flex items-center justify-center px-4">
diff --git a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/waafi/success/page.tsx b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/waafi/success/page.tsx
index 89a8b3098..a33eaec41 100644
--- a/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/waafi/success/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/edr-passenger-web/portal/src/app/booking/payment/waafi/success/page.tsx
@@ -55,13 +55,20 @@ function WaafiSuccessContent() {
     // Manage Booking sessions don't carry a bookingId in the client store — the detail page
     // it lands on re-fetches the booking's real status itself, so there's nothing to verify
     // client-side here; just hand off without claiming an outcome we can't confirm.
-    if (!bookingId) {
-      if (!cancelled) {
-        router.push(target);
-      }
+    if (manageBookingRef) {
+      router.push(target);
       return;
     }
 
+    // Normal booking flow: bookingId comes from a Zustand store persisted to localStorage.
+    // This page is always reached via a real cross-domain redirect from the payment gateway
+    // (a full page load, not an in-app navigation), so that store has to rehydrate from
+    // localStorage asynchronously — bookingId can read as empty on the first render or two.
+    // Wait for it instead of treating an empty first-render value as "nothing to verify",
+    // which would silently skip this page's whole verification step and hand off to
+    // /booking/confirmation without ever having checked payment status here.
+    if (!bookingId) return;
+
     verifyBookingPaid(bookingId).then((result) => {
       if (cancelled) return;
       if (result === 'SUCCEEDED') {
@@ -82,8 +89,7 @@ function WaafiSuccessContent() {
     return () => {
       cancelled = true;
     };
-  // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, []);
+  }, [bookingId, router, updateStatus]);
 
   return (
     <div className="min-h-screen bg-gray-50 dark:bg-gray-900 flex items-center justify-center px-4">