Final Deletion of XL Airways
ARC will move forward with final deletion of XL Airways (SE/473) effective Monday, January 27, 2020 (PED 02/02/2020). Please submit any outstanding cash refunds prior to the deletion date.
Final Deletion of Atlas Global Airlines
ARC is moving forward with final deletion of Atlas Global Airlines (KK/610) effective Monday, January 27, 2020 (PED 2/02/2020). Please submit outstanding cash refunds prior to the deletion date. Atlas Global has instructed travel agents to submit other refund requests, along with a copy of the PNR, to sales@atlasglb.com.
CemAir Joins ARC
CemAir (5Z/225) will join ARC as a participating airline effective with sales on Monday, January 20, 2020 (PED 01/26/2020).
Using a fleet of Bombardier aircraft, CemAir offers domestic scheduled services within South Africa, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Margate, Sishen and Plettenberg Bay.
CemAir has elected the General Concurrence method of agent appointment, whereby all ARC agents are automatically appointed as agents of CemAir. The airline accepts cash as form of payment but will add credit cards in the near future.
For inquiries, reservations or sales information, contact the offices listed below:
CemAir USA
420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 360
New York, NY 10170
Phone: 201-526-7619
Email: cemair@airlinepros.com
Reminder: Obtaining Valid Card Authorization via the GDS
As a reminder, it is important that agents follow the procedures outlined in Section 6 of the IAH related to payment card authorizations.
Best Practice Card Acceptance (Section 6 of the IAH)
Identify the ticketing airline and, at the time of ticketing, obtain an authorization (i.e., approval code) via the GDS for the exact amount of the transaction. Transactions that are not properly authorized may not be settled successfully and, as a result, the airline may not be paid. In addition, the airline could be subject to increased card acceptance costs or non-compliance fees, in which case the airline may contact the agent for reimbursement.
Failure to obtain properly authorized transactions through the GDS leads to higher acceptance fees for airlines or an increase in chargebacks due to missing or invalid authorizations. These transactions often result in debit memos.
If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Haag, ARC’s manager of payment processing and acceptance, at khaag@arccorp.com.
2019 Quarterly Transaction Fees – Fourth Quarter
This is a reminder about the agent/CTD transaction fee that is assessed on a quarterly basis. See the chart below outlining the tiered fee structure. Note that agencies with fewer than 1,000 transactions per quarter will not be assessed transaction fees.
A separate debit representing this fee will be drawn against the applicable ARC designated bank accounts on or after January 23, 2020. Only one draft will be issued for consolidated drafting agents.
Quarterly Transaction Fees | ||
Number of Transactions per Quarter
|
Price per Transaction |
|
Tier 1
|
1,000 – 2,224.999M |
$0.012 |
Tier 2
|
2.225 – 5.999M |
$0.011 |
Tier 3
|
6M or more |
$0.010 |
Action Needed: Providing ARC with Contacts for Required Agency Roles
Earlier last year, a change to the Agent Reporting Agreement (ARA) took effect, requiring agencies to provide ARC with contact information for the following roles:
- Owner or Officer Contact
- Manager Contact
- Operational Contact
- Debit Memo Contact
- Chargeback Contact
If you have not yet provided contact information for all the required roles, we ask that you complete this process as soon as possible so we can better communicate necessary information to your agency. If you have already provided this contact information, thank you. If you have not, we appreciate your quick attention to this matter by January 31.
Providing this contact information helps ARC ensure your agency receives the right information, delivered to the right person, at the right time. To make this process easier for you, a pop-up window appears upon sign-in to My ARC that will prompt you to provide this information.
For additional information or support, please contact the ARC Customer Care Center at ccchelp@arccorp.com or 855-816-8003.
ARC Specialist Training and Certification Class
Do you want the opportunity to earn your ARC Specialist Certificate?
The ARC Specialist Training and Certification class will be provided at ARC’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, March 10-12, 2020.
ARC developed the ARC Specialist Training and Certification program with the help of industry representatives from the travel agency and airline communities. This program provides education on ARC’s policies, procedures, products and services.
In this class, you will participate in written and verbal exercises as well as group discussions. Upon completion of the class, you will receive a certificate of completion.
The following topics will be covered during the class:
- ARC 101
- ARC’s Agent Reporting Agreement (ARA)
- Travel Agency Participation
- My ARC
- Document Type
- Taxes, Fees and Charges
- Payment Card Processing
- Ticketing
- Sales Reporting Process
- Interactive Agent Reporting (IAR)
- Voids and Modification Rules
- Adjustments
- ARC Memo Manager (AMM)
- Best Practices for Effective Debit Memo Resolution and Prevention
- Exchanges and Refunds
- Tackling Refunds and Exchanges
- Travel Agency Service Fee (TASF) Program
- IAR Back Office System (BOS)
- Internet Sales Summary (ISS)
- Document Retrieval Service (DRS)
- The Future of Air Travel
After the class, you can take the ARC Specialist Certification exam online at your convenience. You will have 30 days to take the exam upon completion of the training class. Those who pass the exam will receive their ARC Specialist Certification.
Tip of the Week: 2020 Processing Schedule
For ARC processing purposes, the calendar year is divided into four quarters. The first and second months of each quarter contain four processing weeks and the third month has five weeks.
To assist in managing your accounting processes, ARC publishes a processing schedule every year. The schedule contains all the Period Ending Dates (PEDs) for the year and the week, month and quarter they correspond to.
The 2020 processing schedule is available here. You can also access it via the ARC homepage, under “Support,” in the “ARC Resources” category.