ARC Stands With Our Industry
As a member of the global air travel community, ARC fully understands the tremendous pressure all of our partners are facing during this unprecedented time of volatility. We believe in the travel industry’s resilience and wish for the health and well-being of everyone during this challenging moment.
Refund Update: Some Airlines Directly Managing Refunds
To Our Travel Agency Partners –
ARC understands the enormous pressures facing both our travel agency and airline partners as the global air travel community adapts to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These unprecedented times are placing tremendous strain on the financial and operational health of our industry. We are committed to supporting the global travel community in its time of need.
We believe it’s important for travel agencies to be aware of the following:
Some Airlines Are Inhibiting GDS Refunds
With refunds far outpacing new sales for many airlines, some carriers are informing ARC they have decided to manage refunds directly and inhibit refunds in the GDSs and IAR.
Travel agencies should contact those airlines directly, following the individual airline’s instructions for refunds. Several airlines have already sent communications to their agency partners regarding these changes, or published updates on their websites or agency portals.
What ARC is Doing
As soon as ARC is notified by a specific airline of any change in their refund process, we will update this webpage with individual airline refund instructions:
ARC is urgently working to help agencies manage the downstream impacts when an airline decides to directly manage refunds for transactions issued through ARC. We will continue to share additional information as it becomes available.
ARC settlement is designed to facilitate efficient sales, exchange and refund processes between airlines and travel agencies. While we are unable to process refunds for airlines that have made the decision to manage these transactions directly, we are striving to make it as easy as possible for agencies to quickly and efficiently contact airlines regarding refunds.
What Agencies Need to Know
- As an organization, ARC facilitates commerce between airlines and travel agencies. It does not determine airline policies. Each ARC-participating airline is responsible for establishing its own policies and business decisions, including refund policies and procedures.
- ARC recognizes that these changes have downstream impacts on several aspects of agencies’ businesses, including records, back-office files and disbursements. ARC will work to provide timely resources for agencies on this webpage to help them mitigate these disruptions.
ARC remains dedicated to supporting the global travel community during this challenging time. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ARC’s Customer Care Center at ccchelp@arccorp.com or 703-816-8003.
Tip of the Week: Use IAR to Research a Document’s Use in a Refund or an Exchange
Did you receive the error message “Coupon number not available”? Do you need to research if a document was used in a refund or an exchange? The LO-Find Old/Used Document function within the View Only tab in IAR allows you to search the last 13 months of your agencies IAR history for this information. To access the View Only tab:
At the IAR Home Page screen,
- Click the ARC# link to access a Sales Report.
- The default Sales Report screen displays, set to the List tab.
- Click the VIEW ONLY tab
- Click the radio button next to LO-Find Old/Used Document.
- Type a document number into the 10-character Document# textbox.
- Click the GO button.
- The list redisplays with the old or used document listed.
- The column headings of the list will change to show the document use information including which PED the document was used in.
- If it was used in an exchange, the new document number will also be included.