Reminder: Settlement Schedule Changes Now In Effect
As the global travel community adapts to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARC recognizes the enormous pressures facing our industry and customers. This is an unprecedented time and is transforming our marketplace.
This is a reminder that, effective with PED 03/29/20, ARC’s draft and disbursement day is moving from Friday, five days after the sales week closes, to the following Wednesday, ten days after the sales week closes. This will repeat weekly until further notice. A visual representation of the changes outlined above can be found here, and a list of FAQs about this process is available here.
Other Important Information for Travel Agencies
- Weekly Sales Reports: Effective immediately, ARC is unable to extend the sales report deadline for any travel agency. Because our industry is undergoing so much volatility, ARC seeks to keep as many aspects of settlement as consistent as possible. To ensure accuracy and minimal agency re-work, ARC recommends that agencies review their sales reports on Tuesday prior to finalizing, and that agencies also refrain from submitting their sales reports early.
- Airline Refund Information: Some airlines have informed ARC that they are inhibiting refunds in the GDSs. As ARC receives this information, it will update its Airline Refund Information page as a resource for agencies. This list includes applicable contact information where available.
- Managing Chargebacks: ARC has added two sets of FAQs to the Airline Refund Information page on its website: One on managing chargebacks, and one on managing ARC Pay disputes.
- IAR Error Messages: ARC has added a new error message within IAR that reads, "ERROR – DO NOT VOID – Transaction temporarily restricted by carrier – visit www2.arccorp.com/refunds for more info." If your agency sees this error associated with any transactions, ARC asks that the agency not attempt to void these transactions. When these errors do occur, they will roll over to the next PED, or ARC’s Customer Care Center will contact impacted agencies if additional steps are required.
ARC will continue to provide updates to the travel agency community as relevant changes occur. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to ARC’s Customer Care Center at ccchelp@arccorp.com or 703-816-8003.
2020 Quarterly Transaction Fees – First Quarter
This is a reminder about the agent/CTD transaction fee that is assessed on a quarterly basis. See the chart below outlining this tiered fee structure. Please 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 your ARC designated bank account on or after April 23, 2020. Only one draft will be issued for consolidated drafting agents.
|
Number of Transactions per Quarter |
Price per Transaction |
Tier 1 |
1,000 – 2,224,999 |
0.012 |
Tier 2 |
2.225 M – 5.999 M |
0.011 |
Tier 3 |
6 M or more |
0.010 |
ARC Now Supports Extended Ticket Validity Options
ARC has implemented an enhancement that allows airlines the option of extending the period of time available for agents to process exchanges and refunds settled through ARC beyond the current standard of 13 months from ticketing date of issue. The options now available, in addition to 13 months, are 18, 24, 30 or 39 months from the ticketing date of issue. When an airline chooses to enable one of these options, the selected extended ticket validity becomes effective in IAR for all ARC-accredited agencies.
Note that, while an airline may allow exchange and refund transactions to be processed for up to 39 months through ARC, agents should review and comply with the ticket validity rules that apply to each ticket.
ARC enabled this change to provide the global travel community with greater flexibility as the industry contends with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines interested in extending the period of time available for agents to reissue/refund ticket can enable that change for the time period that best fits their current ticketing policies. An airline can move back to the standard ARC ticket validity period at their discretion.
As of Monday, April 6, 2020, one airline has opted to extend the ticket validity period: Virgin Australia (VA/795) has extended its ticket validity window to 24 months.
Please note that this enhancement only applies to ARC settlement processes. The global distribution systems (GDSs) may have limitations that impact the period of time that tickets are available for refund/reissue. This change is entirely voluntary and at each airline’s discretion. Airlines that choose to exercise this option will communicate their policy to agencies and to GDSs. Individual airline policies can be accessed via ARC’s Participating Airlines webpage.
Review Your Agency Contacts
In the current environment, it is vital to ensure ARC and its participating airlines have complete and updated contact information for your business. Agencies and airlines are working tirelessly to keep their customers informed on flight status, changes to bookings, and ever-changing policies regarding COVID-19.
Don’t miss important updates from ARC and your airline partners. Please take a moment now to complete or update contact information for each of the following roles as required:
- Owner(s)
- Officer(s)
- Manager(s)
- Chargebacks
- Debit Memos
- Operations
- Industry Communication
Having accurate contact information, especially in the areas of chargebacks and debit memos, will help expedite communication to the correct area within your organization and allow specific resources to focus on key issues they can address.
To update the email contact please log into My ARC. From the home page click on Agency, then Agency Details, and within Agency Details click on the “Staff” tab to identify roles and add emails.
To complete or update contact information, Accreditation Tool users can navigate directly to the Accreditation Tool, and under the Account Summary page, navigate to the upper right corner and click on Manage Agency Contacts.
For additional support, please reach out to ARC’s Customer Care Center at ccchelp@arccorp.com or 855-816-8003.
Air India No Longer Accepts Mastercard
Effective with sales beginning Monday April 6, 2020, Air India (098/AI) no longer accepts Mastercard as a form of payment through ARC.
Lanmei Airlines Now Accepts Visa, Mastercard, Diners, and Discover
Effective with sales issued on Monday, April 6, 2020 (PED April 12, 2020), Lanmei Airlines (961/LQ) will begin accepting Visa, MasterCard, Diners, and Discover as forms of payment through ARC.
Tip of the Week: Receiving ARC Pay Chargeback and Dispute Notifications via Email
You can request to receive ARC Pay chargeback and dispute notifications via email rather than via the U.S. Postal Service. This can make it easier and faster for you to receive and keep track of any ARC Pay issues. To register, send an email to arcpaydisputes@arccorp.com indicating you would like to receive these disputes via email. You must provide your ARC Number as well as two or more email addresses with the names of the person(s) receiving the notices. Please keep in mind that when this request is complete, you will no longer receive any ARC Pay notifications via mail. You can view additional FAQs on managing ARC Pay disputes.