Independence Day Holiday Information

ARC's offices will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2020, in observance of Independence Day. The sales report for PED 07/05/20 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

Transactions issued in your GDS Thursday, July 2, 2020, may be voided or modified in the GDS or IAR until Monday, July 6, 2020.

ARC's Customer Care Center will be open on Thursday, July 2, 2020, and will reopen after the holiday on Monday, July 6, 2020.

For the week of June 29, 2020, the CCC’s hours of operation are:

• Monday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT
• Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT
• Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT
• Thursday: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT
• Friday: Closed

Placing Emergency Document Requisitions Orders Before the Independence Day Holiday

The RR Donnelley Warehouse will be closed Friday July 3, 2020. Emergency orders should be placed by 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, but orders will not be delivered until Thursday, July 2, 2020. Second-day delivery should be placed by 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, for delivery on Monday, July 6, 2020. Please ensure you place your orders to meet your business needs.

ARC Puerto Rico Office Permanent Closure Effective June 30, 2020

Because of the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ARC has made the difficult decision to close its Puerto Rico office effective June 30, 2020.

For years, our exceptional colleagues in Puerto Rico have worked diligently to assist ARC’s agency and airline customers on a daily basis. We are committed to providing the same high-quality service you need from ARC’s headquarters in Virginia.

If you have any concerns, please contact Jeremi Ellis, senior manager, Customer Care Center, at jellis@arccorp.com, or Jeannine Hankinson, managing director, operations and customer experience, at jhankinson@arccorp.com.

Please also feel free to contact ARC’s Customer Care Center toll-free at 1-855-816-8003 (para servicio en Español: 1-800-328-0032) or via email at ccchelp@arccorp.com. We thank you for your understanding and look forward to continuing to serve you.

2020 Quarterly Transaction Fees – 2nd 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. Note: 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 July 23, 2020. Only one draft will be issued for consolidated drafting agents.

Sky Express No Longer Accepts Mastercard or Visa

Effective PED 07/05/2020, Sky Express (GQ/633) no longer accepts Mastercard or Visa as form of payment. Agents issuing refunds for Sky Express are encouraged to have customers contact their card issuing bank for resolution, as ARC will not be outputting the refunds to the processor. ARC will provide updates as Sky Express seeks to find a new Mastercard or Visa processor.

Sri Lankan Airlines No Longer Accepts Mastercard or Visa

Effective PED 07/05/2020, Sri Lankan Airlines (UL/603) no longer accepts Mastercard or Visa as form of payment. Agents issuing refunds for Sri Lankan Airlines are encouraged to have customers to contact their card issuing bank for resolution, as ARC will not be outputting the refunds to the processor. ARC will provide updates as Sri Lankan Airlines seeks to find a new Mastercard or Visa processor.

ARC’s COVID-19 Resources for Travel Agencies

ARC is providing access to several resources to help the travel community manage the impacts of COVID-19. These resources can be accessed here.

This list of resources includes:

• Weekly air travel data updates
• Airline refund and exchange information
• Debit memo and chargeback guidelines
• Airline ticket validity extension information
• Fraud prevention resources

Learn More

ARC Extends Free Risk Check Through June 30

ARC is extending the deadline for travel professionals to sign up for free use of its global fraud-mitigation tool, ARC Risk Check. New users can use ARC Risk Check free for two months starting the date you enroll, which must be before the close of business on June 30, 2020.

Listen to the latest fraud prevention webinar to hear about ARC Risk Check.

Get details on the ARC Risk Check free access program.

Learn More

Tip of the Week: Reconciling the IAR Sales Report

ARC strongly recommends that the IAR sales report be reconciled daily. The sales report should have a final reconciliation performed prior to sales report authorization/submission. The following steps will facilitate this process:

• Verify that all documents and voids are correctly listed in the IAR sales report
• Correct any errors
• Verify that all transactions were legitimately issued by your agency (to guard against unauthorized ticketing)
• Verify all commission amounts
• Verify that all refund and exchange transactions are accurate and that their values include any penalty information (if applicable)
• Verify cash and credit totals
• Verify the net remit amount

You can also view more information on IAR in Section 5 of the Industry Agents’ Handbook.