ARC's offices will be closed on Monday, September 6, 2021, in observance of Labor Day. Therefore, agencies will have one extra day to finalize their IAR sales report. All sales reports for PED 09/05/2021 must be authorized by 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
Transactions issued in your GDS from Friday, September 3, 2021, to Sunday, September 5, 2021, may be voided or modified in the GDS or IAR until Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
Immediately following the 5 p.m. deadline, the IAR system will be unavailable from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 5. Any sales report authorizations for PED 09/05/21 performed after 5 p.m. on that day will be considered a late submission. Any errors will be moved to the following PED, and your cash disbursement may be impacted.
ARC’s Customer Care Center hours for the week of September 6 are:
- Monday: Closed
- Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT
- Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT
- Thursday–Friday: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT
Ukraine International Airlines Form of Payment Update
Effective PED 08/29/2021, Ukraine International Airlines (PS/566) will no longer accept Visa and Mastercard as forms of payment through ARC.
Register: ARC Fraud Awareness Month Webinars
Payment fraud is a growing problem, costing travel agents and airlines millions of dollars each year.
To help the global air travel community combat fraud, ARC has teamed up with experts for ARC Fraud Awareness Month. Throughout September, ARC will host webinars with guest presenters from agencies, payment providers, the private sector and beyond.
These experts will provide insights into emerging fraud trends and the true cost of fraud, as well as introduce practical tips and tools to protect your business.
The live webinars are all free, making it easy for teams to participate. Registration is now open, and space is limited, so register now to reserve your spot.
IATA’s Travel and Tourism Diploma courses will equip you with practical and relevant industry knowledge and skills that are highly valued by employers. By completing the diploma courses, you can ensure you are fully prepared to hit the ground running when the industry restarts.
Over the years, these courses have helped shape the careers of hundreds of thousands of travel professionals all over the world. Now, you can take advantage of these highly valued courses as they are being offered for the first time from ARC’s training platform as part of the IATA and ARC partnership.
You are probably familiar with the IAR error message “ERROR - Amount required in -Old Fare-”. It is one of the most common IAR errors and happens whenever a partial exchange is issued without using a GDS’s automated repricing tool. To clear the error, you must manually enter the unused base fare, tax codes, tax values and total for the old document being partially exchanged.
IAR is a reporting system, not a pricing system, so unless an old document is a full exchange (all coupons of the old ticket are returned), IAR is unable to determine unused values of individual coupons in a partial exchange (not all old coupons returned). But did you know that IAR has two different workarounds to help with these partial exchange errors?
The first workaround is based on the point-of-origin exchange repricing logic, which is used by GDS auto repricing tools. This is different than point-of-interruption repricing logic that relies on calculating the actual unused values of each coupon. Point-of-origin logic simply values the new ticket in the exchange at the same full value as the partially exchanged old ticket. Here is how it works in IAR:
Workaround # 1 – Populate all original values of the old document
On the Exchange Support screen where “ERROR - Amount required in -Old Fare-” is displayed:
- In the “Old Total” field, enter the full settled value of the old document that is being partially exchanged, then press the Enter key.
- When the “Old Total” matches what was originally reported on the old document, IAR will autofill the Exchange Support screen with all old ticket values, including the old fare, tax codes, tax values and commission. When successful, IAR also displays the message “ERROR - Amount required in -Old Fare-”.
- You may then modify any of the old values and taxes as needed. If not already present, you will also need to add the ESAC and the penalty amount (if applicable).
- Press the Enter key or click the NEXT button to move to the Exchange Summary screen for review before ending the transaction.
The second workaround can be used when point-of-interruption pricing was used to issue the new exchange. It is meant to help you to see the original tax codes from the old document. You will still need to enter the old fare, old total and tax values. Returning just the tax codes is meant to ensure that you report the return of the correct taxes on the old document to avoid a debit memo. Here is how it works in IAR:
Workaround #2 – Populate the tax codes of the old document
On the Exchange Support screen where “ERROR - Amount required in -Old Fare-” is displayed:
- In the “Old Fare” and “Old Total” fields, enter an amount that is less than the full settled value of the old document that is being partially exchanged, then press the Enter key.
- IAR will autofill only the old tax codes of the original document along with the message: “Please review taxes - Leave -Tax Amt- blank if not required for exchange”.
- You may then enter the correct unused Old Fare and Old Total values along with the unused tax values for any applicable tax codes and any commission being returned. If not already present, you will also need to add the ESAC and penalty amount (if applicable).
- Press the Enter key or click the NEXT button to move to the Exchange Summary screen for review before ending the transaction.
Remember: When issuing a partial exchange, it is recommended that you use your GDS’s exchange repricing tool so that the exchange enters IAR without the partial exchange error. Please check with your GDS representative for more information on their automated exchange repricing functionality.