New: After-Hours & Weekend Fraud Support
If you suspect you're a victim of fraud, such as unauthorized ticketing through phishing or social engineering, contact ARC immediately. We now offer after-hours and weekend support for your agency.
Find the contact details below and bookmark our updated 'Report Fraud' ARC webpage for quick access.
Business Hours Support
Monday – Friday
9 a.m. - 8 p.m. ET
Email: stopfraud@arccorp.com
Urgent After Hours & Weekend Support
Call: 1-855-816-8003.
Press 1 for the "Fraud Hotline" and follow instructions. A representative will contact you as soon as possible.
Non-Urgent After Hours & Weekend Support
Email: stopfraud@arccorp.com
A response will be provided on the next business day.
ARC is updating the agency accreditation application effective January 8, 2024, to help empower agents to protect themselves against fraud.
The updates apply to all new agencies and agency type 5 ownership changes, requiring these security measures before becoming accredited. View a summary of the updates below.
- Effective and unique electronic challenge and authentication for all log-in credentials or security credentials, including but not limited to any credentials used to access System Providers. This includes, for example, usernames, PIN/PCC and password, of any user accessing agent hardware, systems, or any other systems or hardware which can be used to issue ARC Traffic Documents and Transactional Data;
- If permitted by a System Provider, passwords that conform with the following criteria: a. 14 characters or more in length b. Combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols; and c. A password that is different from all previous passwords;
- The use of multifactor authentication when made available by a System Provider;
- Installation and recording of logs of all security patches and system updates made available by Agent’s computer operating system provider and browser;
- Installation and maintenance of industry standard antivirus software, firewall software, and anti-malware software on all Agent’s computers and the regular use thereof and maintenance of logs for such use;
- Use and maintenance of effective and current anti-spam and anti-phishing email filtering system and effective use of anti-phishing toolbars;
- Appropriate maintenance of security, encryption, and password protection on Agent’s computer and any wireless internet systems used by Agent’s computers;
- The attendance of Agent and all personnel issuing ARC Traffic Documents at ARC approved fraud and security webinars and trainings in the previous twelve (12) months;
- Installation of computer operating system updated with all latest patches and with automatic updates enabled; and
- Internet browser installed with latest patches and with automatic updates enabled.
2024 VTC Fees Will Be Drafted on January 18, 2024
Thank you for your continued relationship with ARC. This is a reminder that the annual Verified Travel Consultant (VTC) participation fee of $195.00 will be deducted from your designated bank account via electronic draft on January 18, 2024. Your VTC participation is renewed automatically.
In the event your agency is going through a bank account change or will be opting to voluntarily delete or change the participation program, these updates will need to be completed by December 15, 2023.
Please note: If you have not done so already, every agency must contact your bank representative and add ARC’s Company ID 9521367276. This ensures that ARC can successfully draft your 2024 annual fee. There is a $25 nonrefundable fee for all returned drafts and a $25 weekly penalty until full payment has been received.
Bank account changes can be made with ARC’s accreditation tool in My ARC or by contacting ARC’s Customer Care Center (CCC) at 855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com. For any voluntary deletion, please contact the ARC CCC.
As a member of ARC’s VTC program, you'll have continued access to ARC's tools and support, including access to the ARC Pay Hub, ARC’s credit card merchant processing platform. Additionally, your designated ARC Number allows you to maintain your agency's independence and brand.
If you have any questions about the value of your VTC participation, please contact ARC’s Customer Care Center at 855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com.
Thank you for partnering with ARC.
ARC was advised that some residual value documents were not automatically linking to their associated exchange. To resolve this issue, beginning December 14, 2023, when a residual value document (with the proper linking criteria) is received after the modification window of its associated exchange, but before that exchange is reported to the airline, IAR will automatically link the new two transactions.
ARC’s best practice is for the agency to issue an exchange and any residual value MCO or EMD on the same day, as highlighted in the Expedited Exchanges FAQs,
2024 Annual Location Fees Will Be Drafted on January 18, 2024
In order to operate our settlement platform, ARC maintains a 90/10 fee structure in which participating airlines contribute 90% of core costs and participating travel agencies contribute 10%. Travel agency contributions come from annual fees associated with each ARC-accredited agency location (i.e., home office location, branch) and quarterly transaction fees. The changes to travel agency fees for 2024 are outlined below. These changes have been approved by the ARC Joint Advisory Board-Agent Reporting Agreement (JAB-ARA) and by the ARC Board of Directors. All other fees, such as the return draft and late reporting fee, will remain the same in 2024.
Please visit the ARC website for a complete listing of all 2024 agency fees and fee schedules.
2024 Annual Travel Agency Location Fee (AAF)
A 2024 annual travel agency location fee of $276 will be collected for each of your travel agency’s locations via electronic draft from your designated bank account on January 18, 2024. The fee may appear on your bank statement as “ARC Core Participation Fee,” though the exact wording will vary by bank. Please note: If you have not done so already, every agency must contact your bank representative and add ARC’s Company ID 9521367276. This ensures that ARC can successfully draft your 2024 annual fee. There is a $25 nonrefundable fee for all returned drafts.
There will be a separate draft for each active agency location on record as of January 1, 2024. If your agency is going through a bank change or will be opting to voluntarily delete, please contact ARC’s Customer Care Center. You will need to finalize those details by December 15, 2023.
2024 Quarterly Transaction Fees
The 2024 quarterly transaction fees will only be applied to travel agencies that process 1,000 or more transactions in a particular quarter.
|
Transactions Per Quarter |
Price per Transaction (US$) |
Tier 1 |
1,000 - 2,224,999 |
$0.014 |
Tier 2 |
2,225,000 - 5,999,999 |
$0.013 |
Tier 3 |
6,000,000 or more |
$0.012 |
Below is the projected collection schedule for the quarterly drafts:
Q4 (2023): January 18, 2024
Q1: April 18, 2024
Q2: July 18, 2024
Q3: October 17, 2024
Q4: January 16, 2025
ARC will notify travel agencies before each quarterly draft. For consolidated drafting agencies, only one draft will be assessed for all ARC-accredited locations. Please note: There is a $25 nonrefundable fee assessed for all returned drafts.
If you have any questions, please contact ARC’s Customer Care Center at 855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com.
Thank you for partnering with ARC.
Tip of the Week: How can I link a Residual Value MCO/EMD to the primary exchange?
IAR automatically links a residual value MCO or EMD to a new exchange when you follow these steps:
For MCOs:
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Issue the new exchange ticket first.
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Issue the residual value MCO on the same day as the NEW exchange (recommended) and be sure to:
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Include the NEW exchange document number (not the old document number) in the "Issued in Connection with Document Number" (ICDN) field.
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Include the word "RESIDUAL" in the "Type of Service" or "Valid For" field (Amadeus users can also use the word “FUTURE”).
For EMDs:
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Issue the new exchange ticket first.
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Issue the residual value EMD the same day as the new exchange (recommended) and be sure to:
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Include the NEW exchange document number (not the old document number) in the "Issued in Connection with Document Number" (ICDN) field of the EMD.
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Include one of the following 3-character EMD "Reason for Issuance Sub Codes" (RFIS) on the new EMD:
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99I - Residual Value
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996 - Refundable Balance
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98E - Non-refundable Amount
Once linked, the exchange and the residual document become a single companion exchange transaction. A companion exchange is any exchange transaction with more than one new document. It is identified on the IAR sales report in the transaction type (TT) column with the indicator of “CX.”