2023 Holiday Ticket Modification/Voiding Schedule

ARC’s offices are closed on Monday, December 25, 2023, and Monday, January 1, 2024, in observance of Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The GDS void/IAR reconciliation dates for tickets issued on Friday, December 22, 2023, to Sunday, December 24, 2023, will be extended until Tuesday, December 26, 2023. The GDS void/ IAR reconciliation dates for tickets issued on Friday, December 29, 2023, to Sunday, December 31, 2023, will be extended until Tuesday, January 02, 2024.

Sales Report Submission

Weekly sales reports for the PED of 12/24/23 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, and weekly sales reports for the PED of 12/31/23 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 3, 2024.

2024 Holiday Schedule

The ARC 2024 Holiday Schedule is now available. You can access it from My ARC via the link “2023 & 2024 Holiday Schedule” under “Resources.”

The 2024 ARC Holiday Schedule presents the holidays observed by ARC and is effective January 1, 2024. The schedule reflects the impacts to:

  • GDS-issued transactions.

  • GDS/IAR Void and IAR modification extension dates

  • ARC Report PED and ARC Report due dates

PLEASE NOTE:

When the day to void falls on an ARC-recognized holiday, an extension to the next business day is automatically granted.

When an ARC-recognized holiday falls on Monday or Tuesday, the weekly sales report is due by 11:59 p.m. ET on the Wednesday following the sale period ending date (PED). Otherwise, the ARC weekly sales report is due by 11:59 p.m. ET on the Tuesday following the PED.

When a transaction that was manually entered into IAR must be voided, the void may only take place on the same day of IAR entry.

ARC reserves the right to make changes to the holiday schedule or sales report submission deadline. Any such changes will be communicated in advance to the travel agency community.

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.

Agency Accreditation Application Updates on January 8, 2024

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.

1) 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;

2) 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;

3) The use of multifactor authentication when made available by a System Provider;

4) Installation and recording of logs of all security patches and system updates made available by Agent’s computer operating system provider and browser;

5) 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;

6) Use and maintenance of effective and current anti-spam and anti-phishing email filtering system and effective use of anti-phishing toolbars;

7) Appropriate maintenance of security, encryption, and password protection on Agent’s computer and any wireless internet systems used by Agent’s computers;

8) 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;

9) Installation of computer operating system updated with all latest patches and with automatic updates enabled; and

10) Internet browser installed with latest patches and with automatic updates enabled.

Tip of the Week: Automated Linking of Residual Value EMDs

Did you know ARC has enhanced the Interactive Agent Reporting (IAR) system to systematically link a residual value Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) resulting from a GDS-issued exchange to its associated exchange transaction? This feature will work similarly to the existing auto-linking functionality that links a residual value MCO to its associated exchange transaction.

The automated linking of a GDS-issued residual value EMD to its associated exchange transaction will occur in your IAR sales report when:

  1. The new 13-digit exchange ticket number is in the “Issued in Connection with Document Number” (ICDN) field of the EMD, and

  1. One of the following three-character “Reason for Issuance Sub Codes” (RFIS) is used when issuing the EMD:

  • 99I - Residual Value

  • 996 - Refundable Balance

  • 98E - Non-refundable Amount

As a reminder, a residual value EMD or MCO results when a non-refundable old document has a higher value than that of the new exchange document. When the airline allows this non-refundable residual difference to be transferred to either an MCO or an EMD, IAR will now systematically link that GDS-issued residual value document to its associated exchange transaction in the sales report.

Automated Linking of Residual Value EMDs is an IAR-only feature that works only when a GDS-issued residual value EMD is sent to ARC. Please note: the ICDN and RFIS linking criteria values are not displayed in IAR on the EMD transaction, so it is important that these fields are entered in the GDS at the time the EMD is issued. While these and other EMD-specific data elements are not yet displayed in IAR, ARC does support full EMD settlement.

If both above linking criteria are not present on the EMD when received from the GDS, you must manually link the EMD to the new exchange. If not linked to the new exchange transaction, your customer could be charged the amount of the EMD instead of having that value to use as a credit for future travel. Please be sure to reconcile your sales report daily to ensure any residual value document is linked to its exchange transaction.

Agency issuance of a residual value EMD is dependent upon the airline’s ticketing policy since not all airlines support agency issuance of EMDs or permit the residual value to be transferred to a new document. Your ability to issue an EMD is also dependent upon your GDS’s ability to support the issuance of a residual value EMD as part of the E-ticket exchange process. Please check with your GDS provider for more information.

Please refer to the Industry Agent’s Handbook (IAH) in Section 5 – IAR under “Exchanges with Non-Refundable Residual Value” for more details.