REMINDER: Labor Day Holiday Information

ARC offices were closed Monday, September 2, 2024, in observance of Labor Day.

Holiday Ticket Modification/Voiding Schedule

The GDS/IAR reconciliation dates for tickets issued from Friday, August 30, 2024, to Sunday, September 1, 2024, will be extended until Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Sales Report Submission

Weekly sales reports for PED 09/01/24 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

The office hours for the remainder of the week are:

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

REMINDER: Change to Weekly Sales Report Authorization Schedule in 2025

As our industry continues to work together to provide travelers with improved retailing experiences, it becomes increasingly important for agencies and airlines to have accurate and timely transaction data for customer service purposes as well as revenue and financial forecasting. To enable these improvements, beginning in 2025, ARC plans to expedite the output of settled transaction data by several hours following the close of the weekly reporting period.

Why is this process update important?

  • Faster Customer Refunds: The change will accelerate customer refunds/exchanges issued on Mondays and Sundays by one day.

  • Quicker Access to Settled Sales Data: Both travel agencies and airlines will have faster access to sales data to better project revenues and cash flow. The timeliness of agency sales data availability to airlines currently lags the airline-direct channel. The acceleration of settled data reduces this gap, helping to ensure the agency channel remains competitive with airlines’ own channels.

How does this impact you? Effective Tuesday, January 13, 2025, ARC will require travel agencies to authorize their weekly sales reports by 1:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) (excluding Monday and Tuesday holiday weeks). This is a change from the current authorization deadline of 11:59 p.m. ET. The first sales report impacted is PED 01/12/25, which must be authorized by 1:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.

While more than 85% of ARC reports are already routinely authorized before the new deadline of 1:59:59 p.m. ET, we understand that for some agencies this change will require updates to internal processes and/or staff scheduling. This is why we are giving ample notice of this change. Ensuring your agency has time to prepare should this change in schedule impact your operations will make for a successful transition.

To help you prepare, ARC recommends travel agencies that have not already done so begin reconciling sales reports daily. Daily reconciling will reduce the time commitment to clearing errors at the end of the weekly reporting period. For exchange transactions, it is important to ensure any residual value MCO/EMD is correctly linked to the primary exchange, so the transaction is accurately balanced before settlement. Additional best practices can be found on arccorp.com.

Thank you in advance for your focus on this very important process change. If you have questions or require additional assistance, please contact our Customer Care team at 1-855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com. They’ll be listening for ways we can further prepare you.

Tip of the Week: Agent Custom Training

Does your agency need training on specific topics, but you are unsure how to facilitate it?

ARC offers multiple training options for any knowledge level, number of agents or locations, and desired training method. Our trainers provide a flexible training curriculum that best suits your agency’s needs.

We make the process easy for you with suggested training topics that include, but are not limited to:

  • Credit card processing
  • ARC Memo Manager (AMM)
  • Interactive Agent Reporting (IAR)
  • Fraud prevention
  • ARC Pay

Learn more about our training topics and complete the customized training request form today.