ARC's offices will be closed on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, in observance of the Christmas holiday. All sales reports for PED 12/29/24 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
Transactions issued in your GDS from Tuesday, December 24, 2024, may be voided or modified in the GDS or IAR until Thursday, December 26, 2024.
ARC’s offices will also be closed on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, in observance of New Year's Day. All sales reports for the PED of 01/05/25 must be authorized by 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Transactions issued in your GDS from Tuesday, December 31, 2024, may be voided or modified in the GDS or IAR until Thursday, January 2, 2025.
ARC is committed to providing your business with the resources needed to protect you from fraud. Effective August 26, as part of our recent changes to the Agent Reporting Agreement (ARA), ARC now requires all agency personnel who issue tickets to complete ARC security training twice per year.
The comprehensive training is designed to ensure that all relevant personnel have the latest knowledge and best practices to protect against security threats and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.
An agent may opt out of the training requirements by demonstrating to ARC, in its sole discretion, that the agency is PCI level 1 compliant and can provide a Payment Card Industry Attestation of Compliance (AOC).
The Required Agent Security Training and the opt-out form can be found on the ARC Online Training site. If you have questions, contact our Customer Care Center at 855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com.
The changes are in Sections 8.3.10, 8.3.10.1, and 39.33 of the ARA and Section B of the IAH.
During the holiday season, fraudsters often target data, anticipating it to go unnoticed while you focus on festivities. Before you gather with family and friends this holiday season, take a moment to secure your travel agency systems.
As agents, you are responsible for managing your company’s risk and may be responsible for financial losses resulting from fraud. We are here to support your efforts and share potential exposure to fraudulent activity and actionable tips to help minimize losses.
Implement Ticketing Shut-Off Functionality
Activate ticketing shut-off functionality during non-working hours. Fraudsters won’t be able to access your valuable ticketing ability and generate fraudulent tickets.
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Sabre users: The "Ticket Safe" program in the Sabre Red App Centre is a helpful tool.
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Amadeus users: Use the "Application Access Time Limitations" feature to inhibit ticketing.
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Travelport users: Contact your Travelport account representative promptly to ensure you’re protected.
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA ensures you’re the only user able to access your system. Without it, a fraudster with your password can get into your account.
Reach out to your GDS provider now and ask them to implement multi-factor authentication for you. Without this additional layer of security, your agency is left exposed.
Create Urgent Staff Awareness
Your agency's defenders must be armed with knowledge. Ensure all staff, contractors and external agents with ticket-issuing capabilities know the lurking danger posed by phishing emails. The stakes are high, and ignorance could lead to headaches for your agency.
Check out our fraud prevention resources and watch our recent 2024 Fraud Trends & Key Takeaways webinar.
Ensure Awareness Around Email Security
GDS providers will never ask agents to log in to their systems through a link in an email. When you click on a phishing email link, you give your login credentials directly to a fraudster. Always log in to your GDS through bookmarks in your browser, not through unsafe links in emails. If you’ve already clicked on an email link, ensure you reset your credentials right away and alert your GDS and ARC.
Know ARC is Here to Support
When it comes to fraud, ignorance is not bliss, it's a vulnerability. Arm yourself with information on unauthorized ticketing and other fraud schemes targeting our community. Your agency's valuable resources hinge on staying informed. Visit the ARC website for fraud prevention information.
Alert ARC of fraud incidents at StopFraud@arccorp.com or call us urgently at 855-358-0393.
Safeguarding your agency is not just a duty; it is a necessity. From all of us at ARC, we wish you a secure and joyful holiday season.
Starting January 14, 2025, ARC will move the deadline for authorizing weekly sales reports to 1:59 p.m. ET, excluding Monday and Tuesday holiday weeks. This change will allow faster processing of settled data to help you better serve your customers.
Need support? We’ve got you covered.
We want to ensure agencies have plenty of time to adjust smoothly. Our new expedited reporting webpage offers more best practices, a recap webinar and tips to help with the transition.
Preparing for the Change
We understand that adapting to new processes can take time. Currently, more than 85% of weekly settlement reports are already submitted by the 1:59 p.m. ET deadline. For those who need to adjust, here are a few tips to help:
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Daily Reconciliation: Reconciling your sales reports daily reduces the time spent correcting errors at the end of the week.
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Exchange Transactions: Ensure any residual value MCO/EMD is properly linked to the primary exchange to avoid imbalances during settlement.
Our Customer Care team is here to help answer any questions and guide you through the transition. Reach out to us at 855-816-8003 or ccchelp@arccorp.com.
When an IAR sales report doesn’t contain any transactions (has no activity) and hasn’t been authorized/submitted by the standard 11:59 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday (or 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday during a week with an ARC-recognized Monday holiday), ARC will automatically submit a "No Sales" report on your behalf.
ARC auto-submission of a "No Sales" report may only occur when all the previous weeks' sales reports have been authorized and submitted. All financial information on the “Authorize” and “Submit” screens of a "No Sales" report will reflect $0.00.
This ARC auto-submission occurs after 3 a.m. ET in IAR when the system is taken down for daily maintenance. If you are reviewing your sales report between 11:59 p.m. and 3 a.m. ET and notice your sales report has not been auto-submitted; please do not take any action. Manual submission of any sales report after the 11:59 p.m. ET submission deadline will be recognized by the system as a late authorization. There is no late authorization penalty for an unsubmitted "No Sales" report that is auto-authorized by ARC.