Since the release of the ARC’s NDC Best Practices Guide in December 2024, the NDC Advancement Working Group continues refining its guidance to meet the travel industry’s evolving needs. The recent release of version 1.1 reflects ongoing conversations among a diverse group of industry stakeholders committed to making NDC adoption more effective and efficient for airlines, TMCs/agencies and technology providers.

Version 1.1 builds upon the foundation established in the original best practices. It incorporates additional insights gained from real-world implementation and introduces two best practices under two entirely new categories: Branded Fares and Loyalty.

• The Branded Fares Best Practice addresses the need for consistent naming and packaging of branded fares across channels, helping customers clearly understand what each fare includes.

• The Loyalty Benefits Best Practice focuses on incorporating loyalty tier perks, such as seat upgrades or waived luggage fees, directly into the shopping path when a loyalty number is included.

Along with these new additions, language in two existing best practices about executive changes (Best Practice #9) and waivers (Best Practice #17), was refined by removing references to displaying or returning “sold out” flight options. This change reflects current NDC schema limitations.

These updates reflect the ongoing collaboration including four meetings so far in 2025. As the pace of progress in airline distribution accelerates toward modern retailing, ARC remains focused on providing resources that support advancement through aligned best practices.  

Visit ARC’s NDC Best Practices webpage for more information.