What is Expedited Reporting?

Expedited Reporting is the acceleration in the output schedule of settled data to the agencies and airlines.

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. This change will help agencies remain competitive with direct and NDC channels, which already have accelerated settled data.

How does Expedited Reporting benefit agencies?

Accelerating the output of settled data allows faster access to accurate transaction data to agencies and airlines. Moreover, this change benefits the agencies in the following ways:

• 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.

When will the Expedited Reporting change be implemented?

Beginning Tuesday, January 14, 2024, the weekly sales report must be authorized on Tuesday at 1:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). This is a change from the current authorization deadline of Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Why does the Sales Report deadline need to change?

Acceleration of settled data output to agencies and airlines means acceleration of data reporting to our customers. To ensure accuracy and transparency of reported data, it is paramount that the data is error-free and reconciles accurately. While in the case of Sales, Refunds & Exchanges, this is done daily. For weekly settled transactions (Adjustment Memos - Debit Memo, Credit Memo, and Recall Commission Statements, AADs & ARC Pay transactions) need to be locked earlier and in turn the weekly Sales Reports need to be locked earlier.

How does Expedited Reporting impact the agencies?

Latest data shows that the submission window change will not impact most agents. Currently, 85% of all agents submit their reports by 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. For larger agencies, this figure is 91%, which suggests that even those with more complex operations are already meeting the proposed deadline.  

Today, with the void window that forces transactions to be reconciled daily and the enhancements delivered prior to proposing this change (Expedited Exchanges, Zero Value Transactions), submitting a sales report is easier and more routine. For most, it is simply confirming that no remaining errors exist and authorizing payment, which can typically be handled at the close of business on Monday or any time before the Tuesday submission deadline.

What has ARC done to ensure agencies are better prepared for this change?

To minimize impact to the agency community, ARC implemented changes in 2023 to help smooth agency transition to the proposed sales report authorization window revision.

• Expedited Exchanges: Prior to November 2023, Exchange transactions were settled once a week.  ARC moved settlement & reporting of Exchange transactions to daily, reducing the volume of transactions settled once a week to only Adjustment Memos (Debit Memo, Credit Memo, and Recall Commission Statements), AADs & ARC Pay transactions.

• Zero-Value Transactions: ARC implemented a change in IAR to allow $0 credit card transactions to settle error-free, eliminating manual intervention from agency users resulting in reduced time spent in IAR during sales report submission.

What is the first PED (Period Ending Date) impacted once Expedited Reporting change is implemented?

The first PED impacted will be PED 1/12/2025. Thereafter, each week ARC will require travel agencies to authorize their weekly sales reports by Tuesday at 1:59 p.m. ET (excluding Monday and Tuesday holiday weeks).

What are the changes once Expedited Reporting is implemented?

Expedited Reporting accelerates the reporting of settled transactions by up to two days. Once this change is implemented, the current and future IAR schedules for non-holiday weeks will be as depicted below:

Current IAR Schedule	Day	Future IAR Schedule
Friday, Saturday & Sunday transactions (sales, refunds, exchanges, voids) lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET.	Monday	No Change
Current week Monday transactions (Sales, Refunds, Exchanges), lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET. Previous PED Adjustment Memos (Debit Memo, Credit Memo, Recall Commission Statements), AAD & ARC Pay transactions lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET. Sales Report Authorization by 11:59 p.m. ET.	Tuesday	Current week Monday transactions (sales, refunds, exchanges) lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET. (No change) Previous PED Adjustment Memos (Debit Memo, Credit Memo, and Recall Commission Statements), AADs & ARC Pay transactions lockdown at 1:59 p.m. ET. Sales Report Authorization by 1:59 p.m. ET.
Tuesday transactions (Sales, Refunds, Exchanges, Voids) lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET.	Wednesday	No change
Wednesday transactions (Sales, Refunds, Exchanges, Voids) lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET.	Thursday	No change
Thursday transactions (Sales, Refunds, Exchanges, Voids) lockdown at 11:59 p.m. ET.	Friday	No change
No Lockdown	Saturday	No change
No Lockdown	Sunday	No change

Are there any changes to the void/modify window?

The void & modify windows remain the same for Sale, Refund and Exchange transactions.

• GDS issued Sales, Refunds, Exchanges can be voided/modified in IAR until the next business day 11:59 p.m. ET.

• IAR manually added Sales, Refund, Exchanges can be voided in IAR on same day 11:59 p.m. ET.

Will the Expedited Reporting implementation impact the timing of weekly cash disbursements?

No, weekly cash disbursements will remain on the current schedule, i.e. each Friday after the PED.

Are there any changes to the void/modify window?

The void & modify windows remain the same for Sale, Refund and Exchange transactions.

• GDS issued Sales, Refunds, Exchanges can be voided/modified in IAR until the next business day 11:59 p.m. ET.

• IAR manually added Sales, Refund, Exchanges can be voided in IAR on same day 11:59 p.m. ET.

What happens if I do not authorize my sales report by 1:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday?

If sales reports are not authorized by Tuesday at 1:59 p.m. ET, any transactions in an error status are rolled (automatically moved) to the next open sales report. This is not a change to the existing process. Refer Industry Agent’s Handbook (IAH), Section - Preparing Your Sales Report for Authorization, Pg. 127 for more details.

If I do not have any sales (no activity) in a PED, do I still need to authorize my sales report?

ARC recommends agencies authorize their weekly sales reports by the deadline. However, if there is no sales report activity within a PED, ARC will auto-authorize your weekly sales reports.

If you are a VTC (Verified Travel Consultant), ARC will auto-authorize your weekly sales reports even if you have sales reported. This is not a change to the existing process.

Refer Industry Agent’s Handbook (IAH), Section - Authorizing an IAR "No Sales" Report, Pg. 45 for more details.

What is the weekly sales report authorization schedule when ARC-observed holiday falls on a Monday or Tuesday?

If ARC-observed holiday falls on a Monday, the weekly sales report must be authorized by Wednesday, 1:59 p.m. ET.

If ARC-observed holiday falls on a Tuesday, the weekly sales report must be authorized by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. ET.

How can I contact ARC’s Customer Care Center (CCC) for assistance?

You may contact Customer Care by email at ccchelp@arccorp.com

If your concern is time sensitive, please call CCC at 1-855-816-8003 and reference your case number, if applicable.

Customer Care Hours: Monday – Tuesday 9:00 a.m. ET - 9:00 p.m. ET

Wednesday – Friday 9:00 a.m. ET - 7:30 p.m. ET