So, what exactly is NDC?
New Distribution Capability (NDC) is a way to transmit travel data. For airlines, it enables richer, more personalized options for travelers. For travel agents, it means being able to sell customized, competitively priced travel similar to what airlines provide in their channels. For travel managers, it means access to richer, more personalized content.
Think of NDC as a custom-built electric car compared to a basic gas-powered car. The customized car has more space and flexibility, letting you carry more and go farther, but it also brings new factors to consider — like learning to charge it, finding specialized maintenance, and ensuring the proper infrastructure along your route.
Why has it taken time to implement NDC?
Consider that electric car again: While electric vehicles have been around for a while, adoption has taken time due to both perception and practical challenges, like the availability of charging stations and specialized servicing. Similarly, NDC has been around since the 2010s, and adoption has grown.
NDC now represents more than 19% of ARC’s processed transactions. However, challenges remain, and ARC is leading the way in setting best practices to make NDC adoption more accessible and more effective across the travel ecosystem.
NDC Advancement Working Group
To continue advancing airline retailing strategies and ensure that agencies and travel technology providers can efficiently support their customers, ARC formed the NDC Advancement Working Group in October 2023. The group is focused on collaborating on matters negatively impacting NDC adoption, with a goal of identifying best practices to help normalize NDC business processes. Going back to our electric car example: This group is helping to establish some improved rules of the road.
Global Airlines
Global Distribution Systems & Travel Technology Providers
Online Travel Agencies & Consolidators
Travel Management Companies
Hours together during in-person workshops & virtual meetings
NDC progress requires a commitment from stakeholders across the travel ecosystem. We’re grateful to our partners for working together.
NDC Advancement Working Group Best Practices
Travel Technology Providers should provide the ability to filter Offer results by corporate policy.
Want to learn more? Download the entire Best Practices Guide for more details.
Airlines should always calculate commission as a dollar amount.
Travel Technology Providers should allow the comparison of NDC and EDIFACT fares when both are offered.
Travel Technology Providers should offer the capability to create a recurring itinerary from a previous reservation.
Airlines should use Modifiers and/or Qualifiers to facilitate a streamlined shopping experience.
Aggregators should create a consolidated rules display for five specific rule categories: cancel, change, penalty, refund, and validity.
For Exchanges, airlines should maintain the original Order ID through the lifecycle of the Order, including Orders that contain multiple passengers.
Want to learn more? Download the entire Best Practices Guide for more details.
For Exchanges, airlines should retain the attributes of non-modified Order Items, including segments, when there is a modification to the Order.
When re-shopping as part of an Exchange, airlines should provide available and sold-out options and options in alternative cabins and classes with fare difference.
Travel Technology Providers should allow agencies the ability to persist, modify, or delete an original negotiated fare code, account code/corporate identifier, and historical fare code in a re-shop request. Airlines should include the original account code/corporate identifier in the new Offer.
Airlines should return the "why" when an Exchange is rejected to allow the agent to submit an acceptable re-shop request or amend the re-shop request.
For Exchanges, Travel Technology Providers (TTPs) should send a modified passenger type and airlines should have the ability to process the new passenger type. TTPs and airlines should support the use and modification of all passenger types in Exchanges.
Want to learn more? Download the entire Best Practices Guide for more details.
Agencies should receive all change notifications, including the source of the change (e.g., the customer or airline).
Airlines should calculate all time limits (fare/price time limit, Offer time limit and payment time limit) in UTC time and ISO date format. Travel Technology Providers should display times to the agency in local time based on the UTC calculation.
When an Offer expires, Travel Technology Providers should allow the ability to refresh without reselling to avoid the agent needing to re-enter all information.
In the event of irregular operation (IROP), schedule change, government directive, weather event, or other event that results in airlines offering increased flexibility, airlines should apply the flexible terms when returning re-shop Offers to the agent, including EMDs and ancillaries.
Airlines should return all Offers when re-shopping, including Offers with additional charges, sold-out inventory, and Offers in other cabins and classes.
Want to learn more? Download the entire Best Practices Guide for more details.
Airlines should not issue debit memos for auto-priced NDC transactions or transactions that cannot be modified by an agent for reasons related to fare, tax, fee and commission.
Airlines should not issue a debit memo if a void and/or refund fare option is returned and selected at re-shop.
When a voluntary cancellation occurs in accordance with the fare rules, airlines should return the residual value (i.e., ticket credit) and expiration date.
Want to learn more? Download the entire Best Practices Guide for more details.
Need support to implement these?
Want to join ARC’s NDC Progress Pledge?
The only way to make NDC progress is to commit to it together. If you’re committed to making progress on the best practices above, feel free to add this badge to your company website or post it on social media. NDC is the future, so be proud to support it.
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