Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC)
Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) regulates and handles transactions between airlines and US-based travel agencies. ARC is owned by nine major airlines and partners with almost 500 airlines. Besides ticket transaction settlement services, it also accredits travel agencies and provides access to the aggregated air transaction data.
ARC accreditation gives travel agencies the ability to issue airline tickets. It also provides industry recognition and access to travel data, tech solutions, and events. It’s similar to IATA accreditation, but IATA provides certification services to travel agencies worldwide, while ARC works with agents located in the USA, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
There are three types of ARC accreditation:
- ARC Accredited Agency (Full accreditation) gives agencies ticketing power.
- ARC Verified Travel Consultant (VTC) is for non-ticketing travel professionals.
- ARC Corporate Travel Department (CTD) is an option for big non-travel businesses since it assists their travel departments with managing their relationships with travel product suppliers.
ARC certification is required to obtain IATAN accreditation.
Those travel businesses that don’t have ARC accreditation but want to sell flights can rely on a consolidator or a hosting agency for ticketing.
