ARC reminds agencies of fee increases
ARC has been reminding agencies of changes in the fee structure for 2010.
The core administrative fee of $165 per location has risen to $175. ARC notified agents that it was to be collected via bank drafts beginning Jan. 21.
In addition, large agencies subject to the per-transaction fee will see that item rise from 1.9 cents per transaction to 2 cents when drafts for the first-quarter transaction fees are presented in April.
The ceiling on the number of transactions subject to the fee is rising from 1.875 million per quarter to 2 million per quarter.
Agencies that report fewer than 1,000 transactions per quarter remain exempt from the fee. -- B.P.
ARC is doing away with some long-established personnel and location requirements for travel agencies, including a requirement from the era of paper tickets that there be a "qualified" manager and ARC ticketing expert at every branch location.
Under a revised version of the Agency Reporting Agreement that goes into effect March 15, ARC will also stop treating on-site branches, i.e., those located on a customer's premises, as a separate category.
No new on-site, restricted-access or STP branches will be designated, because those classifications are "eliminated on a prospective basis," ARC said. Existing sites will be permitted to keep their designation until they change ownership or classification.
On-site branches, including restricted access sites and STP sites (basically unattended ticket printers), will simply be treated as just another branch. ARC spokesman Allan Muten said the new arrangements means "a branch is a branch is a branch."
ARC will be able to eliminate the distinctions between regular branches and on-site branches in part because the new rules also eliminate the decades-old requirements that agency offices be open to the public, "freely accessible" and be "engaged primarily in the retail sale of passenger transportation."
Regarding the change in personnel requirements, ARC explained in a notice to agents that the changes recognize that an agency's headquarters office is, as always, "wholly accountable for and has legal and financial responsibility for ... its branches," making it unnecessary to impose specific requirements on branches.
For decades, ARC and its predecessor, the Air Traffic Conference, required branch offices to have a qualified on-site manager and at least one person (who can be the manager) with proven experience in ticketing and the handling of ARC documents -- in current parlance, a Certified ARC Specialist or "ARC Qualifier."
That requirement will remain in place for single-office and headquarters locations but not for branches.
Instead of a management qualifier for each branch, the headquarters agency can designate an employee at the home office to oversee and make management decisions for the branch. An ARC qualifier will not be required.
With the rise of e-ticketing and ARC's online IAR reporting system, many agents have come to regard the personnel requirements as "onerous," Muten said.
ASTA's Paul Ruden agreed, noting that large agencies with multiple branches could save significantly on training costs as a result.
The changes were approved by the ARC board after consultation with ARC's agency advisory panel, the Joint Advisory Board-Agent Reporting Agreement, or JAB-ARA. Muten said the changes were particularly welcomed by larger agencies, adding that the arrangement is designed to "add flexibility and streamline the process."
Travel lawyer and Travel Weekly columnist Mark Pestronk said the changes could make it easier to open a travel agency or to operate it in tandem with another business. Pestronk said that in some respects this reflects "a kinder, gentler ARC."
Agents may be thinking the same thing. Tim Smith, president of Global Point Travel in San Diego, said, "In a nutshell, I think everyone is relieved that ARC has simplified the process of certifying branch locations."
He called it "a positive change for the travel agency community."
"By any measure, agencies haven't necessarily enjoyed universal high-touch relationships with ARC, so to see this positive move is undoubtedly welcomed by all."
Although ARC is doing away with the STP and on-site designations, two other specialized agency location types will remain: the Central Service Location and the Ticket Fulfillment Location.
A CSL, which may be a branch, is designed to serve a specific corporate account at a central location; it can be a full-service agency. There are about 1,200 of those.
ARC also recognizes about 75 TFLs, an agency branch that only engages in ticket fulfillment and does not engage in other travel services. Neither is open to the general public.
At the end of 2009, ARC counted 18,117 locations, just over half of which, 9,732, were independent, or single-office, agencies.
Another 809 were the home office, or headquarters, sites of multilocation agencies, and 6,575 were branches. As of Dec. 27, there were, in addition, approximately 1,000 STPs. ARC was unable on short notice to provide a precise breakout.