Mark Pestronk
Q: I am interested in starting a hosting program at my agency, and I have a couple of questions. Do all host agencies need ARC numbers? What's the difference between an ARC number and an Iatan number? Why can't we use a CLIA number or a Travel Retailer Universal Enumeration (TRUE) code?
A: ARC numbers are needed only for agencies (including hosts) that want to issue airline tickets. If you don't want to do ticketing for your agency or your hosted ICs, you can easily obtain airline tickets from other agencies, including consolidators, or you can decline to handle airline tickets at all.
Today, quite a few hosts offer only cruises, tours, hotels and resorts, and their ICs and sub-ICs sell only those products. They stay away from airline ticketing because of the relative dearth of commissions, training required for proficiency, frequent disruptions that agencies can do nothing about and risk of debit memos for mistakes or fraud by ICs or clients.
However, prospective hosts do need an industry-recognized accreditation number so that suppliers other than airlines can recognize them, track their sales and pay commissions. Besides ARC, they have three choices: an Iatan number, a CLIA membership or a TRUE code.
Confusingly, ARC uses the same location numbering system as Iatan, which means an agency with both appointments has the same number. Both ARC and Iatan obtain the number from IATA, which is different from Iatan. "ARC number" and "IATA number" are used interchangeably in industry parlance,
Of Iatan, CLIA and TRUE, an Iatan appointment may be the most useful, as Iatan numbers follow a format that is recognized by all travel suppliers. Iatan also has, by far, the most requirements for an appointment. An Iatan appointment also allows a host's employees and ICs to obtain Iatan cards if they qualify.
A CLIA member number is recognized by cruise lines and many but not all tour operators and resorts. Its requirements are very simple: "Any travel seller or department of a travel seller that is actively engaged in the business of selling cruise travel can be a CLIA Travel Agency Member if they attest to the fact they are meeting all federal, state and local ordinances relative to conducting such sales."
A TRUE code is recognized by many suppliers, including cruise lines, tour operators, hotels and resorts. All that is required is six months' experience selling travel, any needed state or local license, a corporate entity and a bank account. TRUE has a category for host agencies, which may be an attractive option if you are starting one.
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Follow-up: After my July 8 Legal Briefs column, "The do's and don'ts of selling travel insurance," the U.S. Travel Insurance Association wrote me to say that it offers "centralized training ... designed to make it easy for advisors to easily get connected to the travel insurance producers they use for their customers."