ARC has rolled out a new reporting agreement for U.S. travel agencies that will do away with some long-standing requirements for agency locations and personnel, effective March 15.
In a major break with the past, ARC will effectively do away with special designations for types of branch office locations. On-site, restricted access and satellite ticket printer (STP) locations will all be treated as branches.
No new on-site, restricted-access or STP branches will be designated because those classifications are "eliminated on a prospective basis," ARC said. Existing locations will retain their classifications until they change ownership or classification.
In addition, branches will no longer be required to have a full-time manager or an employee with ticketing experience or the Certified ARC Specialist designation. The headquarters office will remain responsible for everything that happens at a branch and will continue to be subject to those criteria, as will single-location agencies.
As ARC explained it in a bulletin to agents, the changes recognize that the an agency’s headquarters office is, as always, "wholly accountable for and has legal and financial responsibility for … its branches," which makes the personnel requirements for branch offices unnecessary.
The new reporting agreement also eliminates the requirement that ARC-accredited agency locations be open to the public, "freely accessible" and display signage that it is "engaged primarily in the retail sale of passenger transportation."
The changes were approved by ARC's board after consultation with ARC’s agency advisory panel, the Joint Advisory Board - Agent Reporting Agreement.
ARC has also been reminding agencies of changes in the fee structure for 2010. The core administrative fee of $165 per location is rising to $175, and was being 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.
Also, the ceiling on the number of transactions subject to the fee is rising from 1.875 million per quarter to 2.0 million per quarter. Agencies that report fewer than 1,000 transactions per quarter remain exempt from the fee.