What is ARC? The Airlines Reporting Corporation explained

ARC, the Airlines Reporting Corporation, is the company that accredits US travel agencies to issue airline tickets and then settles the money between those agencies and the airlines. Its board is drawn largely from airline executives. With ARC accreditation, an agency can ticket flights on more than 200 airlines.

Here is what ARC does, how its settlement works, what accreditation costs, and how it differs from IATAN and BSP.

What is ARC?

ARC is the US settlement and accreditation body for air travel sold through agencies. In its own words, ARC enables US travel agencies and global travel suppliers to work together, and helps agencies settle transactions with airlines and customers.

Who runs it. ARC's board is drawn largely from airline executives. Its board of directors is made up of ARC's chair and CEO plus executives from Delta, Southwest, United, Lufthansa Group, Air France, American, Air Canada, Alaska and JetBlue.

How big it is. ARC's settlement page lists 252 airlines, 9,863 agency locations and $100B+ in annual agency sales (2025). ARC says it processes over $100 billion in US-based agency air sales a year.

How does ARC settlement work?

ARC sits in the middle, so an agency doesn't have to pay each airline separately. The cycle runs weekly, over a 7-day sales report period, Monday to Sunday:

1. You issue tickets. An accredited agency tickets through global distribution systems (GDSs), aggregators and airlines, including cash sales and service fees.
2. You review your weekly sales report. Agencies check their transactions in ARC's Interactive Agent Reporting (IAR) tool. ARC recommends reconciling sales reports daily to cut end-of-week corrections.
3. You authorize it by the deadline. Since January 14, 2025, weekly sales reports must be authorized by 1:59 p.m. ET, with later deadlines in Monday and Tuesday holiday weeks. While locked transactions are processed, you can't void or modify them.
4. ARC settles. ARC drafts your bank account for the authorized amount, no earlier than the fifth calendar day after the period closes. Its reporting and settlement platform, ARC Connex Legacy, settles the reported sales between agencies and airlines.

What's changing. In January 2026, ARC launched an orders-based reporting and settlement system. Its first release settles orders paid in cash. For now, ARC says tickets, NDC and orders coexist.

A settlement week, step by step

Here is one week laid out on the rules in ARC's Agent Reporting Agreement (ARA), effective September 15, 2026. The dates are an illustration, not an ARC notice.

You can fix a report until the deadline. You may recall a submitted report to correct it, but it has to be resubmitted by the same deadline. After the deadline, recall is closed.

Quiet weeks still count. With no sales, ARC can submit a "No Sales" report for you. Anything you sold and left off, you stay liable for.

The money isn't yours. Under the ARA, what you collect for air sales, less commission, is the airlines' property, held in trust until it's accounted for.

What does ARC accreditation cost?

• Application fee: $2,300 in ARC's most recent published datasheet (2020). It includes the annual fee for the calendar year you're approved.
• Financial security: a bond, letter of credit or cash deposit of at least $20,000. It rises to $150,000 if your parent company is based outside the US.
• Annual location fee: $327 in 2026.
• Quarterly transaction fees: charged only in quarters where you process 1,000 or more transactions, from $0.015 per transaction in 2026.
• Staff: a designated manager and an ARC Specialist who passes the ARC exam. One person can do both.

Timing. ARC says it reviews applications typically within 10 business days. Advisors report 60–90 days end to end, once you count gathering documents and arranging the bond.

How the bond amount changes after year one

The $20,000 is a starting point. Section D of the ARA sets the amount by age and cash sales:

• Year one: $20,000.
• Year two: the greater of $20,000 or your average monthly gross cash sales over 12 months, capped at $150,000.
• After two years: the greater of $10,000 or your average monthly gross cash sales, still capped at $150,000.

ARC can also change the amount on 30 days' written notice, and you can petition for a reduction. A bond has to come from a surety on the US Treasury's Circular 570 list.

Worked example (illustrative arithmetic). Your agency averages $45,000 a month in gross cash air sales in its second year. The instrument becomes $45,000, the greater of $20,000 and $45,000. In year three, cash sales average $8,000 a month, so the $10,000 floor applies and you post $10,000.

How do you get ARC accredited, step by step?

1. Set up the business. ARC's checklist asks for entity papers, an IRS confirmation letter or W-9, local business licenses, a lease or title for the location, prior-year tax filings and a financial statement.
2. Pick a name ARC will accept. Your name and website can't be the same as or misleadingly similar to an airline's, and can't use "ARC" or "Airline(s)" without permission.
3. Line up your people. Anyone in day-to-day operations with access to ticket money must live in the US and be authorized to work there. Every owner, officer and manager signs a notarized personal history form.
4. Submit the complete kit. ARC wants the entire application kit complete before submission. It runs background checks on owners, officers and the manager, interviews them, and may inspect the office.
5. Get appointed. After approval, ARC notifies the airlines. Under general concurrence, an airline appoints every agency on the ARC list unless it opts out. Under specific appointment, you need that airline's written certificate before ticketing on it.

ARC without ticketing: Verified Travel Consultant (VTC)

A VTC is an ARC-approved business that is not authorized to issue ARC tickets. It gets an ARC number for recognition. ARC decides within 30 days of a complete application, and the naming rules are stricter: no "Air(s)", "Flight(s)", "Fly" or "Reservation(s)" in the name.

An accredited agency that leaves the ARA can reclassify as a VTC and keep using its ARC number.

What are ARC debit memos (ADMs)?

A debit memo is a written or electronic request from an airline for payment of an agent obligation. Airlines raise them after auditing a ticket, refund or exchange. ARC's debit memo group names fare rules, refunds, exchanges, booking and ticketing as the training topics that prevent them.

• The ARA requires a named Debit Memo Contact at every agency.
• If you don't pay one, the airline may terminate its appointment of your agency.
• ARC's 2023 best practices are guidelines ARC does not enforce. They suggest agencies acknowledge a memo within 10 business days, dispute within 30 calendar days, and pay within 14 calendar days once they accept it. Airlines are asked to issue memos within nine months of the last travel date.

BSP agencies get the same kind of memo: see what is BSP.

Common ARC mistakes

1. Missing the Tuesday deadline. ARC's 2026 fee sheet lists a $25 late reporting fee. Two reports in 12 months still missing a business day after ARC's notice trigger additional operating requirements. Those include a bond amount set by ARC's risk review and never lower than your current one, a personal guaranty within seven days, a written action plan and no new locations.
2. Not funding the draft. If a draft bounces, you must wire the money by close of the next business day. Two bounced drafts in 12 months left unpaid past the next business day, or any two within four consecutive weeks, trigger the same extra requirements.
3. Leaving tickets off the report. Unreported sales are a default trigger, and ARC lists them as a possible sign of fraud even if paid later. ARC's ticket resolution fee is $0 within 15 days and $55 after.
4. Skipping the admin. Confirm ARC's annual Affirmation within 60 days of notice, give 7 business days' notice before changing bank accounts, and keep records for 39 months. In January 2026, ARC asked every agency to add ARC's Company ID at its bank so fee drafts clear.

Why ARC matters to travel advisors

Practical guidance: most new advisors don't need ARC. A host agency lets you book under its ARC, IATAN or CLIA number, so you sell flights without tying up $20,000 in a bond.

ARC starts to pay off when you sell enough air to justify the bond, the fees and the weekly reporting work. Until then, the weekly authorization deadline is one more thing to miss.

ARC vs IATAN vs BSP

IATAN gets you recognized. ARC gets you ticketing. BSP is ARC's counterpart outside the US.

To ticket in the US you need both ARC and IATAN. An IATAN ticketing location has to submit an ARC approval letter with its application.

Related terms

• IATA codes explained: what IATAN and ARC cost, side by side
• What is BSP?: IATA's settlement system outside the US
• How to sell flights without an IATA code
• What is a GDS?: the systems ARC agencies ticket through
• How to get a travel agent license
• Start here: how to start a travel agency

Booking flights on Tripdash

Tripdash Bookings lets you book flights, hotels, activities, rides and restaurants in one search, with no IATA code required. See how Tripdash works.

Sources

1. ARC. About us, accessed October 2026.
2. ARC. ARC Connex Legacy: settlement services, 2025 figures, accessed October 2026.
3. ARC. Leadership and governance, accessed October 2026.
4. ARC. ARC launches orders-based reporting and settlement system, January 27, 2026.
5. ARC. New sales report deadline begins January 14, January 2025.
6. ARC. Become an ARC-accredited travel agency, 2020.
7. ARC. Information on agency accreditation for airlines.
8. ARC. 2026 ARC agency fees.
9. IATA. Travel agent accreditation and Billing and Settlement Plan.
10. IATA/IATAN. IATAN Accreditation Requirements, December 2025, and IATAN, Become accredited.
11. ARC. Agent Reporting Agreement, effective September 15, 2026 (including IAH Sections D, E, F, K and M).
12. HostAgencyReviews. IATA number, May 2024, and Travel agency accreditation options, August 2024.
13. ARC. PED 01/04/2026 (TAC message: 2026 fees and transaction tiers), January 2026.
14. ARC Debit Memo Advisory Group. Best Practices for Effective Debit Memo Resolution and Prevention, 2023.
15. ARC. Verified Travel Consultant Application Agreement and ARC VTC Program Agreement, effective April 8, 2022.