An unparalleled business solution that lowers distribution costs

One of the most cost-efficient opportunities in travel distribution is based on a direct connection between the travel supplier and distributors. ARC uses its proven world-class infrastructure to support the reporting and settlement of these direct connect transactions, allowing all parties involved the same full spectrum of financial and data reporting services received today in the retail environment.

ARC Alternative Distribution Channels employ a variety of business models to support direct connect agreements between supplier and distributor. These models offer the flexibility to accommodate corporate or leisure travel, traditional or Web-based technologies, and support the paperless environment.

Regardless of the Alternative Distribution Channel business model used, ARC will report and settle transactions in the same manner as the traditional retail GDS channel. Moreover, depending on your choice, ARC can consolidate settled data across different distribution channels or report the data independently.

Pricing: Please contact us for more information.

Features

The following Alternative Distribution Channel business models have proven successful in creating significant cost savings for participants:

• One-to-One - This is a supplier & distributor relationship that builds a direct link between a host reservation system and a distributor's booking and ticketing system. This model applies primarily to partnerships between suppliers and large distributors.
• One-to-Many - Also known as an agent portal, this is a relationship that makes a host reservation system accessible to a number of agents and/or distributors, often utilizing a airline's Web access functionality.
• Many-to-Many - Also referred to as a GDS New Entrant (GNE), these systems connect suppliers to distributors via Web-based technologies. This business model provides shopping, booking, payment processing, and reconciliation services, usually at a fraction of the cost of traditional retail GDS systems.

Benefits

• Reduces distribution costs
• Allows for utilization of high speed, real-time, Internet-based distribution technology between airline host systems and travel distributors or corporate accounts
• Provides a single solution for consolidation of ticketing data from sales across multiple channels
• Utilizes current ARC infrastructure for electronic settlement, credit card billing, data storage and reporting

Getting Started

ARC offers a full-time development and implementation support team to assist you with every step of the project. All data feeds to and from ARC are standard industry formats, thus resulting in minimal impact to existing systems.

FIRST - Utilize the knowledge and experience of the ARC team to help you define the Alternative Distribution Channel business model that best suit your needs.

SECOND - Consult with ARC to analyze and review the operational functions that are impacted by the Alternative Distribution Channel (i.e. ticketing, messaging, reporting, back-office feeds, exchange and refund rules).

THIRD - Coordinate the creation of an industry standard data feed into ARC's settlement system.

FINALLY - Identify business rules, stakeholders, and contractual arrangements.