| Airfare Consolidators have been saving Travelers | | | | and services, ticket distribution and settlement |
| hundreds of dollars on airline tickets for years. The | | | | through a variety of channels in the United States, |
| big question for most consumers is: "Where do you | | | | Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. |
| find these Consolidated Airfares?" | | | | 2) Or, Is your Agent a member of THE |
| You guessed it, your Travel Agent. More and more | | | | INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TRAVEL AGENT |
| travel agencies are developing a relationship with | | | | NETWORK? IATAN's mission is to promote |
| Consolidators. It is up to you to locate a trusting | | | | professionalism, administer meaningful and impartial |
| Agency that will purchase these tickets for you | | | | business standards, and to provide cost-effective |
| without adding a huge markup. These fares are called | | | | products, services and educational programs that |
| "unpublished airfares" and not all travel agencies | | | | benefit the travel industry |
| provide these types of tickets to their clients. | | | | 3) Or, does your Agent have a "TRUE" Identification? |
| The Consolidated airfares change from minute to | | | | TRUE (Travel Retailer Universal Enumeration) |
| minute and are based upon demand. It's like an | | | | System's sole purpose is to help provide sellers of |
| "Airfare Stock Market" | | | | travel with the assignment of travel industry numeric |
| Very few companies take the time to up date the | | | | codes that are recognized by the travel supplier |
| Consolidated Airfares online through out the day. It's | | | | community, including cruise lines, tour operators, |
| just too time consuming. So when clients need a | | | | hoteliers, and car rental companies. |
| ticket, the Travel Agency calls the Consolidators, | | | | 4) As of the date of this article, if you live in |
| gets the rate directly from the wholesaler (in many | | | | California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, |
| cases they are the wholesaler) and relay the | | | | Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, |
| information to the Travel Agent. The Travel Agent | | | | Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia or Washington, |
| then relays the information to the consumer. Any | | | | your Agent would need to be registered with the |
| delay in the purchase results in a lost of the airfare at | | | | State's Attorney General's office as a Seller of |
| the quoted price. | | | | Travel. |
| This process can take a half a day to complete. Most | | | | 5) And/Or is a member of OSSN, (Outside Sales |
| consumers want their Tickets NOW. When dealing | | | | Support Network) The International Association for |
| with Consolidated Airfares, patients is a virtue. | | | | Independent contractors and Home Based Travel |
| Of course you want to locate a Travel Agent that | | | | Agents |
| you can trust. The credentials that you would look | | | | The highest standards in the Industry for |
| for when searching for a reputable Travel Agent are: | | | | consolidators are set by the United States Air |
| 1) Does the Agent have an ARC Number? ARC | | | | Consolidators Association. (USACA) However, many |
| stands for the Airlines Reporting Corporation - This is | | | | of the Consolidators only sale to Certified Travel |
| an airline-owned company offering travel products | | | | Agents with any of the qualifications listed above. |