This Useful Training Media Was Created By Hostagencyreviews.com Travel Agency Accreditation: An Introduction Hello, fearless reader—today, you are about to learn another language: travel agency accreditation acronyms (TAAA . . . jk). I have to admit, being a newbie to the industry myself, my brain almost exploded trying to learn this language. It’s complex stuff, but it’s all broken down here. So even if you’re a newbie like me, you’ll get the hang of it...

What is Travel Agency Accreditation? Funny you should ask. At its most basic, accreditation is a unique number assigned to travel professionals, so suppliers recognize their business as a travel agency. It gives travel agents the ability to book travel, receive commissions, and—with some accreditations—to issue airline tickets. I like to think of the travel agency accreditation options like different credit cards — Visa, Discover, AmEx. Some accreditation numbers ar...

Travel Agency Accreditation Options Wading through accreditation options can make your eyes blur and your head spin. It’s like trying to remember the names of your 50 cousins at a family reunion: There are IATA and IATAN. There’s ARC as well as their VTC and CTD programs. There’s CLIA and CCRA’s TRUE#. That’s just the beginning.  Some offer air ticketing; some don’t. Some accept agents outside the U.S. Some don’t. Choosing an accreditation is like...

Explaining ARC to people outside the industry or who are new to it can be tough. So first things first: ARC is a travel agency accreditation company that only works with US agencies. That’s their base. ARC is owned by airlines, and was created to handle financial transactions between agencies (thousands of them) and airlines (hundreds of them). We’re talking transactions to the tune of $88 billion in 2015. Whoa. ARC is like the accounting arm of the airlines: You buy a ticket, ...

We have excellent timing with this article because CLIA has just rolled out some major structural changes to help streamline their membership process! It’s so new that’s it not even up on their website yet! Hurray! The intel you’re getting is hot off the press! Simplifying their membership structure, CLIA now has two levels, accreditation for travel agencies and membership for hosted agents:  Agency Membership Travel Agency Membership Premier Membership I...

Okay. I need to take a deep breath because IATA—International Air Transport Association—is, quite frankly, the behemoth when it comes to accreditation options. I mean HUGE. They’re the Visa of the travel agency accreditation world, and their certification number is accepted globally.  When it comes to certification options, they’ve got a little something for everyone: IATA (International, w/ air ticketing) IATA’s TIDS (international, no air) IATAN (U.S. v...

I first thought TRUE was the only travel agency accreditation that wasn’t an acronym. Alas, I was wrong. TRUE stands for “Travel Retailer Universal Enumeration” (if you want to geek out over acronyms). The majority of TRUE agents sell cruises and traditional tour, but it’s especially great option for niche travel agents. Why? TRUE is open to working with smaller boutique tour operators that may not be on other accreditations’ supplier lists. As an ad...

Host Agencies  Usually host agencies are the star of HAR show. And if you’re not sure what a host agency is, it’s worth knowing—this article will explain what a host agency is. Even though we’re highlighting accreditation organizations, we can’t overlook the route of getting your travel agency accreditation through a host agency. A few points of note:  Host’s Commission Rate: Since host agencies have a whole lot of independent agents under&...