Airfare Consolidators is not new.
The general public has more exposure to airfare consolidators
since the internet has become a key role in booking travel.
The question for most travelers, is, where do you find
consolidated Airfares?
You guessed it, Online.
It is up to you to locate a trusting Agency that
will purchase these tickets for you without adding a huge
markup. These fares are called "unpublished airfares" and not
all travel agencies provide these types of tickets to their
clients.
The Consolidated airfares change
from minute to minute and are based upon demand. Its like an
"Airfare Stock Market"
It use to be that very few companies take the time
to up date the Consolidated Airfares online through out the day.(This
is changing. The latest development of software available
to the general public can be found on some of the top
Consolidated Airfare sites.
Not all consolidators sell directly to
the public. In fact the largest consolidators never deal
with the public directly, expect for consolidated sites owned
and operated by the Airlines themselves)
One such site that provides up
to the minute consolidated airfares is linked to this page at
the bottom of the page.
Once on the site, the
navigation is really simple and you can be shown
consolidated
airfares from hundreds of different International flights,
within minutes
How to Know When You Can Trust a
Consolidated Airfare Site?
1) Does the Agent / site have an ARC
Number? ARC stands for the Airlines Reporting Corporation This
is an airline-owned company offering travel products and
services, ticket distribution and settlement through a variety
of channels in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
2) Or, Is the site/ Agent a member of
THE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TRAVEL AGENT NETWORK? IATAN's mission
is to promote professionalism, administer meaningful and
impartial business standards, and to provide cost-effective
products, services and educational programs that benefit the
travel industry
3) Or, does your Agent or site have a
TRUE Identification? TRUE (Travel Retailer Universal
Enumeration) System's sole purpose is to help provide sellers of
travel with the assignment of travel industry numeric codes that
are recognized by the travel supplier community, including
cruise lines, tour operators, hoteliers, and car rental
companies.
4) As of the date of this
article, if you live in California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois,
Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York,
Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia or Washington, your
Agent would need to be registered with the States Attorney
Generals office as a Seller of Travel.
5) And / Or is the site or Agent a member of OSSN,
(Outside Sales Support Network) The International Association
for Independent contractors and Home
Based Travel Agents
The highest standards in the
Industry for consolidators are set by the United States Air
Consolidators Association. (USACA) However, many of the
Consolidators only sale to Certified Travel Agents with any of
the qualifications listed above.
