Mark Pestronk
question: In its May 15 Legal Brief column, he wrote:A Nasty Surprise in the AA AppendixYou pointed out the new rules relating to the provision of NDC fares and the ban on automatic repricing. Have you noticed other rules that clamp down on how Trip Advisor traditionally delivers American service?
answer: The 13-page, single-spaced Administrative Travel Agency Agreement Addendum is approximately the same length as the supplemental ARC Agreement. It aims to give carriers a number of new rights and prohibits many agency activities.
“American will (i) examine Agent’s books and records relating to the sale of American’s products and services to ensure Agent’s compliance with the terms of the Agreement; and (ii) Agent’s We reserve the right, upon reasonable prior notice, to enter the agent’s location to audit the content of travel sales on American Airlines, agent free and discounted fare travel, agent incentives, promotions or void programs. Books and records to detect or prove agent abuse or non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract, including American’s provisions regarding
Therefore, if you are a home agent, American Airlines can come to your home and inspect your records.
“American Airlines may use information obtained from ARC or IATA to evaluate the creditworthiness of its agents and their employees and owners.”
Therefore, the airline may decide that you or your staff have no credibility and should be banned from selling American tickets.
Neither the ARC nor any agency requires that all employees and ICs be listed, but American Airlines can make a list.
“At American’s request, Agent will provide American with a complete and accurate list of all Agent Representatives (including IATA and Office Identifiers/Pseudo City Codes) and the availability of such Agent Representatives. shall provide a means of payment for
“Agency Representatives” is defined to include employees and ICs.
In some cases, we may not be able to charge you for assistance with refunds.
“The agency does not directly or indirectly advertise services that retain a portion of compensation for American Airlines passengers in the event of flight delays or other mishaps….Furthermore, In the event that American makes a refund to a passenger for a ticket booked through an agent, the agent will not withhold the refund or any portion thereof from the passenger.”
Specifically targeted are activities traditionally undertaken by travel management companies to assist their corporate customers. In addition to the ban on automatic repricing already noted, the addendum states:
“Agent agrees not to request, obtain or use AAdvantage program account login credentials… provided, however, that Agent may not use Traveler’s AAdvantage program account number solely for the purpose of making reservations or making reservations. may be used.”
Therefore, it is not possible to sign up all employees of an account and pool their miles for the benefit of corporate customers.
American Airlines defines “America Data” to include Reservation Data, and states that “beyond performing the Agent’s services to customers, America Data may be used by the Agent or its affiliates. Use for business purposes is prohibited.
So, literally, you cannot create an airline verification report for your internal purposes, such as using the data to think about how to market from American Airlines.