Frontier Drops out of ARC, To Go Ticketless
by Michele McDonald /Frontier Airlines is pulling out of the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), effective March 7; its final sales reporting period will end March 8
In its quest to become an “ultra low-cost” carrier, Frontier is migrating to Navitaire’s New Skies passenger services system on March 7, and it will become a ticketless airline.
The airline will continue to provide inventory and fare information through Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport’s Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan systems.
Effective March 7, travel agencies can submit customer payments through their GDSs directly to Frontier using the Special Service Request field.
Check with your GDS
Agents should check with their GDS provider for details on how to use specific SSR formats and how to book and transmit ticketless payments. All transactions must be paid by credit card.
Electronic tickets that were previously issued by travel agencies will be converted to ticketless records, and the segments will be under the financial control of Frontier Airlines.
Travel agencies will be able to access their original PNR and make changes to the segments, but they must include a credit card form of payment for change fees and additional fare to be collected.
Refunds to electronic tickets previously issued by travel agencies that have been converted to ticketless transactions, must be done by Frontier Airlines representatives.
Converting to ticketless transactions
Bookings created before the PNR migration from the old hosting system to Navitaire on March 7 must be ticketed in order to be converted to a ticketless transaction in the new system. Bookings that are not associated with an electronic ticket will be canceled.
Travel agents can use either a GDS confirmation number (record locator) or the Frontier Airlines record locator on the My Flights section of flyfrontier.com to pre-purchase checked baggage, select seat assignments, check in online, print boarding passes, and change existing reservations.
If the agency requires a “ticket number” for its back-office system, Frontier will provide an invoice or reference number.
However, those numbers are not maintained by Frontier and have no association to the value of the ticketless transaction. Frontier cannot retrieve or reference any of the invoice or reference numbers sent after End Transaction.