The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has advised members that, effective June 16, 2008, Spirit Airlines is voluntarily terminating its agreement with Airlines Reporting Corp (ARC). The final ARC sales report in which agents can include Spirit validated transactions is the Sales Report Period Ending Date (PED) June 22, 2008.
ASTA said Spirit has migrated its technology platform to Navitaire's "New Skies" system and will soon become a "ticketless" airline. Spirit plans to continue providing inventory and fare information through GDS.
In lieu of ARC payment processing, as of May 30, 2008, customer payment can be transmitted through agents' GDS directly to Spirit using the Special Service Request (SSR) field. Spirit will process the payment information and send back a booking confirmation number.
Agents should check with GDS providers to review specific SSR formats and other details on how to book and transmit payments for "ticketless" carriers. Other "ticketless" carriers include JetBlue and AirTran, ASTA said.
As an added enhancement, travel agents can use either a GDS confirmation number (record locator) or the Spirit Airlines record locator on the My Reservations section of www.spiritair.com to pre-purchase checked baggage, select seat assignments, check in online, print boarding passes and change/modify existing reservations, ASTA said in its alert.
Full details, including instructions for obtaining access to Spirit's travel agency portal can be found online. Visit www.asta.org.