ASTA Global Convention (AGC) in Reno!
We Look forward seeing you at Booth # 92. Please stop by and say hello! September 25-28.
We offer ASTA Travel Agents opportunity to get paid. 100% next day while you can be your own host agency with No Reserve.
Our expertise is Travel, and we have been in this industry for over 13 years. There is No sign up fee or cancellation fee. TRAMS Sabre Solution integration or any back office GDS system.
We can perform a free statement analysis in addition, to see if we can help reduce your current fees and charges. We will also Meet or Beat other processor’s rates and fees!
If you would like to Make an appointment with us during the ASTA EVENT, please contact or email Elaine Zamora at 888-996-2273 Extension 1111 elaine@nationaltransction.com
Please feel free to visit our website: www.nationaltransaction.com www.ziebest.com/national/ www.turnaroundstripdown.com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: travel, travel agents
ASTA Global Convention in Reno! We Look forward seeing you at Booth # 92. Please stop by and say hello! September 25-28.
We offer ASTA Travel Agents opportunity to get paid. 100% next day while you can be your own host agency with No Reserve.
Our expertise is Travel, and we have been in this industry for over 13 years. There is No sign up fee or cancellation fee. TRAMS Sabre Solution integration or any back office GDS system.
We can perform a free statement analysis in addition, to see if we can help reduce your current fees and charges. We will also Meet or Beat other processor’s rates and fees!
If you would like to Make an appointment with us during the ASTA EVENT, please contact or email Elaine Zamora at 888-996-2273 Extension 1111 elaine@nationaltransction.com
Please feel free to visit our website: www.nationaltransaction.com www.ziebest.com/national/
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: travel, travel agents
ASTA/NACTA Florida Summit & FAM Trip with Richard Delos Santos, NTC Specialist; and Robert Duglin, Vice President of Business Development at ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) and NACTA: The National Association of Career Travel Agents
National Transaction the Payments Expert for Travel Agency! For more information give us a call at 888-996-2273.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: payments, travel agency, travel agents
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: travel, travel agents, travel industry
More and more travel agents and tour operators are working in a card-not-present transaction that opens the door to travel agency credit card fraud. Travel Agencies are among the highest-risk merchants, as far as credit card processors are concerned. The reason is more likely the dispute and chargeback transactions.
So what should you do, whether you have just started your travel agency or have been in business for years to reduce risk?
First, understand the potential liability associated with selling airfares online before you even apply for a merchant account. Understanding risk exposure will help travel agency take adequate steps to minimize losses associated with chargebacks.
A good example is an airline sales agent. A travel agency or a tour operator merchant account may be liable for the entire amount of an airline ticket, if it is successfully disputed by a customer or if it was purchased with a stolen credit card.
To reduce risk, you will need to set up card acceptance policies and procedures to address the following issues:
Selecting a payment processor is a big step, choose one with experience in working with travel agencies and other high-risk merchants. Your processor must be able to assist you with your fraud prevention procedures.
Check out National Transaction Corp. we are the travel experts when it comes to electronic payments for travel agencies! Give us a call now at 888-996-2273 or visit us at www.nationaltransaction.com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card, card-not-present, cardholder, chargeback, credit card, customer, fraud, high-risk merchants, merchant account, merchants, payment, processors, risk, transaction, travel, travel agencies, travel agency, travel agents
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, Electronic Payments, Merchant Account Services News Articles, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card, credit card, credit card processing, travel, travel agents
A group of Travel Organizations is urging Congress to create a national commission to study airline competition, after a decade of consolidation and a year of record profits.
A similar commission gauged the Industry’s Health in 1993. But groups including the Travel Technology Association, Airports Council International-North America, the U.S. Travel Association and the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) contend that much has changed in the last quarter-century and the industry deserves a new look.
The recent series of mergers has left relatively few major airlines in control of the industry. Along with Southwest, the remaining three legacy carriers have about 80 percent of the market share for flights within the U.S. Ultra-budget airlines like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant have provided some competitive fares on select routes, but their presence is not big enough to really affect the whole marketplace.
Lack of domestic competition is not the only issue that traveler and travel agent advocates want the government to look at. U.S. carriers are also forming alliances with international airlines that go beyond basic code sharing agreements. For example, American Airlines and LATAM have inked a deal and are waiting for regulatory approval that would allow them to set prices and schedules on routes between the North and South Americas and easily use each other’s networks to offer connecting flights to their customers.
Other subject that the groups would like to study include:
Agreements with 100 other countries to allow unhindered international travel, under a policy called Open Skies.
Topics above are worth exploring to better understand the competitive landscape of Air Travel in the U.S.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: Air Travel, ASTA, international travel, travel, travel agents, Travel Association, Travel Organizations, Travel Technology, traveler
In Travel Industry, it’s beneficial if travel agents could write and share some of the things that really work for them in running their business and the things that didn’t, whether you’re an online travel agents, homebased travel agents to tour operators. It’s not about being an expert, but the ideas that you can present and task that you face on a daily basis with Travel that may work for some or none will be a great tool to 70,000 agents. This is also a great way to market your Travel Agency. If you’re a travel agent who’s willing to discuss your successes and challenges in a monthly column check this out.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: homebased travel, online travel, tour operators, travel, travel agency, travel agents, travel industry
ASTA American Society of Travel Agents presents The Looming Passport Crunch Tue, Dec 1, 2015 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Click Here for more info https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8699341866862946817
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: travel, travel agents
All merchants that accepts, transmit or stores cardholder data are required to be PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliant. Most believe that because they do not charge the credit cards themselves, they are exempt. Why all agencies are required to be complaint even when they don’t charge credit cards themselves, and some steps to ensure your agency is PCI compliant.
What is PCI compliance?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. PCI applies to all organizations or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, transmits or stores any cardholder data. Travel agents accepting, storing and transmitting credit card information to suppliers, are required to be compliant too. Suppliers reinforce this through their travel agent guidelines/contracts. Travel Agency must adhere to the applicable credit card company’s procedures for credit card transactions.
Consequences of Not Being PCI Compliant
If an agency is not PCI compliant, the agency can lose the ability to process credit card payments with that supplier. Not being able to pay with client credit cards can be a serious roadblock for agencies, and an inconvenience for clients.
If you have a merchant account and are found to be out of compliance, you can be fined.
How to be PCI Compliant
Don’t store the CCV security code from the client’s credit card. The client does not have the authority to grant you permission to store their CCV code. The credit card company explicitly forbid storage of the CCV code.
Make sure you securely store any client information, including their credit card number and expiration date. If you use a CRM, ensure that you have a strong password. If your CRM database is stored on your computer hard drive, encrypt it (there is a great encryption software that is free of charge). If you have an IT resource, talk to them about installing a firewall on your network, installing anti-virus and anti-malware protection, and any other steps that you can take to secure your client data even further.
If you keep paper copies of client information, keep it in a locked filing cabinet or desk drawer. When you no longer need their credit card information, cross shred it.
Home based businesses are arguably the most vulnerable simply because they are usually not well protected, according to the PCI Compliance Guide. Having strong passwords, encryption, a firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware protection are all inexpensive steps that you can take to protect your business and your clients’ sensitive data.
If you receive a courtesy call reminding you about PCI Compliance, don’t ignore it.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, Credit Card Security, Payment Card Industry PCI Security Tagged with: cardholder, cardholder data, cards, CCV, CCV code, credit, credit card company, credit card number, credit card payments, credit card transactions, credit cards, crm, CRM database, data, database, encryption software, merchant account, Merchant's, network, Payment Card Industry, PCI, security code, transactions, travel agents
