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Explains why other travel agencies did not follow the decision of Carlson Wagonlit Travel to move their United States business into regional call centers, and remain committed to on-site locations. Advantages of on-site locations; Comments from executives of several travel agencies.

Focuses on the action taken by six travel agencies to stop Travis Air Force Base in using the United States General Services Administration's master contract program. Details on the program; Information on the arguments of the agencies.

Reports on the Web page created by Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) to showcase its travel and destination vendors. Function of the site; Goal of ARC with the site; Vendors of ARC.

Reports on the efforts of Airlines Reporting Corp. to get small and medium-sized travel agencies to sign up for its electronic reporting program. Percentage of agents reporting $100,000 to $500,000 in weekly sales that has signed up; Effort to help understand why small and medium-sized agencies have been less attracted to the product; Concern of agents regarding electronic reporting. INSET: E-certificates for first takers.

Reports the launching of a registration service by Airline Reporting Corp. (ARC) to provide booking numbers to non-ARC agents who have computer reservation system (CRS) access to airline inventory. Comments from an ARC spokesman; Fee being charged by ARC.

Reports on the release of agent Richard Henri Vissers, who was being charged with defrauding five travel agencies in an airline ticketing scam operated from 1995-1998. How he was released; Details on the scam; Testimony issued by the agency owners victimized by Vissers.

Deals with the efforts of the American Recreation Coalition to fix the electronic air tickets booking problem of travel agents. Overview of the problem; Advice for travel agents; Discovery of the problem.

Part VII. Presents the results of a survey conducted by `Travel Weekly' magazine on consumer behaviors and preferences affecting travel agents. Motivation for using the Internet; Categories; Cost factors. INSET: A look at `.com vs. .bam'.

Presents the result of a survey which gauges travelers behaviors and preferences affecting travel agents. Characteristics of travel trips booked on the Web; Number of travelers covered by the survey; Age ranges of Web users and bookers; Income average of Web users/agents. INSET: A quick profile of respondents.

Reports the arrest and conviction of Tony Morcillo, the man who was responsible for burglaries and armed robberies of travel agencies in the United States. Details on Morcillo's operations; Events that led to Morcillo's arrest; Punishment facing Morcillo.

Discusses the ruling of the Aeronautical Research Council with regards to the printing of the agent's coupon on plain paper. Background on how travel agents report their sales electronically; Privileges of using accountable ticket stock; Purpose of switching the agent's coupon to plain paper.

Reports on the drop of the average Airlines Reporting Corporation's (ARC) domestic commission rate in the United States in 2000. Overview of the rates; Highlights of the ARC figures in May; Domestic fares.

Reveals that the American Recreation Coalition board of directors approved a type of travel agency office, that will assist in the operation of travel agents. Objective of the office; How the office type will work.

Reports the plans of ARC company to adapt the technology of electronically stored documents. Advantages of electronic sales reporting; Importance of paper summaries; Saving of storage costs.

Part V. Presents the results of a survey on the opinion of consumers on card mill programs designed for travelers who want to be travel agents. Features of the programs; Knowledge about the programs; Sources of data. INSET: Survey shows: Respondents using agents took more trips.

Reports on the caution issued by ARC company for travel agents to guard against fake artists with stolen credit cards. How these people use the Internet to entrap agents into doing business with them; Tips from ARC to agents contacted by strangers via the Internet.

Reports on the request of Simon Weiser, owner of a travel agency in New York for a legislation that would require airlines to arbitrate before pulling its plate from an agency. Weiser's admission on how his agency committed some errors when it handwrote plane tickets; Support of American Society of Travel Agents to his proposal.

Reports on the proposal of the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) to allow accredited travel agencies to acquire multiple agency code numbers for their corporate accounts or Internet ticket fulfillment services. Remarks from Jeannine Rahel, ARC manager of corporate travel departments and electronic commerce; Terms under the proposal.

Reports on the plans of the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) to offer a registration service and assign identifying numbers to travel agents who do not have and do not want ARC accreditation. Goal of the registration service; How the service works; Function of the Non-Electronic Reservations Service Providers Booking Office Number.

Reports on the increase in sales reported by travel agents to Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) for April 2000. Decline of United States domestic commissions for travel agents; Increase of electronic ticketing and reporting; Increase of international fares; Number of agencies that voluntarily relinquished ARC accreditation.

Deals with SatoTravel, a travel agency in Arlington, Virginia. Discussions on the account of the company; Management by a nonairline owner; Booking channels of the company.

Reports on the selection of Travelennium Inc. as the official travel agency of United States Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, effective May 1, 2000. Estimated value of the travel account; Remarks from Dot Conley, chief executive officer of Travelennium, on why the company won the travel account for Gore's campaign.

Part IV. Presents the finding of a survey which noted the perceptions of consumers to full-time and part-time travel agents. Rating that was given to full-timers as compared to part-timers; How the part-timers are described; Reasons for using part-timers.

Reports on the protest of travel agencies on the decision of Travis Air Force Base in San Francisco, California to put its travel account for rebid under civilian procedures. Basis of the protest; List of protesting agencies; Comments from Josephine Ursini, travel attorney representing the agencies.

Provides information on the sales of travel agents in the United States for the month of March 2000. Average domestic commission; Factors contributing to the strong weekly sales; Overview of the sales performance of travel agencies during the first quarter of the year.

Reports on the warning given by the ARC to accredited travel agency in relation to the fraudulent purchase scheme. Outline of fraudulent purchase schemes which victimized several agencies; Action taken to track perpetrators of the ownership scam; Information on ARC scam alert.

Reports that Omega World Travel of Fairfax, Virginia has won the nationwide account of the United States Interior Department. Features of the government self-booking system of Omega; Travel management trends in the civilian government market; Concern of the Society of Government Travel Professionals. INSET: Confessions of an Internet junkie.

Part II. Focuses on the findings of a survey sponsored by the `Travel Weekly' periodical regarding United States consumers' preferences in paying service fees to travel agents. Average fee for air travel; Average service fee for cruises; Company that conducted the survey.

Reports that vast majority of hotels booked by federal government travelers will be noncommissionable to travel agents, according to the United States General Services Administration program. Estimated amount that federal travelers spend a year on lodging; Comments from Society of Government Travel Professionals President Phyllis Reagan regarding the program; Objective of the program.

Reports on the decision of the United States Defense Department to allow travel agents to charge fees on its travel management business. Pricing approach of the department; What prompted the department's decision; Other plans of the department.

Part II. Deals with the status of the International Airlines Travel Agent Network or Iatan in the year 1999. Percentage of its endorsed location in 1999 that has been lost due to the shrinkage of the trade; Number of satellite ticket printer sites in 1999; Role of mergers, bailouts and retirements in the number of travel agencies lost by Iatan according to Iatan President Michael Maino. INSET: Iatan eyes Internet registration.

Focuses on the travel agents' prediction of the demise of Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC). Reason for the possible demise of ARC; Total sales processed by ARC in 1999; Functions of ARC; Information on the direct carrier submission program of Continental and ARC.

Part I. Reports that the registration list of agency employees by the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (Iatan) dropped one percent in 1999. Number of agency personnel who registered at the end of the year and percentage eligible for Iatan cards; Limitation of the registration list; Implication of the trend on the reported gain in personnel of Iatan. INSET: Cardholder numbers rise in '99.

Focuses on the survey sponsored by `Travel Weekly' which determined clients' awareness that airlines have cut travel agents' commissions. Increase in the degree of travelers' awareness of commission cuts; Findings on consumer attitudes about using travel agents; Percentage of cruise passengers who consulted an agent for information before buying cruise. INSET: 300 experienced travelers took part in survey.

Deals with travel agencies in the United States (US) which closed in 1999. Details on travel agency locations which closed their offices in the US; Increase in sales of travel agencies; Forecast on the status of the travel agent market share.

Reports the increase in commercial arbitration agents (ARC) sales for 1999. Trend that help boost the sales; Decline in the average point-of-sale domestic commission of agents; Decrease in domestic commission.

Focuses on the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (Iatan) to open its identification (ID) card programs to ARC-accredited corporate travel departments in the United States. Reaction of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) on the move; Remarks from ASTA president Joe Galloway on the issue; Information on the Iatan ID Card program.

Focuses on the order given by arbiter William McGee on the ARC to pay the damages it owed to Worldwide Travel company. Information on the ruling of McGee; Comment from Brian Hundertmark.

Reports that Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) president David Collins predicted that 50% of travel agents' transactions with the ARC will be electronically ticketed and reported by the end of 1999. ARC to look at paper transactions as the exception by 2000; ARC projects intended to improve electronic reporting; Benefits gained by travel agencies in adopting electronic reporting.

Reports that the United States Defense Department rejected the requests of travel agency to introduce fee-based pricing and decided to continue requiring rebates for its travel management business. Form in paying the rebate; Why the pricing scheme is unacceptable without fees according to Phyllis Reagan, president of Society of Travel Agents in Government.

Announces the passing of seven out of ten agents who took the Certified ARC Specialist test in the United States. Average passing score; Analysis of ARC on the agents taking the test; Information on the launching of the Internet-based training program of ARC. INSET: Training aids are available.

Deals with the growth of Airlines Reporting Corp. electronic ticketing. Details on the company's transaction volume through electronic ticketing; Status of the company's sales for July 1999; Condition of the company's domestic fares in July 1998 and 1999.

Announces the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) approval to allow travel agents to designate offices as locations that issue paper tickets and electronic tickets. Reason for the ARC approval; Incentives offered by the ARC offices.

Reports the decreasing trend of domestic airline commission in the United States during the first six months of 1999. Sales of agents; Domestic pay rates; Other highlights of the first six months.

Reports that con artists are using the Internet to locate travel agencies that have Web sites and introducing themselves by e-mail as prospective corporate accounts. Data from the Airlines Reporting Corp. on the problem; Suggestions for travel agents; Exercise of risk management on the scheme.

Discloses that travel agencies in the United States recorded $7.91 billion in sales in March 1999. Decline in average base domestic air commission rate in February 1999; Impact of the inclusion of Sato Travel's 1,2000 locations to the March sales.

Reports that the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has criticized Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) for putting a $495 price tag on a copyrighted training video designed to help travel agents study for the Certified ARC Specialist (CAS) test. ASTA president Joseph Galloway's call to ARC to explore the option of renting the training video; Impact of the pricing of the video on the average independent agency.

Focuses on United States Federal Aviation Administration's grounding of Kiwi International Air Lines Inc. on March 24, 1999 for emergency safety reasons. Airlines Reporting Corp.'s plan to complete processing of travel agents' refunds and other transactions on Kiwi International before March 28, 1999; Failure of the airline to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety.

Reports that travel agents posted sales of nearly $6.24 billion through the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) in February 1999, an increase from the same month of 1998. Average ARC commission rates taken at the point of sale in February; Sale of SatoTravel travel management firm to private investors in January 1999.

Reports on the United States General Services Administration's (GSA) failure to meet its March 15, 1999 target date to release a final solicitation inviting travel agencies to apply for five-year master contracts to sell themselves to civilian accounts. Administration's failure to decide how it wants travel agents to calculate air commission rebates; Key provisions of the GSA plan.