ARTA Canada Welcomes Farelogix
Online Baggage Calculation Tool

Baggage Fees and Rules Made More Transparent
as Travel Technology Providers Leverage Greater Direct Data Access

Toronto, 17 October 2011: Canada's Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA Canada) welcomed the launch of Farelogix's IFlyBags.com (www.iflybags.com), an intuitive, online baggage allowance and fee calculator.

The tool allows for direct consultation by travel agencies for inclusion in traveler itineraries or as an embedded link on agency web sites. The raw baggage data comes from ATPCO baggage rules and fee information for some 300 airlines and is updated several times a day. The data supports the airline industry and IATA Resolution 302 by providing travel sellers with a comprehensive database of airlines’ baggage policies.

"This is very welcome news to help agents capture and disseminate accurate baggage information for travelers. It also proves that travel technology providers which choose to work constructively with the airline industry can produce useful and cost-effective tools to support and enhance the travel agency distribution channel. With no contracts, no term commitments and no productivity thresholds, these types of programs are precisely what travel agents want", said ARTA Canada President and CEO Bruce Bishins.

Farelogix also intends to integrate IFlyBags into its SPRK travel agency desktop before the end of 2011. ARTA Canada, ARTA, ATPCO, and Farelogix are allied members of the Open AXIS Group, an organization which promotes XML standards as the optimal electronic messaging structure for airline system connectivity, including direct connections.

About ARTA Canada 

ARTA Canada is the largest non-profit federally incorporated professional association of travel retailers in Canada, the members of which consist exclusively of travel agencies and travel agents. In addition to advocating fair and equitable treatment of travel consumers, ARTA Canada represents the commercial and strategic interests of its member travel agencies and travel agents in a variety of national and provincial domains including regulatory and legislative matters, automation, technology, sales and marketing, and distribution.

ARTA Canada is the strategic partner in Canada of the U.S.-based Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA). For complete details about ARTA Canada's new $99 membership campaign or to join ARTA Canada, including secure payment on our web site, please visit www.artacanada.ca/join.