ASTA’s New Travel Agency Membership Benefits

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ASTA works hard to develop unparalleled programs and tools designed to help save its members time and money so they can focus on what is most important—selling travel. To benefit members, ASTA is launching its 2013 U.S. Travel Agency Regulatory Compliance Handbook and two new AMSI (ASTA’s Marketing Services, Inc.) services.

As the industry’s trade association, ASTA’s mission is to facilitate the business of selling travel. ASTA does this through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. ASTA’s legal, consumer and industry affairs team actively seeks out industry trends, changing regulations and valuable industry resources to keep their members informed and up to date on this ever-changing industry.

Its team of industry experts have taken thousands of government regulatory pages and created a simple and easy-to-understand guide. The 2013 U.S. Travel Agency Regulatory Compliance Handbook not only outlines a travel agency’s obligation with each rule but also provides supplemental guidance that ASTA has obtained directly from the Department of Transportation.

The three main regulatory obligations in the handbook are the advertising/price rule, which states that agents are not allowed to display, advertise or offer airfares that do not include the final price; the codeshare rule, where agents must disclose the name of the operating carrier before a booking when in direct communication with the consumer; and the insecticide rule, stating that agents must refer clients to the DOT’s “disinsection” (insecticide) website when they sell travel to countries that require aircraft to be treated with insecticides.

In addition, ASTA has introduced two new AMSI services: Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Insurance and the LifeBridge MassMutual Free Life Insurance Program.

ASTA members and employees can buy the Guaranteed Life policy from United of Omaha Life Insurance Company. The benefits of the policy for people ages 45 to 85 are that the cost never increases, and the benefit never decreases due to health or age, and it is available to spouses who are also 45 to 85 years old.

Meanwhile, LifeBridge is a 10-year term life insurance policy offered through the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company with a death benefit of $50,000. To be eligible, you must be between the ages of 19 and 42; the parent or legal guardian of one or more dependent children under 18; a permanent, legal resident of the U.S.; currently employed full- or part-time with a total family income between $10,000 and $40,000 annually; and in good health, according to MassMutual’s standards. To learn more about both services, click here.

Contact ASTA’s Membership Department to take advantage of these new benefits by e-mailing [email protected] or calling (800) 440-2782. To learn more about the new membership model or to learn how to sign up employees at no additional cost, visit asta.org/renew.