An IATA-accredited agent gets an IATA numeric code and a single sales agency agreement covering many airlines. Ticketing authority still comes from each airline, not from IATA. Travel agents cannot become IATA members, but they can be accredited.

How BSP works

Instead of paying each airline separately, an accredited agent submits one sales report and makes one payment through BSP, and BSP settles with each airline. IATA says more than 400 airlines and 59,000 agents take part.

Types of accreditation

• GoLite: a simplified model with no minimum financial guarantee, where tickets are paid for through IATA EasyPay or the customer’s own card.

• GoStandard: access to all of IATA’s standard payment methods in one country.

• GoGlobal: several countries under one set of financial criteria.

• GoEurozone: for agencies with locations in several Eurozone countries, under one set of financial criteria.

Common confusion

• IATA accreditation is not consumer protection. A flight-only ticket that an IATA agent sells direct to a consumer, as the airline’s agent and issued straight away, is generally not ATOL protected. The agent’s invoices and receipts must say so, using wording set by the CAA. Flight-inclusive packages still need ATOL cover.

• The IATA numeric code is not an ATOL number or an ABTA membership number.

• You do not need IATA accreditation to sell flights. Many agents sell through consolidators or as agents for ATOL holders.