How to get IATA accreditation. Requirements, costs and the alternatives.

What IATA accreditation gives you, and the four models

Accreditation makes your agency an approved seller for IATA member airlines. You sign one Passenger Sales Agency Agreement instead of a contract with each carrier, receive an IATA numeric code, issue tickets in your own name and settle them through the BSP with access to BSPlink.

It is not a licence to trade. Governments licence travel agencies, and IATA's country checklists ask to see those local licences before they accredit you.

Since the NewGen ISS reforms announced in March 2018, IATA offers four accreditation models:

For cash sales, IATA applies a Remittance Holding Capacity: a ceiling on the value of unpaid sales an agent can hold before remitting. You can switch model after accreditation, so many small agencies start on GoLite and move to GoStandard once they need cash ticketing.

IATA TIDS vs full accreditation

The Travel Industry Designator Service (TIDS) is IATA's free, non-ticketing code. It identifies your agency to airlines, hotel chains, cruise lines, car rental firms and rail companies so they can recognise your bookings and pay commission, but TIDS agents cannot issue tickets through the BSP.

• Who applies: agencies, tour operators, incoming operators, event planners selling travel and booking websites that sell travel to the public.
• Documents: proof of legal form and ownership, business and tax registration, a bank letter or statement, any government travel licence, the signed TIDS terms, and one recommendation letter from an IATA airline, a GDS or a major travel supplier.
• Speed and upkeep: IATA says it processes applications in three to five business days. There is no annual fee, but you must complete an annual revalidation or the code is terminated.

TIDS suits agencies that ticket through someone else but still want an industry identity with suppliers. If you need to issue tickets yourself, you need full accreditation.

IATA accreditation requirements

Requirements are set country by country. IATA publishes an accreditation checklist for each market on its website, and local financial criteria sit in section 3 of the Travel Agent's Handbook. Across the checklists we reviewed for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the UK (November 2026), the same building blocks recur:

• Legal entity documents: company registration, articles or memorandum of association, and ID for every owner or shareholder.
• Local licences: the travel or tourism licence your government issues, plus trade and tax registrations.
• Two qualified staff: each must have passed an airline ticketing course delivered by IATA, an IATA member airline or a GDS. IATA does not accept work experience as a substitute, and certificates need QR verification or an endorsement letter dated within six months, otherwise a refresher course is required.
• Card security: a PCI DSS certificate or attestation of compliance.
• Financial standing: financial statements for GoStandard, and in some markets the latest financial or tax statements for GoLite.
• Financial security: for GoStandard and GoGlobal, IATA tells you the amount and wording of the bank guarantee or other security after reviewing your documents.
• GDS contract: in the UAE, Saudi and UK checklists, GoStandard and GoGlobal head offices must show a letter of appointment or contract with a GDS, which also gives you a PCC to ticket from.
• Banking: beneficiary account details and, where used, a direct debit mandate for BSP remittances.

Country notes: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the UK

Each checklist adds local documents on top of the common set. The items below are taken from IATA's published checklists for travel agents.

Checklists are revised without notice, so download the current version for your country from IATA before you gather documents. Regional context for these markets is in our guides for the UAE, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

How to apply through the IATA Customer Portal

Applications are made online. IATA's own step-by-step guide sets out this sequence:

1. Create a Customer Portal account and complete your company profile.
2. Open the service "IATA Accreditation & Changes" from the Services menu.
3. Choose a model. The optional Accreditation Wizard recommends GoLite, GoStandard, GoEurozone or GoGlobal from your answers.
4. Apply for a new head entity, upload your checklist documents and submit. IATA issues a case number for all correspondence, and a progress bar shows the status.
5. Document review. IATA checks that the documents comply and asks for anything missing.
6. Pay the invoice for application and accreditation fees and send proof of payment within three business days.
7. Provide financial security, if IATA asks for it, within 40 days.
8. Sign the IATA Agency Agreement. Once IATA holds the security, any pending documents and the signed agreement, it confirms approval and emails a welcome package.

IATA does not publish an overall processing time. In practice the timeline depends on how complete your file is and how quickly your bank issues the guarantee, so prepare staff certificates, PCI DSS evidence and your GDS letter before you open the case.

How much does IATA accreditation cost?

IATA publishes its fees. They are set by the Passenger Agency Conference in Swiss francs; the figures below are those IATA's brochure gives as valid from February 2025, for the main entity only.

The three annual tiers are based on gross annual sales through the BSP: under USD 200,000, USD 200,000 to 2 million, and over USD 2 million. Branches (associate entities) pay extra fees. IATA fees are only part of the bill. Budget also for:

• The bank's charge for a guarantee, or the premium on an insurance bond, if security is required.
• A PCI DSS assessment or questionnaire.
• Ticketing courses for at least two staff.
• Local licence and registration fees, and your GDS subscription.

Alternatives: ARC in the US, or selling through a consolidator

United States: ARC accreditation

US agencies do not join a BSP. Ticketing accreditation comes from ARC, and IATA points US agencies to its IATAN programme, whose ticketing locations must first hold ARC approval. ARC's published requirements include:

• A bond, letter of credit or cash deposit of at least USD 20,000, rising to USD 150,000 if the parent company is domiciled outside the US.
• A designated manager and an ARC Specialist who has passed ARC's exam; one person can hold both roles, and at least one must be a US citizen or resident.
• A USD 2,300 application fee for new agencies. ARC says it typically reviews an application for completeness within 10 business days, and it also runs background checks and interviews the owners.

Agencies not ready to ticket can join ARC's Verified Travel Consultant programme for a USD 195 application fee, which gives an ARC number without ticketing.

Everywhere: the consolidator and sub-agent route

Many agencies never apply. They work as a sub-agent of a consolidator, which holds the IATA accreditation, issues tickets under its own code and carries the BSP risk. The agency books on the consolidator's platform or queues PNRs to it, and pays from a deposit or credit line.

This route avoids the guarantee, fees and audit work, at the cost of a margin and dependence on one supplier. A common path is to start as a sub-agent, build sales history and staff certifications, then apply for GoLite.

Where ReservationHub fits, accredited or not

ReservationHub has Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport pre-integrated. Once you are accredited, you connect your own GDS credentials; before that, non-IATA agencies sell through consolidator connections.

Agencies usually start with the hosted Subscription Cloud Edition, which goes live in 24 hours. Larger groups can self-host the Source Code Edition. If you are still choosing a GDS for your accreditation file, read Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport.