ASTA's MISSION IS TO PROMOTE
and defend
travel agencies & Advisors

ASTA's Advocacy Team is always on the look out for legislative and regulatory threats that could negatively impact our businesses and our clients. They also leverage our stories to make a bigger impact in the halls of power, and ensure we have a seat at the table when important legislation, regulations, or industry titans try to make moves that could harm us.

Current Issues

Protecting Travel Agencies From Onerous Airline
​Refund Requirements
When the airlines cancel or change flights, and a customer is owed a refund, it should be the airline that pays the customer back. This seems obvious, but ASTA has been fighting back against a Department of Transportation rule—and is now fighting to get it set into law as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act—that would mean the Travel Advisor would be on the hook for that refund (and then have to wait for the airline's reimbursement). We believe whoever has the money, should refund the money, and small businesses like ours shouldn't have to float a loan to airline behemoths simply because we sold tickets on their behalf. 
Simplify Regulatory Disclosure Requirements
When consumers buy airline tickets on the web, they are shown a quick page of the do's and don't's (like don't pack weapons, etc) and they click a button and are done. But when we sell airline tickets over the phone, we're required to read an absurdly long script every single time.  ASTA believes there should be a much simpler way to disclose the important information, and is working to ensure that we're released from that burden in the FAA Reauthorization Act. 

ASTAPAC & ASTA ADVOCACY FUND

To effectively represent our interests, ASTA needs a seat at the table. In Washington DC, a seat at the table means building relationships and supporting the legislators who defend our interests. 

ASTAPAC is our political action committee that contributes in a bipartisan manner to candidates who are consistent with ASTA on issues vital to the travel advisor and tourism industry. This tool has been instrumental in building political influence for the nation's working travel advisors for 40 years. The Advocacy Fund supports all the other efforts of ASTA's Advocacy work. 

Our chapter has a goal to raise $5,500 toward ASTAPAC this year. Learn more about why you should support the efforts by clicking the button below. 
Combatting American Airlines' Effort to Limit Travel Advisors' Ability to Help Customers
For 10 years, the Airline industry has been working on a new set of technologies to simplify the distribution of their fares and tickets. This is called New Distribution Capability, or NDC, and from a technology perspective it's a good thing. But when you try to replace a system that is 60+ years old, it's going to take time for everyone to adjust—and in fact, only about a third of airlines are ready for NDC anyway. 
​
But American Airlines not only decided to quickly implement NDC, last year they decided to make 40% of their fares only available via NDC—this means that those fares are not available on the systems that most Travel Advisors use. 
Watch this interview with ASTA CEO Zane Kerby about why ASTA is alarmed at American Airlines' actions. 
This hurts our ability to exercise our Duty of Care, because we cannot reliably help our customers get the best price for their American Airlines flights. ASTA has been working with the Department of Transportation to require American Airlines to restore the missing fares to the current generation of the airline fares and ticketing systems. The new technology is great, but the industry isn't ready yet, and AA needs to respect the importance of the Travel Agency & Advisor community. ​
TAKE ACTION - Tell the Department of Transportation how AA's actions have affected your business.
Funding the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, government restrictions on and guidance against travel issued by an array of federal agencies highlighted the scattered nature of federal oversight of the travel industry. Intended to address this issue, as part of the year-end spending package (P.L. 117-328), in late 2022 Congress passed the bipartisan Visit America Act to establish a new Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism position within the U.S. Department of Commerce. This position will provide high-level leadership on travel and tourism, accountable to Congress, working effectively across federal agencies to develop and implement national strategies and policies that grow travel. The U.S. is the only G20 country without a federal agency or cabinet-level official in charge of tourism policy and establishing an Assistant Secretary will put the U.S. on par with its top competitors and provide a senior official to work with our partners across the world on travel issues. The Visit America Act authorized this position, but the broader package did not provide funding to implement it. As part of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget request, the Biden administration requested $3.5 million within the Department of Commerce Department to fund the new office of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism. This request will be handled by the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Recent Accomplishments

  • Successfully pressured the CDC to abandon a January 2021 proposal to require a negative COVID-19 test to board domestic flights. 
  • Due to ASTA's Efforts, 78% of ASTA members received financial relief through at least one of the federal programs to protect businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without ASTA's work, many of us would have been left out in the cold, and probably have had to close our businesses. 
  • Successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act which helped restore part of the 2021 Alaska Cruise season, by temporarily suspending the Jones Act requirement to stop in a foreign port between the mainland and Alask. 
  • After a months long, multi-layered ASTA Advocacy campaign, the inbound testing rule was rescinded in June 2022, allowing our customers to return home and not be stranded in a foreign country. 
  • After an all-out push by ASTA, Congress finally created the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism position, elevating the importance of the US Travel Industry plays at home and abroad. 
  • We've successfully opposed new taxes on travel advisors in Texas and Kentucky. 
Between 2012 and 2021, ASTA’s efforts led to legislative and regulatory “wins” that saved the industry an estimated 
​
$720 million 

in new taxes, fees
and other costs.
Learn more about ASTA's Advocacy
​efforts at ASTA.org.