August air transactions processed by mega travel agencies and settled through ARC dropped 3.5 percent year over year,

according to ARC data. That represents the largest such decline for any month since September 2012. Including American Express, BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Egencia, HRG and Omega World Travel, megas as group have experienced declining ARC transactions in three of the past four months. Meanwhile, "online" agencies as a group experienced a 6.7 percent drop in August air transactions settled through ARC, marking an 18th consecutive month of decline. The group of travel agencies defined by ARC as "other" again outperformed the rest, with an aggregate transaction volume increase around 1 percent. Year to date through August, total U.S. travel agency aggregate ticket transaction count was down 1.2 percent year over year.