Your Travel Biz (YTB) Scam
Sat, Jul 21, 2007
When I first began investigating the possibility that Your Travel Biz (YTB) is a scam the first thing I noticed is that there is a large amount of differing opinion on the matter.
From what I have read, I would guess it’s honours even between those who claim that YTB is a pyramid or MLM scam and those who claim that they are making good money from them.
The following is my opinion of ytb from what I have read. If your opinion is different that’s great - we’re all individuals.
Who are ‘Your Travel Biz’?
YTB are a company within the travel industry who allow interested parties to buy their own piece of the business, charging around $350 - $500 for a website. They then charge an additional and compulsory fee of $49.95 per month for support. What’s more, those signing up also need to recruit people under them.
If you assess YTB purely on the above then you would be forgiven for jumping straight to the conclusion that it is a scam - paying an employer is certainly not something I would ever recommend for starters - after all, if you take on work you would normally expect to be the one receiving money, not paying it out.
Also, having a recurring fee would concern me almost as much as having to recruit new people underneath me. This is obviously a MLM, a legal pyramid scheme.
Thus far this isn’t sounding too good for YTB is it?
If you finish reading now you will go away thinking YTB is a scam but that may not actually be the case. There’s always two sides to every coin, so what are the positives to Your Travel Biz?
Well, the commissions are extremely attractive - if you are a YTB owner and book travel with a vendor then you can expect to receive up to 75%. Also, take another look at the costs - $500 up front followed by monthly payments of $49.95 compares extremely favourably to the $30000+ cost of buying a travel franchise.
Supporters of YTB will also talk of the free holiday deals that they offer to members and the quality training. In fact, YTB members online are amongst some of the most enthusiastic MLM participators I’ve read about.
Conclusion
Personally, I really don’t like anything that that even remotely resembles a pyramid scheme, but I have to say that YTB looks quite legitimate. The only drawback I can see is that the travel industry is highly competitive so making sales and recruiting further members may be extremely hard. Of course, that would vary though, according to each individual’s talents.
If you are considering joining YTB then do your homework and check them out in more detail before handing over any money. My opinion, however, is that they are NOT a scam.
Many people believe MLM = “pyramid” = scam. In fact, MLM (Multi Level Marketing, aka “Network Marketing”) is a legitimate business model, clearly legal as determined by US courts. There are many legitimate businesses that sell products and services exclusively by network marketing. That said, anyone getting involved in NM/MLM should do so with eyes wide open. Most say it’s easy, anyone can do it, it’s not sales, and all you have to do is plug in, bring in three people, and the money will start to flow. I believe this is the biggest problem with the industry. It IS sales. It IS marketing. It IS a _business_ you’re buying into, and you need to treat it as such. Yes, people make money, some make big money, but not just by sitting back waiting for checks to come in the mail.
As to YTB, I have looked at many, many MLM’s in my day. I looked at Amway 30 years ago, I looked at A.L. Williams 20 years ago, I looked at Nuskin, Shaklee, and Nikken 10 years ago, I looked at Arbonne a couple of years back, and I looked at Herbalife about a month ago. I looked at YTB a week ago. It is hands-down the best I’ve ever seen. Consider that as a travel agent, all costs of travel (especially vacations!) are legitimate business expenses! If you spend $3,000 on a vacation cruise, for example, that will save you $1,000 in taxes right there! Take two trips like that per year, and your YTB is essentially free. And that’s if you don’t recruit a single person! Better still, a cruise that might cost $3,000 to the general public might cost you only $2,000 (or even less–they say savings are as high as 80% on some packages!) as a travel agent, because TA’s get the best deals. So those $3,000 cruises referenced above may actually be $5,000 cruise deals you get at a discount. Again, this is out of the gate, not recruiting anyone, not selling a single vacation to anyone. I’ve looked at this one good. I’ve done my due diligence.
I, for one, am in. I will be signing up this week. Oh, and by the way, if you choose to do the recruiting, when you get six people on your team (recruit 6, or recruit 1 who recruits 5, or recruit 3 who each recruit 1, etc) you get a $1,000 bonus and a monthly paycheck of $49, which more than takes care of the start up costs. Ka Ching! Like I said, I’m in. (not yet, but soon!)
Cassman
I have been involved in a MLM before. The MLM had no tangible product to offer. There were three “products” they pushed but there was really nothing the “Consumer” could actually grab a hold of.
YTB actually has a “Product” that the “End User” can actually touch, feel and benefit from at a competitive rate. Not too mention as a RTA you not only benefit from the RTA discounts but you reap the tax benefits.
Where else can you invest such a minimal amount of money in a “Franchise” that is listed in the Stock Market. What a low cost investment and overhead cost. Has anyone ever looked at what the intitial start up cost would be to buy in to a McDonalds franchise?
You owe it to yourself and your family to sign up for this opportunity. Go to this website http://www.deluxetravelsplus.com and begin financial freedom.
YTB is a pyramid scam. Individuals pay $499.95 one-time set-up plus $49.95 monthly to maintain the website. Actually, the individual only get a webpage from the company’s website. A lot of companies allow user to create a webpage from their website without charging a fee. For example, Yahoo allow users to create a webpage without charge and maintenance fee. YTB revenue consist of the commission for booking travels, Agent registration (one-time)fee of $ 499.95, and a monthly webpage maintenance of $49.95. YTB collect money from the Agents of the pyramid network, keeping most of it as revenue, and sharing the rest among the upline of the pyramid marketing network.
From how I have seen the sites performing in the search results I would suggest that having your own hosting and domain name would probably offer better results.
Additionally, you could host your domain for as little as $5 per month instead of that $49.95 fee!
OBSVIOUSLY YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YTB., YOU’RE NOT PAYING 49 FOR THE DOMAIN. YOUR PAYING 49 FOR WEBPAGE MAINTENANCE AND U CANT TAKE UR BILL OFF WITH 6 PEOPLE THAT U INTRODUCE TO THE BUSINESS. FIRST KNOW WHAT URE TALKING AND THEN COMMENT ABOUT IT. THANK U
DREAM ON DREAMER ……YOU ARE IN THE TRAVELOCITY MLM WORLD NOT THE REAL TRAVEL INDUSTRY.
THE YTB NAME HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED A TIMESHARE REPUTATION IN OUR AREA.
EXPERIENCED TRAVEL AGENTS ARE STILL THE BEST WAY TO TRAVEL.
that’s funny that you say travel agents are the best way to travel because i just recruited a few travel agents who joined YTB because they saw a better opportunity to make money with out the overhead. And yes it’s true you can get a website for $5 a month or even free in some cases but those sites are not booking engines which can search thousands of travel deals. I bet expedia, orbitz, travelocity paid millions for their sites and a YTB site is very similar to those. you tell me where i can get a comparable site that does the same work as a YTB site for $5 a month and i will jump ship! until then check out Globalfarefinder.biz to get on board with a great company and a great compensation plan.
Travelocity is YTB.
I think that is great you recruited travel agents to be travel agents, is that not the way it should be?
Should any joe shmo with 500.00 be able to call them self a TA.(NOT)
The ytb site is 50.00 a month not 5.00?
Are you with YTB?
Mary, people making negative comments about YTB need to do better research. Every TA credential is offered. Show me any business a person can start for $500, not have any overhead, and yet, having leaders that help them build their business, and I will leave YTB today. We have a very stong support system, so there are no lone rangers here. By the way, the person you sent a comment to was not saying that the YTB site is $5. Read it again. JL
I know how much the YTB travelocity web site cost.
I also know that I don’t want a real estate agent selling me a house that paid 500.00 and deceided they are now a realator with no education. I wouldn’t have a problem with YTB as much if they trained the agents before handing over a Travelocity web sight. Most YTB agents that I met at the meeting had no clue of travel also the numbers speak. 92% of ytb revenue is from MLM not TRAVEL. RCCL has got the right idea and soon other cruiselines and tour operators will follow.
Clearly, you are allowed to write without ever having bee trained how to spell simple words (deceided, realator, web sight), so how can you put up such a fuss about travel sites on which customers are their own agents anyway–WHICH is the real reason you are so ticked off–it is a trend that is undeniable and the reason that YTB works. Millions of people prefer to save $ by doing it themselves, which has all but made TAs obsolete. Keep doing what you’re doing and let others do what they feel is right for them, but consult a dictionary before blogging please.
I Bee trained as you say.
Consult your Webster.
I hope and pray that you are not with ytb.
If you are get trained TA because people do not save by booking travel themselves depending on the trip they may pay more.
They spend time and effort for nothing. If you book direct with the tour operator or Cruise line you do NOT save nothing. The Cruise line just keeps the ta commission and makes their pockets fatter. Without a travel agent you are on your own or with YTB.
Hey Nixon, does Yahoo pay you for doing business on that website, and do they have a home office with people there helping you with your business? I think not! jeltravel.com
I spent 4 yrs in YTB as an RTA and got to see the operation in full. Unfortunately there were numerous issues of lost travel commissions that the company claimed we were making up stories about missing travel. The home office kept giving us their standard response by asking us for the booking ID’s of the missing travel, but how do I submit that when people sent my business partner thank notes or thanked him in a store for a wonderful trip and he had no idea of their travel booking. If he asked for any travel information, they replied oh you must have that on file (because they threw it out once they took the trip) So transactions were taking place on our websites, but our back office wasn’t showing any trips being booked and people kept thanking us. The company kept denying there was a problem and would not discuss it. They said we were the problem.
Well after 4 yrs they finally installed a system that corrected the problem but I had seen enough! I realized the integrity of Coach, Scott and Kim was not even close to what they presented in the recruiting meetings. It’s sad because with over 100K RTA’s the company has very little control in how networkers market this program. The concept if it were run right, could be a money maker. YTB is trying but the brand has taken a real beating in the non profit & business world. Once you mention the name YTB to an Executive Director or CEO, often times they cut you off! Why because chances are they were oversold or attacked with enthusiasm about how wonderful YTB is and they should sign up today.
If you are with YTB, good luck because you are going to need it. If you are not network marketer,then save your money for something else.
Hey I hear you sorry story that you were with YTB for 4 years. The company was only a 3 years old when you came into the business. Like most business it takes time to really profit from you investment. Most business owners really profit after or about 5 years after initially starting. I think the CEO are making the best effort to make this company very successful, and from witnessing the attendance at some of these certifications, they must be doing something right. I think patience on your behalf and a little more deligence would have helped you to prosper with this company. But some of us want what we want right now. This is a serious business, therefore you have to be serious and positive. Sorry you couldn’t hang longer with the new YTB agents that are constantly coming in every week and becoming very successful with deligence and hard work.
>>Hey I hear you sorry story that you were with YTB for 4 years. The company was only a 3 years old when you came into the business. Like most business it takes time to really profit from you investment.> and from witnessing the attendance at some of these certifications, they must be doing something right.> I think patience on your behalf and a little more deligence would have helped you to prosper with this company. But some of us want what we want right now.
Hi Sally Jones
CONGRATULATIONS on making the 2,000th comment here at Scam Types dot Com
Congrats to Sally!
First of all with YTB Ur buying into a business…now you say that u get to build ur own webpage free on yahoo ok that sounds nice but what part of the business do you own…ok like i thought nothing…hey before you speak start thinking and use that brain that God gave you.
You are badly mis-informed. You have no idea what a pyramid is in the first place. YTB has a product plus we are publicly traded company. Pyramid schemes are illegal according to the government. How then can the Gov. allow us to be publicly traded. I bet you have a job don’t you? If you do, then you are in a real pyramid because you will never own where you work. Get the facts, humble yourself and maybe we’ll let you on board. We are the Microsoft of travel!
I bet you are not on board a Voyager Class Ship? HEE HEE
Tell me about RCCL…..curious about this. I am a TA, have been for 15 years. Someone is speaking with me about YTB. The commission level is terrible!
Thanks
Does Yahoo pay you commissions and bonus????
We’re investing in a business with YTB. Yahoo is not interested in us earning money from having a blog site or web site with them.
what?
You have not read the compensation plan. You have also not considered the multimillion dollar technology a person gets in the travel site that is powered by travelocity. Recruit 6 and the site is free. this has more than payed for itself within 30 days.
Hi Cassmanic & all YTB or MLM supporters,
I just joint YTB a few days ago and I’m glad I knew this site (my sister just forwarded to me, after I shared with her this business opportunity). I read all 83 comments and concluded that my decision to join YTB is right. BTW, my first and foremost reason for joining YTB is to learn about this travel industry and to sell travel; I also want to take advantage of the discounts reserved for travel agents (like most people, I love to travel).
Also, like you and many others, I never thought of MLM as a scam or a bad business model and never will. MLM is just another term of LEVERAGE. It makes so much sense to me. Just like all business owners, company CEOs & presidents are taking advantage of the power of LEVERAGE by hiring other people to work for them. We all just have 24 hours a day, but the smart people can take advantage of other people’s time to make more money for them.
What is great about YTB is that they are a publicly traded company (so it’s not scam) and their prices (airfares, hotels, tours, cruises, etc.) are very competitive with major online travel sites. That was the first thing I tried to find out before I joint. Yeah, just do the homework yourself by comparing the same airfare prices on Expedia and YTB travel site and you can tell right away. In most cases, YTB is a little lower. BTW, my sister, who I tried to recruit, is a very smart lady and a super bargain hunter (and is skeptical of MLM as well as every business opportunity that comes around) just agreed with me that YTB works since I found her an airfare ticket & hotel for cheaper than what she found from her sources this morning. She said she’s been searching and searching for tickets for her next trip for two weeks and YTB beat her prices.
I think the reason why YTB is using MLM model is because they chose to go direct to the consumers instead of paying for expensive mass advertising. Almost everybody travels, right? That’s very smart since they can build the company very quickly by using REPs/RTAs as their free marketing media. As a business owner of other businesses, I know very well how expensive it is to promote a business. For example, besides doing direct selling to families and friends, I’ve paid at least $50 in the last 3 days to spread this YTB business through online marketing, and will spend much more through traditional advertising. Besides, when using MLM, YTB encourages consumers to be their own travel agents and earn some money. After all, many consumers have done the job of travel agents all along, through the Internet. They should be paid for their work. Howerver, what might be a concern is that the $450 one-time fee and $50 monthly fee is discouraging if we just join to book travel for ourselves if we don’t travel much. That’s why I think this business is not for everyone. The ones who would benefit the most is the ones who travel a lot for business or for fun. And that means these people have to be a little wealthy to begin with. Also, of course, if you are good at selling and are willing to work at it, this business is very good for you, too. People such as real estate agents, insurance agents who have a lot of people contacts should make YTB a side business. Sometimes, a little bit of everything helps build the big empire.
I think this scamtypes.com website is an excellent promotional tool for YTB REPs/RTAs. I wish all of existing and future YTB REPs and RTAs the best. On the side note, if you are very serious about YTB business, let’s try to equip yourselves with more knowledge of the travel industry and get some education and certifications that are available to us. Knowledge is power and money. Last but not least, I think nothing could be better if we can make money doing something we love.
Hi Dana and welcome to the site.
Scamtypes.com does not endorse or promote YTB or any of the other MLMs I write about.
Personally, I hate MLM but respect the fact that others support them and some people do earn good money. Therefore, I am happy to approve comments that both agree and disagree with my own views.
To anyone else reading the comments here I would recommend reading ALL of them as there are differeing views expressed here. I’m not going to tell you which are right but hopefully the differing views will help anyone interested in YTB to realise that some people do well and others fail, just as with any business.
Also, I would recommend checking out some of the links that other commentators have provided so that any decisions you make might be more informed.
As ever, research anything you are interested in before jumping in. I have my opinions but you should educate yourselves by looking at the positives and negatives of any oportunity before forming your own.
People only fail at ytb if they want to. It is called ‘networking’, not ‘net-notworking.
Amway was a publicly traded company too.
Dana,
I did hear about this a some time ago from a friend, and it just happened that I wanted to book flight for myself so I did open a couple of famous Travel web sites and did the exact search on all of them, finally I did buy from YTB just because they had the same nice search engine and also they offered lower price and even hotel for my itinary.
I am a business man and I know how much does it cost to start a business in this magnetude, and it just perfectcly makes sense for me to join YTB.
I am so happy that I got to read your blog and get some more encouragement and new ideas how to promote this business, good luck to you, I am sure you will be one of successful ones in this business, and it is true this is not a business for everyone, to me the perfect point is how to find those enthuistic ones for this purpose.
Dear Cassman,
I’ve been in YTB for about 1-1/2 years and love it! I’ve been a real estate agent for many years and am praying (and hoping) that I can go full time with YTB in 2008.
If you haven’t signed up yet, I’d love to have you in my team. I’m in Rick Ricketts downline and he makes more money than anyone else in YTB. Everyone is so nice and are willing to help others. Even if you live in another city or state, that won’t matter. You can still be a part of my team. I’d love to meet with you and talk about it. Feel free to give me a call any time. If you email me back, I’ll give you my phone number. Even if you join someone else’s team, you’ll never be sorry about being a part of YTB!
Faye,
Im interested in the concept of the whole YTB idea. Please contact me via email so I can excahnge questions and comments with you. Thank you for your time. I hope to hear from you soon.
Triad101
Hello Faye, I would be happy to answer anything I can. It really is a great deal, if I could post everything that a person really needed to know like the “perks”, “discounts” etc.. well it would take some space. And the tax benifits have been well documented by a very well known “former” IRS tax man (Sandy Botkin) who endorses YTB because of the tax advantages you can get by owning a home based business. Anyway, sorry for the rant…
Thanks, Mike
The people who join YTB and MLM’s are wasting their money and taking away privileges that should go to legitimate travel agents. When you go on a fam trip-this is not about fun and vacation-this is supposed to be a work trip to educate yourself about the area and the hotels. When we travel agents finally do get the discounts we deserve they are not there because YTB’s have taken them up. I have been working too hard and too long to get where I am.
The few perks we get should only be for travel agents. This is like any of you going to a store and asking for the workers discount.
Hi Donna,
I agree with every word you have said.
I am a travel agent with 13 years of travel experience. I know how to answer travel questions, how to explain travel insurance, I even know airport codes, Sabre, World Span and Amadeaus reservation systems. I also know that YTB is trying to make every tom,dick and harry and their friends travel agents. This is wrong.
JL thinks I am angry,
I guess I am becuase YTB is tarnishing the name of travel agents.
I read the latest statement from ytb and I know they say that they are not in competion with professional TAs. They say they are targeting the people that use the internet to do there own travel.
I think they should call themsevles internet agents and leave the real travel agent titles to the real travel agents. US
I just want to say, that it may or may not be a scam or MLM. But I think that for those of you who are on YTB you should probably not post your hot under the collar remarks or cut other people down. It doesn’t leave much of an impression on myself and probably others who might consider YTB.
Mary and Donna, you have every right to feel the way you do, but there are many net travel agencies out there that are affecting traditional travel agencies. There is a lady on my team who owned an agency for 18 years and she loves YTB. However, I do see where you’re coming from. jeltravel.com
Hello Everyone,
I joined YTB 2 months ago. I had a choice to become an RTA or REP (marketing representative) or both and well I chose both. I worked for Hyatt Hotels for 5 years and loved it. I got the perks that came along from working in the hospitality industry including discounts on other hotels, tourist attractions, and the best was getting 12 nights a year complimentary at most Hyatt Hotels worldwide.
Before joining YTB, I did my research. I read what I could on the company, the people behind the company and well the product was a great one: Travel! Everyone I know loves to travel! And investing into a company just like investing in stocks, you need to do your due diligence so I did. Everything I found out was great! The more I read the more I fell in love with this company. I have met some of the top producers of the company and they all have great hearts and are genuinely great people. I see the potential in this business model and it all makes sense.
For all the travel agents above that commented, I am sorry you feel that way. I know several travel agents that want to join YTB as soon as it expands into Canada because they see the great potential too.
As a real estate investor, I keep my streams of income open. I don’t look at how much I spend but instead look at how much I can make and how quickly I can see the return on my investment. Well since joining (like I mentioned 2 months ago), I have emailed my friends and family my travel website link and people have booked already $13,000 worth of travel. This was done with word of mouth only. That’s incredible. I support the founders who want to make YTB the number one online travel agency in the next 10 years and see that happening. Imagine each RTA doing the same amount of travel for just 2 months. YTB’s travel sales have already doubled this year and is anticipating to triple by the end of the year. That’s about a billion dollars of travel sales.
At this present time, a friend has asked me to book a $6000 trip for her and her husband to Tahiti. While doing my research, I have discovered an Online Tahiti Training course which was free to any travel agents (home-based or not) and part of the training is a discounted FAM trip to Tahiti. Yes it will be for education but obviously I will have fun along the way. Everyone in YTB is trained to do business legitimately and if any RTA’s or REP’s are doing otherwise, they are then terminated. Also, another friend wants me to book 60 people for a wedding in Cancun, Mexico. All I need to do is show up at the engagement party this weekend and hand out my business cards to point them to the website.
I agree that everyone should do their research before investing in a business. I have invested in mutual funds before and never made a dime. My parents have lost money from their investments. I have already seen a return on my investment and see a lot more to come.
If someone asked me 10 years ago when travel agencies were being sold for $29,000-$39,000 for a brick and mortar business, I may have passed on that opportunity. The internet has made it possible for people to invest less than that and have less overhead. No employees and very little headache. NO QUOTAS and NO DEADLINES!!! There are 244 staff available at the YTB Main Offices to help our customers before or after they book on the YTB websites who are knowledgable in Travel. They are also there to help us develop our business.
All we do as an RTA (REFERRING Travel Agent) is refer people to the websites or if we wish we can learn more about travel to help any customers and book their travel. Starting a business or starting a new job, you always need to get trained.
Also, WORD OF MOUTH has worked for years. Look at Vonage (VOIP) telephone system, they give a free month for any person I refer that switches over to Vonage. Ebates.com pays me to refer friends to buy through them. VistaPrint.com gives money back for referring friends who sign up as well. Some people offer free trips to Hawaii for referring others to become members to Real Estate Investor clubs. Word of mouth has always worked for me. I like to get my friend’s and family’s recommedations as I am sure most people do too.
For the travel agents that feel negatively towards YTB, think about reading about the people behind YTB, the company itself and what they want to represent. They do NOT want to hurt anyone in the Travel Industry, instead they promote Travel and want to do what it takes to build this company as we SELL travel. Consider joining YTB, lose the overhead, the long hours, and get leverage and that is by owning a travel website.
For six years now, I have NOT called a Travel Agency (brick and mortar) to book travel for me. I have booked it myself on Expedia and Travelocity. I travel 4-6 times a year and each time I got a confirmation email with my booking ID and itinerary. Now I get to book on my website as friends and family do the same. More and more people are booking online, more and more people are shopping online. It is just easier for me to enter the information than have to tell someone else and they enter it into a computer system, only to find out that there needs to be changes made. The internet has made more things simpler. Again, I am sorry that you feel the way you do about YTB. I see it as an opportunity to improve the company and work on improving our relationships with everyone in the travel industry.
For all those who are considering YTB, do your due dilagence and if my opinion counts for anything, this is a legitimate business and I do sell travel and not just an idea. God bless! http://www.RolynTravel.com
how did create your own url to go directly to the ytb page?
Hi Maury:
Please log into your back office and click on “Resources” then on “Domain Names” and YTB provides all the help you need to do this.
I used GoDaddy.com but it is the same process and the price to have my own domain. Hope this helps and if anything you can always call YTB directly and they are happy to answer your questions.
God bless,
http://www.RolynTravel.com
Namecheap.com are another good site for domain registration. (Personally I don’t like GoDaddy).
under who in rick rickets downline?
what city ,state do you live in
are you in powerteam level yet-how long did it take. Do you totally understand the compensation plan? how many have you yourself sponsored.
how much travel comission have you earned?
I have tried to keep an open mind about ytb, but I have yet to see anyone making any money but the higher up people. Ron Head and the others at the top are the Coaches personal friends also. I’ve been on the fence about getting a web sight just for the travel savings. But just how much am I saving having to invest 499.00 bucks plus 49.99 a month? In my experience of trying to get the people signed up, everyone thinks its scheme and won’t put up the 499.00 anyway. I think that there is a possibility that you could make some money from handing out some cards to get some commission money.
My sole reason to join was to use it myself. My husband and I are world travelers. However you can also get concert/sporting event/theater tickets on the site, order flowers and gift baskets, there is a free honeymoon registry, a car site, and more…once you get some sort of upgrade “TRUST ME” you will be telling everyone…just like I did and I have not paid my 49.95 at all. I also got in coach’s corner my first 30 days and won the trip to the last birthday bash in only a few months of being in the business. I also am on track to go again…if you have questions feel free to ask, I help any and everyone I don’t care whose downline, crossline, or sideline…www.yes2ytbtravel.biz
Please contact me to discuss YTB further.
Have you all heard Royal Caribbean Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises are going to stop doing business with YTB?? There is more to being a travel agent than throwing a sign on your car. Who does the follow up,, Who answers travelers questions??? If you are are so eager to learn the travel business,, contact your local travel agent,, they would love to have you in their sales force and most pay 70% commission. Having a website does not make you a travel agent and the industry is catching on to this fact. Hopefully other cruise lines and tour operators will follow the lead of Royal Caribbean.
Signed a real travel agent,, not a mlm wannabe.
Kristi, YTB is not a wannabe mlm! For the last 3 years, it has won the Carnival Pinnacle Award, and it is currently #11 in the world in leisure travel. For the past 2 years, it has grown 300%. The compensation plan is fantastic, and the YTB “Bill Of Rights” guarantees it cannot be changed to the agents’ detriment. Find another company that does that. Traditional travel agencies are shutting their doors because people are booking online. The agents are ‘real’, and it is because they believe in relationship marketing. Their goal is to give ‘network marketing’ a good name by being ‘real’ and having integrity. Go to “jeltravel.com”. JL-a proud YTB travel agent
real travel agency owners join a consortium not a mlm scam. They making all their commission and getting real support. ytb is wrong.converting everyone you know with 500 to be a agent. yeah they offer training but after they give them a site and a title.
Mary, it is sad that instead of responding to my comment nicely, all you can do is bash what I believe in. We have every credential available to us that you have. Do you realize that when you call something a scam without being able to prove it, it is slander? Where is your integrity Mary? Instead of bad-mouthing, why don’t you do more research to back up what you say? “If it aint right, don’t do it! If it aint true, don’t say it!” If we don’t do our homework, we will flunk the test! Don’t be bitter towards us, come join the family. jeltravel.com
Yes
RCCL will regret the day they quit doing business with YTB. Nov 8th we all with YTB made history and booked over 13,000 cruises on that one day with Carnival. Do you really think Carnival will quit doing business with us? I think all of you traditional TA’s are just pist off that YTB is the Microsoft of Travel. DO your homework before you speak on something you know nothing about.
kristi, you must be rubbing bossom with RCCL. Suga, there is a major shift taking place, and in a couple of years, you will be in the “can’t lick um join um crowd. You need to quit wasting your time and save some time, join um now.
Joe
Interestingly enough, no mention of perhaps one of the most significant stories of the year RE: YTB. Royal Caribbean has placed YTB on a no-book status. Based on their own investigation, RCCL came to the conclusion that YTB’s network is NOT made up of legitimate, knowledgeable travel sellers and is more akin to a “card mill”.
Finally some real numbers. The average sale amount on a Royal Caribbean cruise from a YTB “agent” is $40 per year. Wow. Kind of hard to believe that this is a legitimate network of “knowledgeable agents” with those kind of numbers.
It’s a pretty powerful statement when your vendors have had enough of this “business model”. Watch for more to follow suit.
America!!
Free Enterprise!!
They go together!!
YTB has booked $13 million with RCCL this year.
They are one vendor, but they can drop us if they want to, because that is their right.
Freedom!!
You can’t buy a travel site and call yourself a travel agent. Real, legit travel agents spend lots of time getting licenses and are professionals. YTB are idiots and I would NEVER buy a trip from someone whose stupid enough to pay that much for a micro site.
And also, there’s a huge petition from tradtional travel agents against the vendors to pull out from YTB, lest they will lose the traditional travel agents loyalty. Whoa! Two cruise companies have already pulled their listings, and it’s growing like wild fire.
I wouldn’t expect this to be around much longer, and hopefully the mindless YTB sucker can make their money back before the business model colapses.
Hey Chris, did you know I can get every license any other travel agent can? It’s not right to call someone an ‘idiot’. Did you know there are quite a few millionaires in YTB? Unless the person making negative comments is also a millionaire, maybe they should re-think what an ‘idiot’ really is. jeltravel.com
Look at this…
Bob,
I do appreciate your reply. It really makes me sick when people THINK they know about YTB. Please look at what they are offering
YTB Travel network is excited to announce the opening of our new E-Campus online training program! Initially consisting of 10 courses, the web-based instructional series will be one of the most ambitious and comprehensive ever offered by a host agency.
The first, Overview of the Travel Industry, is up and running. It will be followed by courses on lodging, tours/groups, cruising, air, rail/car rentals, sales/service/marketing, and three courses on destination geography. The intent is for each course to be challenging, interactive and instructionally sound, yet entertaining.
The YTB program of studies is being designed by Marc Mancini Seminars and Consulting. Website design and program fulfillment will be handled by TheAcademy.com, a San Antonio-based firm that specializes in travel-related training solutions. The company built and manages several of the industry’s most prominent certification programs.
Marc Mancini is one of the travel industry’s most highly respected and best-known speakers, educators and consultants. It’s estimated that nearly 300,000 travel professionals worldwide have benefited from training programs that he has designed or delivered. The more professional our RTAs become and the more they know about travel and how to sell it, the more profits they’ll be able to generate!
Does this sound like we are a card mill? I want you to know that people all have a different “why” about joining this business. I am like a mama bear when it comes to people talking about my Christian Owned WONDERFUL business that our owner’s have given everyone the opportunity to change lives…and it really makes me realize we are on the right track…people are obviously running scared of YTB.
Thank You
Bob Maier wrote:
Hi Metre,
MailPound gets it from both sides regarding YTB. We do not try to control what appears in Peter Greenberg’s Tip of the Day or in the Forum.
Let me share with you another email I received regarding YTB and my response..
Best Regards,
Bob Maier
President
MailPound.com
12 East Stow Road, Suite 210
Marlton, New Jersey 08053
856-983-6100 ext. 101
Bobmaier@mailpound.com
Visit us at http://www.mailpound.com
—–Original Message—–
From: xxxxx@aol.com [mailto:xxxxx@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 1:26 PM
To: support@mailpound.com
Subject: YTB
I am astonished that you are supporting YTB — the largest card mill around. If you continue to support them, I and a large group of people will not support you. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Azamara are true agent supporters as they have discontinued their business with the above.
Waiting to hear that you are not supporting them any more and will not advertise anyone who does.
Ester …..
—– Original Message —–
From: Bob Maier
To: @aol.com
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: Supporting YTB
Hi Ester,
I think you are confused. Mailpound does not support YTB or any other host agent group, we support the travel agent distribution channel.
At trade shows we have had a lot of YTB agents visit our booth. As you might suspect, many are new and have no idea of how to sell travel. And we have met several experienced travel agents who have joined YTB for the technical services that they provide. But in that group of inexperienced “agents” there are some who really want to become travel agents and are willing to “pay the price” in time and training to achieve their goal. And we are glad that we can help them. The industry needs more “true” travel agents and needs to find ways of recruiting and support them wherever they may be, including host agencies like YTB and Joystar.
If you still feel that you cannot support Mailpound or our advertisers then there is nothing to say except “good bye” and to wish you well in your endeavors. But I hope that instead of focusing on YTB you focus on building your business using the tools MailPound offers, including all of Carnival Cruise Lines’ brochures in electronic format.
Best Regards,
Bob Maier
President
MailPound.com
12 East Stow Road, Suite 210
Marlton, New Jersey 08053
856-983-6100 ext. 101
Bobmaier@mailpound.com
Visit us at http://www.mailpound.com
Thanks for your very detailed comments Cassman - you have added some very worthwhile and valuable opinions to the original post.
I fully agree that rewards are directly related to the time and effort put into any opportunity and that many people cry ’scam’ when they do nothing and don’t make any money.
Personally, I am against MLMs for two reasons - firstly most actually are scams from what I’ve seen and, secondly, I don’t like someone else earning from my efforts.
That said, YTB does look sound to me from what I have found out about them so far and also, you could argue that other’s earn from your labours in a regular job too.
Travel isn’t my area of expertise so I won’t get as excited about YTB as you obviously are, but I can see some potential there for a hard worker who is aware of the potential pitfalls, as you certainly seem to be.
Good luck!
There is a “fine line” between MLM and a Pyramid Scheme. There is always a “vehicle” that makes it legal. However, if the organization is built on MEMBERSHIP, rather than the sale of Travel, I believe it crosses over into being a Pyramid. All that I have heard from people contacting me is about how much you make from how many people join. Read between the lines. ALSO, have your read the SEC’s action on YTB Stock? You may want to research that! It’s your life, money and viewpoint. All I can do is quote PT Barnum,…well, you know what he said.
When you work for any company someone is benefitting from your work. I worked for an electric company for years before becoming involved in MLM. I do believe that company benefitted from my long hours of work. In that company the CEO made way more money than the Customer Service Rep’s who they always said were the “front door to the company”. The Customer Service Rep’s were the one who were in contact with the people. I would much rather work for my self and build my own business than work for “the man” who really cares nothing about me, and doesn’t know me and could care less about how much effort I’ve put into building their company. MLM is much more rewarding!!!!!!!!