If anyone has not heard, there is a new website out there called MyCruiseBookings.com which was initially touted as a place where consumers could go, book their own cruises and get up to a 15% rebate! They used a lot of the MLM language--including "travel like a pro"!
The very day after their press release hit the market, the owners are concentrating on damage control. When Royal Caribbean International got wind of this, they immediately put them on a stop sell. Lisa Bauer sent me a brief response:
Thanks John. We do have an issue with this type of model. We have taken action.
Best Regards,
Lisa
And in an even more shocking development, Carnival had this response from a BDM:
In case you are approached by any of your accounts about the recent article in Modern Agent regarding a new online agency, www.mycruisebookings.com, and the content on their site, please know that we’ve asked them to remove Carnival banners/information from their site until we have a clear understanding of what their model will be. As is, we will not be accepting bookings from them.Well, there you have it.
But I wonder if this will force Carnival to take another look at the MLM model? They are upset about the rebating, but as Perrillo discovered, a good many of the MLMers are also about rebating for personal travel. While the woman in my previous post does not represent ALL MLMers, I suggest that her motives are probably in the majority.
Doug Bauknight, in his blog, had discussed this new business model and apparently it was posted prior to the backpedaling done by MyCruiseBookings.com. He talks about survival. This is true. We are fighting for survival--but so is every company. Without making money, you are not surviving. YTB as a company is making money. The RTAs are not. YTB as a company may survive, the RTAs likely will not.
The press release indicated that the parent agency is a "mega" agency located in suburban Cleveland. I was unable to find any web page of the agency (strange for a "mega" agency) but did find that they were established in 1992. According to Travel Weekly, they are a $1M agency with 20 years in business, and if that is the case, I am not surprised that it is all about survival. $1M in sales cannot sustain many storefront locations anymore. And also, $1M does not constitute a "mega" agency by any means. More likely they are a member of a host agency that allows then the higher commissions. Regardless, I am sure that more will come out on this issue as it develops and MyCruiseBookings continues to re-evaluate the business model.
If the cruise lines continue to allow these types of operations (and I include the current version of MLM in that definition as well), surely they will be like the ship at the top of this post. I applaud Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Corporation for taking a stand on this small player. Now it is time for Carnival to join Royal Caribbean and take a stand against the other players!
Hmmmm... YTB's RTA's aren't making money????
ReplyDeleteI'm living proof that this is a false statement!!! :)
You said you were a director? RTAs are not directors. Reps are directors. So you are making money from recruiting people to buy into the program not on selling travel. Take out your Rep income and come back and let us know. No need for a calculator, I imagine you can handle the math with your fingers and toes.
ReplyDelete"Is The Cruising Industry Sinking?"
ReplyDeleteNo.
But this blog is stinking, I mean sinking ....snore....zzzzzzzzzz.
I am a Director because I have over 500 people in my downline, but I am still an RTA. I will always be an RTA no matter what level of Director I reach.
ReplyDeleteLet me reiterate parts of the company statement...
"YTB offers 2 distinct opportunities... One as an RTA and the other as a REP... You may participate in one or he other or both."
I am both an RTA and a REP... which led me to Level 1 Director.
As far as travel income goes... (not from marketing), I made over $63,000.00 for the year to date. I also have a good number of group cruises I'm working on for people... that will be taken before the end of the year. This will push me extremely close to the $100,000.00 in commissions.
I am also working on a 14 cabin cruise for a neighboe for next year, so I wil start off 2008 with a healthy commission.
It's a simple concept really...
Do nothing = get nothing
Do a lot = get a lot
Well, I choose to do a lot, and it's paying off.
I am also working on a family reunion cruise for people in my family. This will easily be a 20 - 25 cabin cruise. CHA CHING!!!
This goes to show how much you know about YTB... or should I say "don't know".
The cruise industry is sailing... not sinking... but your fight against YTB is... LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as travel income goes... (not from marketing), I made over $63,000.00 for the year to date. I also have a good number of group cruises I'm working on for people... that will be taken before the end of the year. This will push me extremely close to the $100,000.00 in commissions.
ReplyDeleteI call BS!
You are making yourself look like a fool. You may have made that as a Rep, not selling travel. It was from selling the program.
If you received $63,000 in commissions from YTB, that means that you were personally responsible for YTB receiving commissions of $105,000. And at the estimated level of commissions across the board of 8.2% you would have sold just under $1.3M personally. I don;t buy it at all!
Now let's look at $100K. That means you personally brought in $167K to YTB which again based on the 8.2% figure equates to sales just over $2M for you personally.
But apparently you have gotten over the fear of the FTC coming after you and have disclosed some numbers. SO now it is time to back them up. Can you do it?
Thought so! Come on Pinocchio. This comment has definitely made it to my Top Ten List of Ridiculous Statements by MLMers!
John, you have to remember this is from the same person who said YTB tells people they shouldn't join if they're just interested in cheap travel for themselves. I went to a meeting and they tell people that's exactly why they should join. That and all the money you can make from recruiting...
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I am saying! I know that most bookings are airfare and hotel, but people who booked cruises from me also booked them. I happen to know a lot of people who go on cruises! which is a giant plus for me!!!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, my pending travel commissions would most likely boost me to $75K -$80 for the year... depending on what my downline does also.
This is just a few of the vacations that were booked on my website.
My sister in Cali alone booked 3 cruises from me. She's a cruise fannatic! She also brought friends with her, so the most cabins I got from her was 6. One of those cruises was to Alaska, the other was the Carribbean, and the last one she took was to Hawaii.
My optomotrist booked a cruise to Hawaii from my website.
My CPA went to the Grand Canyon for a week.
My old boss even booked a couple of cruises and a trip to Vegas from me.
My downline... and yes there are a lot of them... also book travel, so I get a match on theirse too. It's still travel commissions.
In all actuality, from the REP side, I made a lot more that $100,000.00... A LOT MORE! You think you're smart. Why don't you take a look at YTB's compensation plan, and tell me exactly what I make as a Director? I'll give you a hint... it's over $30,000 a month.
For the record... I don't lie, but I see you do.
I know what I make... you don't. The only BS I see is what you have been stating all along. Do I have to remind everyone that I have disproved just about every statement you have made John??? If I were you, I'd find a rock to crawl under. Yet, you still come here and post rediculous claims against YTB!
You would make a great politician!!! Are you related to GWB?
PTBYTB--in which dream did you disprove anything? Coming back to me saying your CPA took a cruise does not prove anything at all. And if your sales are mostly car and hotel, then your sales will likely be much higher than I gave you credit for--so I call double BS.
ReplyDeleteSo, what I have said that that you have so deftly disproved. Reminder, simply saying so does not make it so. I have provided numbers, facts, and substantiating statements. You have said you are buying a Lexus. I am looking at your first comment on this posting. It says:
Hmmmm... YTB's RTA's aren't making money????
I'm living proof that this is a false statement!!! :)
Is that your idea of disproving anything? Black out the names and account numbers and post a check for $30,000 that shows it is your monthly payment from YTB.
Just look at the compensation plan John! I could figure out what every director at every level is making in income from the marketing side. I make over $30K a month from my 500+ downline!
ReplyDeleteI do have a lot of cruise bookings to my name... which boosted my income considerably. I am also saying that I also hev a a lot of flight bookings and hotel stays. just because i said that most of my bookings are for flights and hotels... doesn't mean that I didn't book a lot of cruises. I know a lot of people who love to cruise, and this is the reason why I got into YTB! Then i found out abou the marketing plan... which boosted my interest.
when i was approached with the YTB concept, all my sponsor told me was that I could have my own website and earn 60% of YTB's commissions. She showed me a couple of checks that she made from booking cruises for people. It took 3 weeks for me to decide to join YTB. when I went to the meeting, and saw the other side... it sealed the deal!
You may not know people who go on cruises. You may know some people who do. i just happen to know a lot of people who do!!! After all, I do live in the cruise capital of the world! Who in Florida doesn't like to go on cruises??? Florida is the cruise-line money pit!!!
You can believe what you want. My checks and my back office tell me differently.
She showed me a couple of checks that she made from booking cruises for people.
ReplyDeleteWell if your director had the guts to show you her checks, what is your problem? I have said repeatedly since July---show me a check that documents you can make a living selling travel in YTB and I will recant, do another column on the program and admit I was wrong.
Right now there are almost 150,000 RTAs out there and I am finding it hard to find one that is making any money---other than those that just spew out numbers and proclaim they "proved" something. I have a lot of people that "know" someone in the business is making money. But no one will pony up to the bar and prove it. I wonder why? It obviously cannot be the FTC hurdle as we are beyond that now.
Heck, I might even be willing (maybe not though) to accept a photo of you buying your new Lexus from the dealer with all that cash you said you had.
You are so ignorant that it is hard for you to believe that anyone in YTB could be making money from travel. You had absolutely NO CLUE as to how the commission system works until I told you! You still don't know what vendors pay what % to YTB.
ReplyDeleteBTW... YTB is on track to break the $1 Billion travel sales for the year!!! Don't confuse this with Travel commisions John.
Your anti-YTB agenda has blindfolded you! You think that everything that contradicts what you say is a foolish statement when in turn, it is you who make these alegations... and yet won't even learn what YTB is really about. You won't even attend a meeting! instead, you go by what you can find on the internet... which is what someone else told you... that someone else told them... and so on.
I was always taught that if I was going to recommend seeing or not seeing a movie, I better have seen the movie myself first.
And at the meetings i attend... and host, we tell people that if they are just looking for cheap travel and not becoming a valued member of YTB... don't join.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have a few non-producers in my downline, but they are outweighed by those who take this business as serious as I do.
YTB is a business, and should be treated as one! That's a big point we always say at our meetings.
Next time you attend a meeting, tell me who hosted it and said "join for the cheap travel alone". I have every director's phone number, and I will be able to give him / her a call.
I'm surprised your "cruising fanatic" sister doesn't have her own YTB site...what with all the money she would save. It's almost...unbelievable?
ReplyDeleteAnd I won't be attending another meeting...I was supposed to get 2 free hotel nights for going to the first one. I still have the emails where they told me it was a straight-up offer...no sining anything, no paying anything. It wound up being some brochure deal from a place called World something It's Your Vacation...I don't have it right here...but you had to send in $50, pick 3 places and 3 weekends you could go. Also your spouse had to go and you had to bring a credit card, NO debit cards. The brochure didn't have a phone number or website address. It smelled like a timeshare deal to me and I already sat thru the YTB pitch.
YTB got themselves into trouble because their business model focused too much on the ML part of an MLM. That is too many people were only recruiting people into their down line, and not booking enough travel. At the new site at MyCruiseBookings.com there is no suggestion of downline. No earnings for recruiting additional agents under you, no money offered for Multi-Levels. There is only one level. You subscribe, you book, you earn. There is no suggestion that you can earn additional funds for recruiting other agents. A MLM implies that there are multiple levels of earnings for subscribers regardless of travel booked. Not the case at MyCruiseBookings. One subscriber price and level. No MLM here, read into it a bit further and you will see the truth. MyCruiseBookings.com aims to recruit new agents to book travel. Thats it at its purest.
ReplyDeleteThen the cruise lines might as well just stop offering commissions...
ReplyDeleteAnd the cruise lines have already shut MyCruiseBookings.com down, have they not?
ReplyDeleteFree hotel nights? NO! You misunderstood the brochure. I have one of them right here.
ReplyDeleteYou are still responsible for the taxes of the hotel room. What you don't have to pay is the whole cost of the hotel room (which is hundreds of dollars), so it's truely a great deal!
Please read the brochure again, and even have an RTA explain it to you.
And for the record, I too am surprised my cruising fanatic sister didn't join, but she promised to only book through me.
ReplyDelete