I asked a question a few days ago and there was no real definitive answer as to what the MLM crowd was doing for their clients on ATA, Skybus and Aloha. The closest I got was a comment from Proud To Be YTB who said he received this via "wire" from HQ:
As you may be aware, yesterday ATA cancelled all service effective immediately. This impacts Funjet Vacations' Value Flight customers from Midway to Cancun and our ATA scheduled air customers to Cancun and Hawaii. As a customer-centric vacation company, Funjet Vacations is protecting our customer's vacations by: - Helping customers find alternate air service - Applying the value of their ATA airfare to the new reservation
Well, he thought that answered the question, but had he scrolled down on the "wire" a little bit more, there was a second half to the story. You see, as I knew, this was a communication from FunJet (as I got the same one) and they did specifically lay out what the agent was to do.
How can you help? To expedite obtaining alternate flights, we are encouraging travel agents to book their own flights for the same travel dates and receive a refund from Funjet Vacations for the cost of the original ATA airfare purchased. The rest of the Funjet Vacation will remain in tact. To receive a refund and ensure transfer service can be fulfilled, travel agents or customers who choose to book their own alternate flights need to e-mail us at atarefund@funjet.com with the following information: - Original Funjet Vacations reservation number and passenger names - New flight information including airline, flight numbers and flight timesBut as we all suspected, Proud To Be YTB only told half of the story and of course, their clients were left to figure it out on their own. YTB has been screaming all week about Orbitz and Travelocity and Expedia doing nothing, but you know what--that is not true either. But more on that later in the week---probably Friday!
John--this is not news. You could tell from the comments that they had no clue what was being done if anything and even less of a clue as to what to do.
ReplyDeleteASTA used to have a saying--without a travel agent you are on your own...well they ought to broaden the definition.
I bet YTB has a ton of first time clients that are one and dones! They will sell them once and then never again. But hey, as long as the RTA got thair $100 a year for the $1200 they paid they are good with it right?
Scotty says you don't need to be smart to be in the business. He just does not go far enough and say "but we do a lot better if you are really stupid--as a matter of FACT, we count on that."
Well, need to go catch a plane--see you next week!
Well, I am not a "news" blog per se more of an opinion blog, but I cannot disagree with you--have a good flight--hope it is not on AA and if it is, hopefully you have someone to advocate on your behalf if your trip gets screwed up.
ReplyDeleteI haven't booked Funjet for a couple of years - not since they did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to protect coients on the UA non-stops to CUN for XMAS when they were cancelled (what a nightmare - 27 people booked for Christmas Week and flights were discontinued in September...). Funjet is one of the least proactive, service-oriented companies out there. No surprise that they're really saying - "you do the work" and we'll reimburse your client later. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteYTB has a number of former TTAs that are working at the Corporate office in the Travel Division.
ReplyDeleteNaturally we will hear some complaints from people on this board about what happened during the Carnival Day in November, but they pulled everyone including the janitor off their jobs to answer the phones on that day.
I had 3 customers with ATA problems being I am from the Midwest. Did not have any Aloha customers. I connected each to one of our agents at the Home Office and they were taken care of.
I have not heard of any complaints from RTAs on my Team regarding this issue and their customers. And, believe me, I would hear if there was a problem. The Travel Division at Corporate is made up of some very good people. Yes, many are new because of the escalated hiring that YTB has done in the past year. But there are Supervisors who can handle anything needed. An experienced agent is just a desk or two away and the new hires have great attitudes and are eager to learn. I know of a recent travel agency in the area that closed down and the manager and all agents were hired by YTB.
YTB has extended hours in the travel division, so they are very accomodating. Not available on weekends yet, but I'm sure that is coming down the road.
Why is there a travel "division"? Isn't the business a travel business?
ReplyDeleteThats what I'm saying. If your an RTA and getting paid a comm, you should be doing the work.
ReplyDeleteSo there you have it from the horse's mouth. When push comes to shove and they NEED to sell travel, YTB calls the janitor!
ReplyDeleteNot surprising that the TTAs in town went to work for them. Apparently you have not been to Wood River---there ain't much in that town. Heck even K-Mart abandoned the town....thank Coach/God for YTB who ably stepped in and took over the K-Mart store. Appropos dontcha think?
Actually the agency was 35 miles from Wood River.
ReplyDeleteThe tract of land that YTB now owns is just off of Interstate 255. Not a bad location at all. Quite a bit of growth in that Interstate corridor between there and Edwardsville.
And, yes, I'm sure that the citizens of the area are glad that YTB is bringing many good paying jobs along with them.
Obviously the citizens of the area are fools. NO one wants to work for a JOB (Just Over Broke) why are they not participating in the recruiting program and firing their bosses, sleeping in till they are done sleeping and making multiple trips to the bank each week as YTB send them check after check after check?
ReplyDeleteAlong the same lines as the blog entry, I just had a passenger call me about the seats we had assigned him on his trip to Lagos, Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteWe are a consolidator and only sell to Travel Agents. So I informed the passenger he would need to call his agent, since his agent is our client, not him. We hate doing that but it causes more problems than not if we don't.
His agent told him she did not know how to do seat assignments (all she has to do is call us) and he should call us directly.
What company did his agent work for? YTB.
Oh - and the agent also happens to be his sister.
What a crock.
Just call the supplier, we don't actually work for the perks we get. That should be their motto.
ReplyDeleteTo the TTA throng -
ReplyDeleteYTB sure does make life tough for all of you. Any of you want a little cheese to go with your whine?
We don't pretend to be high-touch TTAs. You do it your way, we will do it ours. But here's a hint: $414.5 millions dollars in travel sales for 2007 is not bad. But we'll get better, mark my words.
I can get a 1/2 lb Angus Burger at a linen table restaurant with great service for $10. Or I can go to Back Yard Burgers and get the same burger for $5. Can't really tell the difference in the taste, it's just whatever mood I am in as to the level of service that I want.
The public is much the same. Many will go the Back Yard Burger route (online purchases with Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity or YTB) or the high-touch route with TTAs and pay the service fees.
Most of us in YTB will choose the Back Yard Burger route and leave the high-touch to the TTAs who enjoy it . . . and love to complain about all of us as we sell hundreds of millions of travel.
YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix!
Then change your names to value menu travel and let the big boys do the real trips. When you get into the 32 billion dollars worth of selling travel and nothing but travel, let us all know.
ReplyDeletecould someone show me WHERE in the anuual report the 414 mill figure is? I saw it in a press release but I don't believe press releases.
ReplyDeletei think I'd rather book with Orbie, Expedia or TCY if i had to book online. I imagine that is true of most online shoppers as online shoppers are very price driven and YTB just doesn't compete 80% of the time and as said, the service is better.
The $414M is on page 11
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that while only the commissions arising from our RTAs’ booking of travel services are reflected as a component of
our revenues in our financial statements, we also keep track of the aggregate retail value of all travel services that are booked by our
RTAs (which directly impacts our commission revenues). The value of such travel services increased 83.7% in 2007 to over
$414,000,000, from approximately $225,000,000 in 2006.
However it is not substantiated by any of the other numbers. I know when I do my financials, I have a sales figure (which YTB omits from the travel side) and cost of sales. I further break it down by travel type--tour, cruise, air, rail, car, hotel, and fee
tom g -
ReplyDeleteAs you said "i think I'd rather book with Orbie, Expedia or TCY if i had to book online. I imagine that is true of most online shoppers as online shoppers are very price driven and YTB just doesn't compete 80% of the time and as said, the service is better."
YTB competes $100% of the time with Travelocity (or TCY in your slang) because our airline tickets are WCT.
Please do your research (and hit the spell check) prior to posting.
YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix!
I guess the YTB followers have never heard the expression "You get what you pay for." You got a Big Lots travel company and the TTAs have the Nordstroms. With the average RTA getting a little over $100 per year in commissions, I think the public has it right. Enjoy your Backyard Burgers.
ReplyDeletemartha -
ReplyDeleteI can buy the same designer shirt as Marshalls and have money left over for burgers for the whole family.
Back to business . . .
Travel commissions will grow as YTB continues to sell more and more travel for some great vendors.
Savings on personal travel is not a guarantee, but many times a nice benefit.
Great home business tax savings are available that amount to thousands of dollars each year for the average family.
YTB will get bigger and better at what they do.
I'm sure they have white gloves at Nordstoms, do it fits right in for you.
YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix!
Thank you, John
ReplyDelete"Travel commissions will grow as YTB continues to sell more and more travel for some great vendors.
ReplyDeleteSavings on personal travel is not a guarantee, but many times a nice benefit.
Great home business tax savings are available that amount to thousands of dollars each year for the average family.
YTB will get bigger and better at what they do.
I'm sure they have white gloves at Nordstoms, do it fits right in for you.
YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix"
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You have no clue what you are talking about.
Nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007
Sale Volumes Revenue %
NET REVENUES
Online travel stores and
monthly fees $ 69,031,218 72.0 % $
Travel commissions and
services 13,930,824 14.5 %
Training programs and
marketing materials 10,364,547 10.8 %
Other 2,592,266 2.7 %
Total net revenues 95,918,855 100.0 %
OPERATING EXPENSES
Marketing commissions 55,370,759 57.7 %
Travel commissions 9,398,036 9.8 %
YTB made 72% of their money from recruiting last year. Not to mention that the higher ups are selling so much stock (while telling the RTA's to buy) in such huge chunks that you have to wonder if they even plan on keeping any of the company for them selfs.
Can money be made from YTB? Sure. Cash can be made from pyramid schemes, but once recruiting stops (Based upon the ACTUAL financials posted) what makes you think the company will still be around?