Seems like Apple Vacations realizes that it's own computer can do a better job selling travel than an RTA. Or maybe they realize that dealing with the untrained is a costly endeavor. IS anyone else earning 5% on phone bookings? Seems kind of strange for a "Golden Apple" agency.
Book through your YTB Booking Engine to maximize your commissions with Apple Vacations! Booking an Apple Vacation via telephone will only earn you 5% commission.
Don't miss out!
YTB is PLATINUM with Apple.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yourtravelbiz.com/rta/TRAVEL_COMPASS/travel_compass_03-13-08.htm
Remember a couple weeks ago someone mentioned that Collette had canned YTB too? Funny, look at the training. (Also look on ANY YTB booking engine and there they are, front page.)
Big Carnival promotion going on.
Mancini's got another course for YTB ready.
MSC Seminar at sea.
Training with Holland America.
Travel with Trafalgar this Autumn, Winter & Spring.
CCRA contest...
Oh...and look at that...a booking contest for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
Guess we don't want that to get out now do we? Didn't someone tell us it was dead?
Who could have spread such a rumor?
Good job John!
I just think it is odd for a platinum agency to be restricted to 5% for phone bookings. They must have made a special deal with YTB. I did not sell anywhere near $414M last year and I am not penalized THAT much for booking on the phone!
ReplyDeleteThere are no tickets available for the Olympics at this point, so the contest is a moot point! I tried to get some for a client the other day! That is sort of like YTB running a contest saying the person who sells the most Concorde tickets for flights in 2008 will win a million dollars.
I must have missed the post on Collette. I remember seeing the one on Globus and it was (he said)( about the search term. I think he explained that as well. Did he start a rumor? Nah, that is the YTB forte!
5% of commission...LOL And for the RTA that would be 3%.
ReplyDeleteSo that Apple booking at $4500 equates as such
To a real agent 12% to 16% $540 to $720
To an RTA on the website $378
To an RTA on the phone $135
Wow...any YTB is such a good deal!!!
Even a real agent at 10% makes more than the RTAs
Anon....it is nice to know you missed the link that John provided. The link encourages RTAs to utilize the booking engine and then get the full comission.
ReplyDeleteBut, you claim that making 378 is not a good deal. Well perhaps compared to a TTA, but for someone who is neither, it certainly is easier to get into YTB and earn that 378 then to become a TTA and earn the 540 to 720
Anon - its nice to know you missed the fact that YTB charges over $1,000 for the first year of membership.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is not easier to earn money in YTB....
You would have to sell *3* $4,500 trips to basically break even for the year.
Most of the vendors who visit my office also wince when I bring up YTB. Some say that the RTAs EXPECT the vendor to do the work setting up the wanted package, email the invoice to the RTA and then wait for payment to be called in (or not). I can understand their frustration.
ReplyDeleteAn anon above mentioned all the training available - well, its not much good if only a fraction of 135,000 actually take the training and actively promote the vendor.
But don't you know the RTA's have no interest in selling travel or earning money. They are only in it for the tax deductions on taking little Jimmy and the family on a cruise. And deducting their wide screen.
ReplyDeleteI am sure the IRS will be looking into all of this soon.
I notice that Mixed is now posting without his "YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix!" Maybe the old fool learned it isn't a great mix after all. At least Apple, RCCL, Perillo, and the others have already realized it.
ReplyDeleteYTB and TRAVEL: Commission? What commission?
Again, Jon points out something very concerning (for RTAs) and as usual when there is a legitimate issue, they all shut up or change the subject....how bout them Yankees eh?
ReplyDeleteBTW--congrats Jon on your publicity this week!
I don't understand - my office (not part of a Chain or a franchise) with only a total of 15 employees gets 14% on all electronic bookings with Apple and 12% on phone. So I thought "leverage" was the big ticket here for YTB? what gives? Why has Coach negotiated such a crappy deal with Apple?
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a crappy deal. How about a raw deal for the RTAs.
ReplyDelete80% to 85% of YTB business is in cruises. The RTA get's 60% of the commission earned.
So far so good. But here is where Coach et al make a TON of money. The cruise lines pay commission when the final payment is made. So, let's say an RTA has a booking for 100 cabins on the Fantasy earning $80 per person. That is $16,000 in commission to YTB $9,600 of which goes to the RTA. NOt only does YTB keep 40% of the money, but they get it immediately and then use the $9,600 loan from the RTAs until AFTER the sailing.
All about leverage is right. When you have 135,000 RTAs offering interest free loans--it is a good deal!
Purely a guess, but apple is probably sick of dealing with people who have never sold a trip in their life - who's only knowledge of selling a travel is their name on a YTB photo ID....
ReplyDeleteJOhn,
ReplyDeleteYour cruise statement is entirely false. Big shocker
When do you get paid?
ReplyDeleteThe cruise line has up to 90 days to pay YTB after getting full payment which, by the way is 90 days before the sail date. I have done several cruise bookings and about a half dozen times I have been paid before the sail date.
ReplyDeleteWhen YTB gets paid, the comission is paid to the RTA on that month's travel comission check.
I meant to add that it just happened this past month. I get paid on a cruise that sails JULY.
ReplyDeleteWell that sort of puts a dent in the argument about travel sales now doesn't it? You cannot have it both ways you know.
ReplyDeleteHow many arguments have been made on here about not being able to determine actual sales because it might be sold today and not sailed till the future. People have stated vehemently that they are not paid by YTB until after travel.
So which is it?
The cruise line "has" nothing. They will pay you when they want to pay you. Most have a policy of paying a paid in full booking or group within 2 weeks of payment. At least that is how I am paid and I know others are paid as well in a similar fashion.
Now maybe the cruise lines negotiated a "special deal" with YTB to keep their money longer and if so, there is a good argument for seeking a different host. Just imagine getting 90% or 100% of the money you earned and being paid on time!
Not tour ops are a different story, they pay after travel has completed.
Many have said that the comissions are paid after the vendor receives money not after the travel. Most travel, hotels etc don't receive payment until the travel. I get comissions on all of the airfare immediately as air travel is paid right away. Cruises, we can get the comission after the final payment which is 90 days before sailing. So, the statement you made about not getting paid yet does have some validity with respect to travel sales. I have a group that is booked for next MArch. 74 cabins reserved. 1st deposit isn't due until October. Final Payment in January. So, unless people cancel, I would say I have sold 74 cruise cabins. I don't have the comission yet. And won't until the spring so that determination is valid.
ReplyDeleteYTB as a network sells a majority of CRUISES.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in hotels,. car rentals, air "commissions", and tour operator packages, but I am speaking of cruises.
And I have been told time and time again about not being able to determine the sales BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT PAID TILL TRAVEL IS COMPLETE.
Case and point, DB booked a UniWorld cruise for client in November 2006. Travel was in the "fall" of 2007, and commission from YTB was paid in January 08.
I don't know the size of the booking, but if payment was due 90 days prior to sailing, and commission was paid in advance of the sailing, why did it take YTB so long to pay the RTA?
YTB can determine the policy. They can say we pay 365 days after travel. It is their sandbox. All I am pointing out is that there is a huge amount of money being held short term to the benefit of YTB on the backs of the RTAs.
Tell you what, if you every get a cruise booking, call up the vendor and see if they will let you follow up on payment of commission. Ask for the check number, amount and date of payment on a particular booking and then see how long ti takes YTB to "process" the commission.
ReplyDeleteI get air immediately, land pays after travel - but all mine pay within 30 days (except some of our "preferred" who pay us after final payment - a few), cruises are within two weeks after final payment.
ReplyDeleteI suspect this is more an issue of YTB's back office still being screwed up - they want at least 90 days after travel to figure out what they owe the RTA and get the check written. So actually, an RTA might not get paid on a cruise until 180 days after final payment!!!! Ouch!!! That's absolutely crazy! You shouldn't be putting up with that at all!
The advantage to YTB is that this can help keep their books "in the balck" as they have all this unpaid commission just sitting on the books.....
Back to the topic at hand - Apple. I happen to know that YTB may be a Platinum agency, but unlike all other platinum or gold agencies, RTAs do not get a dedicated phone and they are not elegible for FAMs, amongst other things. They are Platinum in name only. And if you look at the number of passengers it takes to become gold or platinum with Apple, it's really not something to crow about when you have 140-50K "sellers of travel" on your books. When you have a 3 person agency selling more than YTB, now that's impressive.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, it doesn't matter if Marc Mancini just came out with another training module if no one knows anything about it or who created it...