Well, let's take the TTAs out of the equation for a bit and take a look at the analysis provided by non-travel related entities. These folks don't have a horse in this race and are merely analyzing the data given to them. So is it really JUST a bunch of disgruntled TTAs? Or is there a lot of truth behind what has been posted in this blog over the past year?
From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
YTB growth stalls in Q3, sells assets
From the St. Louis Business Journal:
YTB sees Q3 profit fall 87%
From the Madison County Record:
YTB posts meager third quarter earnings
From the Legal Newsline:
Online travel company targeted by AGs post 3Q loss
From Travel Weekly:
YTB's Q3 net profit falls 87%
And yes, these are all negative sounding headlines and yes, I did select them to make a point. The remainder are pretty neutral, but if anyone can show me a positive headline from the recent filing, by all means bring it on!
But in more positive news, the Emmons County Record is reporting that Grits Travel* has just opened at the Ampride Convenience Store on U.S. Highway 83 in Emmons County North Dakota.
* Yes, that is right, "grits" named after the owner's favorite corn-based food in the south, hominy grits.
And here’s a perfect example of how people “assume” that something looks or sounds one way, yet means another.
ReplyDeleteGRITS does not reference this woman’s favorite corn based meal.
It stands for “Girls Raised In The South”.
Please actually read the articles you post about. ;-P
Welcome back Doug. I am pleased that you are up early getting your recruiting day organized one hour after my post was scheduled. Is this blog at the top of your daily reading list?
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article, it has a dual meaning. ("dual" means two, not "fight").
Yes, I chose one of the meanings to highlight, and if I was looking to deceive, would I include the link?
But it does again highlight the level of professionalism present in most RTAs--Girl Raised In The South or Hominy Grits. I am glad that it was a female RTA and not a make or else they may have had a problem with some organization in the UK.
As a mater of fact, yes, I read your blog for comic relief on a regular basis. It’s a way to remind me how thankful I should be that I have choices, and a freedom that none of you seem to have.
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering were you were? You typically have a comment over on mine by that time and was worried that you might have been hit by a bus.
I also come back at the end of the day to see how far the topic has been derailed and ends up being nothing more that a shouting match between “us” and “them”.
What a meaningless existence, but its fun to watch.
By the way, since you couldn’t find it, maybe you can ask the kids here today where YTB said it was selling assets because it needed the money in the 10-Q. All those “responsible reporters” quoted that, yet nobodies been able to find it.
Maybe we could discuss how inaccurate the reporting is, and how these “news articles” do nothing more than promote myths and misconceptions.
I thought we only found that here?
Have fun and I’m off to get the kids ready for school and get started with my “work day”.
Well, Doug maybe we could discuss how you are splitting hairs and deflecting as usual.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to wash the windows, do the ironing and throw a load of wash in.
As horrified as I am at the thought of someone selling travel right along with Big Gulps and pork rinds, at least it's a step up from Traveling Moms who was selling travel at sex toy parties.
ReplyDeleteI also don't understand all the hostility around the quarterly report. YTB had a bad quarter. Scott even stated it in his press release. If it makes you feel better to believe they are selling off the plane because it was taking up too much room in the garage then go ahead. But suck it up and move on already!!
What a surprise. Doug claims to not read this blog and or write here anymore. But lookie lookie who shows up this AM. But then again, when has Doug said anything that has the least bit of truth.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course Doug puts his spin on the 10Q. Even when everyone else is reporting that it was in fact a BAD quarter for YTB. Here comes Douggie Bear riding in on his white horse. Even your execs are stating that it wasn't a good quarter. So does that leave me to believe that you in fact disagree with your execs Doug?
Must suck that your recruiting pool is drying up and you may have to go back to being a audio/video tech at Best Buy or the like eh? The good thing is that you will probably make more money working a $8 a hour job in a few months than what you did with YTB.
I don't understand why its a big deal to admit that the company did badly last quarter. You had to know it was coming. As for the remarks about "well its a recession..blah blah blah" even though your people tout its a recession proof business, many agencies, including the one I work at, are still not doing badly. I even saw a comment (I'll have to go find it) where someone actually stated YTB did better last quarter in travel sales then most agencies..somehow I doubt that. Unless that agency happens to be 1 agent working alone, and thats not exactly comparing apples to apples now is it.
ReplyDeleteGRITS travel is not a very professional name no matter what it stands for. Then again I've seen alot of non-professional names for some of the YTB sites. Its supposed to be a business, not a cutesy nickname. Then again selling travel in a convenience store with lottery tickets, smokes and a slim jim aren't either.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would book travel with anyone with the name Grits Travel, and I don't think anyone in their right mind would either.
ReplyDeleteBeing from the south, and being the brother of a GRIT (girl raised in the south), and being a GRIT (gay raised in the south) myself, my first thought when I saw "Grits Travel" was of that wonderful breakfast (usually) side dish of ground corn.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, I will add that I do not and cannot understand how anyone can say that a company who has a "profit" of $288,999 for a 3 month period from a "sales" force of over 114,000 people is good. I mean, it averages out that each person only contributed $2.51 to the bottom line of the company. When you factor in all the people who aren't even part of the "sales" force, but still have to get paid, it dilutes it even more. I don't know about anyone else, but if all I could say was that I contributed $2.51 to my company, on average, every 3 months (for a total of $10.04 per year), I'd hang my head in shame.
I would also be questioning why expenses went UP 13%, despite the cutting of office staff and not having to pay for 2 ill conceived full ship charters that the company was unable to sell, but still had to pay for. My guess would be most of it is in legal expense, despite all the claims that the legal issues are akin to a mosquito buzzing around, at least according to the spin from the ytber's.
With a sales force that can't see how unprofessional it is to sell travel from the quickie mart its no surprise that they are only contributing $2.51 per person.
ReplyDeleteIt's just un-freaking-believable that no one at YTB is smart enough to see what an embarassment this is to the industry. How can this woman possibly think she is going to impress people as a professional agent while serving up roller grill dogs and rolling papers at the local gas station? I am so glad she is representing YTB instead of us!
Biscuits and sausage gravy travel. Hmm umm.
ReplyDeleteKate, YTB doesn't give a rats patootie that they or their RTA's are an embarrassment to the travel industry. The powers that be are professional MLMers. They will bleed YTB dry and move on to the next best thing. Mabye Coach will resurrect his gas additive scheme and say it's good for the environmentalists or maybe they will get into the juice and diet biz. Who knows? But, they don't care. Not one iota.
ReplyDeleteIt's all smoke and mirrors to make money in the trillion dollar travel biz and book all the travel of the baby boomers.
Now, they are pushing inaguration packages to the poor people who can barely keep up with their mortgages...
I saw an "Inaugural Package" on a YTB blog that had a hotel "conveniently located" in Frostburg, just outside of DC and included motorcoach transfers to DC daily.
ReplyDeleteWell, Frostburg is like 3 hours one way on a bus. And I also saw that they were offering swearing in and parade tickets (which are only available via your congressman or senator)
I imagine if they sell any of them (not too likely judging from the Olympic debacle) there will be some disappointed people with a 3 hour bus ride and a view from 50 people back
Doug said, "By the way, since you couldn’t find it, maybe you can ask the kids here today where YTB said it was selling assets because it needed the money in the 10-Q. All those “responsible reporters” quoted that, yet nobodies been able to find it."
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in that the 10-Q does not explicitly state that YTB is selling assets to raise cash. However, if you'll read my analysis of the 10-Q that was published here on Monday, you'll see that YTB is bleeding cash. At the beginning of the year, they had over $4 Million in cash and cash equivalents. On September 30th, they had less than $600 Thousand. And that amount was after finally selling the Auction Rate Securities they hadn't been able to move for quite some time. At that burn rate, the cash position should be reaching zero very soon, and then they won't be able to pay the bills. So, it is a very logical conclusion to reach that the asset sales are to raise cash.
What would be your reasoning for selling the plane? After all, it was a great idea in February to purchase it. What changed between then and August?
What would be your reasoning for the sale of the property bought less than 18 months ago? What changed in those 18 months? Why would the company have bought the place if they thought they would turn around and sell it only 18 months later? That doesn't make good business sense.
It is my opinion that the numbers in the 10-Q speak for themselves, and the asset sales are to raise cash. The sales are part of the process trying to keep YTB a "going concern."
W
Someone please tell me that I'm having a nightmare and that Doug aka Travel Pro didn't return to this blog AGAIN. He promised he wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteI think it's nice that Doug came by. It's nice to have someone here from YTB that can spell and form sentences. Now if he could just tell traveling moms that she's only one person...
ReplyDeleteNMH-Doug NEVER left the blog. LOL! He was posting under many of his aliases. Isn't it nice he came out of the closest.
ReplyDeleteHere is how Wallstreet views YTB, but hey...what to they know???
ReplyDeleteFinancial alerts: YTB
11/18/08 Net profit margin down sharply.
11/18/08 Debt-to-equity ratio increased significantly.
11/18/08 Inventory turnover decreased significantly.
11/18/08 Quarterly return on assets down significantly.
11/18/08 Quarterly return on equity down significantly.
11/18/08 Quarterly revenue growth down from 5-year average.
"Well, Frostburg is like 3 hours one way on a bus. And I also saw that they were offering swearing in and parade tickets (which are only available via your congressman or senator)"
ReplyDeleteOh for Goodness sakes! That's more than 100 miles from DC!!!! Boy I hope the bus company has already got parking permits - there are no more left at the perimeter parking sites. These people are going to end up on a 3+ hour bus ride and then a grueling time on the Metro from some far out station like Vienna or Shady Grove. Hope the YTBer doesn't get slapped with any suits on misrepresenting her product!
As for tickets - if she worked on the campaign, she may get some parade tickets - but beware - there are only 750 tickets total for seats - everyone else will pay nothing and be able to simply line the parade route on foot. As for Swearing In tickets, good luck - even Congressional spouses have trouble getting them and sometimes end up in the Press Pool section.
The 10Q DOES discuss the selling-off of assets. Stay tuned to this blog tomorrow for a commentary on just this subject.
ReplyDeleteI noticed over on the WAHM board that they were talking about Regina Oesi selling packages to the inaguration. That 15 hour bus ride sounds like a blast.
ReplyDeleteThe bus trip was all arranged by the folks, is it American Destinations? - who are members of YTB. I like the way Regina makes it sound like Obama actually endorses YTB. Ha.
ReplyDeleteEddie why does that surpise you? Remember when they tried to claim that YTB had planned Jena Bush's honeymoon? HA!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the same person who claimed that God himself endorsed YTB. If you look around she said something like "the favor of God has smiled down upon YTB" or something crazy like that. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy are also members. And they are all making ten grand a week.
"God has smiled down upon YTB" or something crazy like that. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy are also members"
ReplyDeleteSo do you rank God up there with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy Kate?
"Oh for Goodness sakes! That's more than 100 miles from DC!!!! Boy I hope the bus company has already got parking permits - there are no more left at the perimeter parking sites. These people are going to end up on a 3+ hour bus ride and then a grueling time on the Metro from some far out station like Vienna or Shady Grove. Hope the YTBer doesn't get slapped with any suits on misrepresenting her product!
ReplyDeleteAs for tickets - if she worked on the campaign, she may get some parade tickets - but beware - there are only 750 tickets total for seats - everyone else will pay nothing and be able to simply line the parade route on foot. As for Swearing In tickets, good luck - even Congressional spouses have trouble getting them and sometimes end up in the Press Pool section."
Wow! The gullible/stupid taking advantage of the gullible/stupid! I looked at Frostbug on a map - what an idiot!
"God has smiled down upon YTB" or something crazy like that. The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy are also members"
ReplyDeleteSo do you rank God up there with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy Kate??"
As usual you missed the point. You have 0 Reading comprehension ability. I swear YTB hires the most incompetent, illiterate people in the US.
She is probably selling MCO packages as well with ocean view rooms because she saw how skinny FL was on the map!
ReplyDeleteYTB doesn't 'hire' them. They pay big bucks to 'work' for them.
ReplyDeleteDid you see that Traverus is now selling vitamins and stuff like that now? Thought they were one of the leaders in travel but guess they need to give the travel business a second thought after YTB.
ReplyDeletehttp://ytbortraverus.blogspot.com/2008/11/traverus-travel-new-products.html
No I don't rank the Easter Bunny and God in the same place. Geeze. Do I really have to explain this?
ReplyDeleteThe point was the YTB has a tendency to make rediculous claims, such as claiming that the Attorney General is a member, that God likes them more, or that they are all earning ten grand a week.
John said...
ReplyDeleteI saw an "Inaugural Package" on a YTB blog that had a hotel "conveniently located" in Frostburg, just outside of DC and included motorcoach transfers to DC daily.
ROFLMAO! I looked up Frostburg as well, and got directions to downtown Washington, DC from there on Mapquest. Quite the trek for being "conveniently located just outside DC". Frostburg is 147.55 miles, and 2 hours and 42 minutes driving time, in optimal traffic.
A Frostburg, MD
Directions from A to B:
1: Start out going SOUTHWEST on MD-36/N WATER ST toward W MAIN ST/US-40 ALT/NATIONAL HWY NW.
2: Turn LEFT onto W MAIN ST/US-40 ALT/MD-36/NATIONAL HWY NW.
3: Turn RIGHT onto MD-36 S/NEW GEORGES CREEK RD SW.
4: Merge onto I-68 E/US-40 E via the ramp on the LEFT toward CUMBERLAND.
5: Take the I-70 E/US-40 E/US-522 S exit, EXIT 82AB, toward HAGERSTOWN/HANCOCK/WINCHESTER.
6: Merge onto I-70 E via EXIT 82B on the LEFT toward HAGERSTOWN.
7: Merge onto I-270 S via EXIT 53 toward WASHINGTON.
8: Keep RIGHT to take I-270 SPUR S toward I-270/WASHINGTON/I-495/NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
9: I-270 SPUR S becomes I-495 S/CAPITAL BELTWAY (Crossing into VIRGINIA).
10: Take the GEO WASH MEM PKWY exit, EXIT 43-44, toward VA-193/WASHINGTOWN/GEORGETOWN PIKE.
11: Take the GEO WASH MEM PKWY exit, EXIT 43, toward WASHINGTON.
12: Merge onto GEORGE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL PKWY S.
13: Merge onto I-66 E toward WASHINGTON (Crossing into DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA).
14: Keep RIGHT at the fork to go on US-50 E.
15: End at Washington, DC
Estimated Time: 2 hours 42 minutes Estimated Distance: 147.55 miles
Great googly, moogly. That is one hell of a commute! Which blog was this on, cause I sure want to go and sign up for this trip!
I have to agree Ains. The only spin here is from YTB once again. People would be nuts to buy that package. On the day in question, traffic will be BAD....it will take alot longer than 2 hours and 42 minutes.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the post on the WAHM board. You can follow it through to the RTA's site and book yourself on the glorious 15 hour bus ride to Washington.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wahm.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=624750
Yea and it's always freezing cold in DC in Jan. ROTFLMAO.
ReplyDeleteHey I think I will sell packages to watch it on my widescreen. I will even throw in popcorn and soft drinks
They could probably just go hang out at the C-Store with the Grits lady and watch it from there. That way they would have snacks and a bathroom too. I'll betcha money they've got a real nice big screen over there.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that one of her fellow YTBers would warn her!
ReplyDeleteBut you know what? It's Frederick, Maryland not Frostburg. Okay, that's only about an hour drive to Cap Hill on a good day! Funny, she doesn't seem to know that most (probably half) of the Union Station Food Court has closed down - so eating there is not such a great choice. Aginain, I hope the bus company already has a parking permit - he is not allowed to park on the streets - East, North, South Cap or any of the neighborhoods - and anything within blocks of the Capital will be closed off to traffic anyway - to everyone other than those of us who can prove that we live there! AND they will stop shutting things down around noon on the 19th. On the 20th - good luck getting into town from Frederick in less than 2.5 hours - traffice and detours will be unbelievable. She's be better off putting her clients on the Amtrak from Harper's Ferry - which come to think of it isn't that far from Frederick.....so she could do that.