CruiseCompete.com
Rob Rosenhouse
Rob
tel...@tbaytel.net
> Has anyone booked a cruise thru CruiseCompete.com? How did it go?
>
> Rob
I have booked with Cruise Compete.com on more than one occasion. It
worked was terrific. The competing part was very interesting, each
T.A. may offer different perks. So it depends on what is more
important to you how the perk effects the bottom line of the offer.
On each occasion the T.A. was excellant with arranging all the
documentation necessary and easy to contact via phone or email. I
highly recommend using CruiseCompetel.com.
cruisemates
can buy something from the Yellow Pages. The site is a place for you
to specifiy a cruise and solicit bids from a number of travel agents -
all of whom are independent of CruiseCompete itself.
These agents come from all walks of life, and they may have various
levels of expertise and experience. You can get a good deal, but I do
suggest you ask the travel agent some specific questions first, like "
are you CLIA certified, how many cruises have you been on, etc.
There is an interesting article in Tripso about a guy who booked a
cruise from a home-based agent (as many in CruiseCompete are - but
THIS agent was not found through CruiseCompete). She quoted him a
group rate on Celebrity which she rebated below her wholesale cost.
The guy made a deposit and the agent disappeared. Luckily her host
agency was able to trace the money and salvage his cruise, albeit at a
much higher rate than she quoted. The host agency made no money, the
buyer spent more than he expected (though arguably he probably should
have known the quote was too low) and the agent herself was out of a
job.
The point is, know who you are dealing with. The number of cruises
your agent sells each year is a good indicator. Each week is a better
one.
Personally, I recommend the high volume cruise sellers like
AmericasVacationCenter, CruiseDeals.com, VacationstoGo.com - These are
the agencies that regularly get rewarded with "agency of the year"
awards from the cruise lines. Their prices are rock bottom and they
really know what they are doing. Not that agents at CruiseCompete
don't, you just have to be careful. Sometimes a deal is too good to be
true.
George Leppla
"cruisemates" <edi...@cruisemates.com> wrote
> There is an interesting article in Tripso about a guy who booked a
> cruise from a home-based agent (as many in CruiseCompete are - but
> THIS agent was not found through CruiseCompete). She quoted him a
> group rate on Celebrity which she rebated below her wholesale cost.
> The guy made a deposit and the agent disappeared. Luckily her host
> agency was able to trace the money and salvage his cruise, albeit at a
> much higher rate than she quoted.
Rayoposted a link to this story last week. The agent in quesion was a
"professional" affilliated with Joystar. People might remember that Joystar
and YTB were two companies labeled as "card mills" and are no longer allowed
to sell Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara cruises. Here is the story:
http://tinyurl.com/yodnoz
How did this happen? Basically, the only qualification you need to be
affiliated with a card mill is the ability to pay the monthly fees. Yes,
boys and girls, send in your $49.95 and you too can be a "travel
professional".
> Sometimes a deal is too good to be
> true.
What I found incredible about the story is the Joystar exec who said >>""The
passengers should take some responsibility in knowing that something didn't
make sense from the beginning," she said.<<
So according to Joystar, it is up to the consumer to make sure that their
agents are doing a correct job and quoting a correct fare.
To be fair to Joystar, they did rebate all of the commissions to this group
(and I am not sure how Royal Caribbean allowed this since discounting from
commissions is strictly against RCI policy) but the bottom line is that
companies like Joystar and YTB and other "card mills" always claim to not
have any responsibility for the mistakes of their agents. Makes since,
considering that they don't require their agents to have any training or
experience.
Like any purchase, buyer beware.
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentine http://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm
Surfer E2468
consumer,they are responsible for every thing
<
cruise lover>
Jack Hamilton
>What I found incredible about the story is the Joystar exec who said >>""The
>passengers should take some responsibility in knowing that something didn't
>make sense from the beginning," she said.<<
Like cruise prices make sense.
On the PoH, I talked to someone who had gotten an inside cabin at
$199/pp. The lowest I ever saw advertised was around $899/pp.
Bill
Were they Hawaii residents? My TA had told me last summer that
they dump (at very cheap prices) available cabins to residents
at the last minute. Of course, the cruises at that point were
selling out due to rampant discounting (but not $199, at least
not that I knew).
Bill
George Leppla
"Jack Hamilton" <j...@acm.org> wrote in message
news:22j1t31cqb2l3oreb...@4ax.com...
Considering it was NCL, some people are telling me that even at $199, it was
overpriced. <vbg>
Old travel agent saying... "The person with the lowest fare is the last
participant in the conversation."
FWIW - non-commissionable fares, taxes and the new fuel surcharge run about
$250 per person for a 7 night cruise. Some of those are included in the
fare, so I would take that $199 figure with a grain of salt. Not saying it
didn't happen... because with NCL... anything is possible. <vbg>
Jack Hamilton
>"Jack Hamilton" <j...@acm.org> wrote in message
>news:22j1t31cqb2l3oreb...@4ax.com...
>> "George Leppla" <geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote:
>>
>>>What I found incredible about the story is the Joystar exec who said
>>> >>""The
>>>passengers should take some responsibility in knowing that something
>>>didn't
>>>make sense from the beginning," she said.<<
>>
>> Like cruise prices make sense.
>>
>> On the PoH, I talked to someone who had gotten an inside cabin at
>> $199/pp. The lowest I ever saw advertised was around $899/pp.
>
>Considering it was NCL, some people are telling me that even at $199, it was
>overpriced. <vbg>
>
>Old travel agent saying... "The person with the lowest fare is the last
>participant in the conversation."
>
>FWIW - non-commissionable fares, taxes and the new fuel surcharge run about
>$250 per person for a 7 night cruise. Some of those are included in the
>fare, so I would take that $199 figure with a grain of salt. Not saying it
>didn't happen... because with NCL... anything is possible. <vbg>
THis was for the 5 night voyage from Honolulu to Los Angeles, so the
costs would have been slightly lower.
The ship ended up being about half empty. No one made any sort of
announcement about why there were so few passengers when the cruise
had appeared almost sold out on the NCL website just a few weeks
previously, but crew members said informally that many passengers had
canceled the Honolulu to LA segment after the rough weather around
Hawaii (the seas on the crossing turned out to be milder than those
around the islands).
Crew members also said that many of the last minute passengers were
NCL employees or Hawaii residents who were offered last minute
savings. NCL extended the purchase deadline by several days (I was
told, and perhaps someone can confirm this, that sales normally close
a week before sailing; this cruise supposedly closed sales several
days later than that).
But the point is, this guy I talked to paid a very low rate, and I
think it was legitimate. If this fare, 75% below the original price,
was real, why should we think that any other really low fare is
suspicious (which is what Joystar claims we should do)?
Perhaps the answer is "don't disbelieve it because it's low,
disbelieve it because it's from Joystar".
cruisemates
discounts in Europe, as an older ship.
I know the writer of this article, Anita Potter, and I asked her about
it. That is how I know the agent did not come thru CruiseCompete. The
agent was a recommendation of a friend.
Yes, the agent was with Joystar, and Anita told me that Celebrity did
indeed allow Joystar to make good on this group by rebating their
entire commission - something Celebrity (as a subsid of Royal
Caribbean) does not allow travel agents to do at all. They made an
exception to help Joystar salvage its reputation.
Notably, this was before the banning of "cardmills' by RCI. It seems
logical to assume this incident had something to do with that decision
although that has not been directly stated.
Now, I am not a travel agent, and I don't know that much about the
intricate details between a consortium and a host agency, for example.
I will say that Joystar claims to have sold several millions in $$ in
Carnival cruises since the RCI ban. I have also heard that Vicki
Freed, who left Carnival VP Sales and just went to RCI as same, is not
as down on Joystar as RCI is. Carnival stills allows them and has been
known to support them.
It is unfortunate for the agents at Joystar who do know what they are
doing that they have been unfairly tainted by the ones who don't. But
RCIs response was "they should move to a different agency." They also
said there are ways for agents to become individually certified.
I personally do not like the MLM model in anything, except maybe Avon.
I think it is a travesty for travel agents who often sell vacations
totalling (as in this case) close to $100,000 to have the ability to
pony up $150 (or whatever the cost is) to get an ID card and handle
sales. That is outright dangerous to consumers. But as said above
Caveat Emptor.
Know who you are dealing with, including suspecting when something is
too good to be true.
This group got LUCKY. The agent could have convinced him to send her a
check for the entire amount and flown to South America. Then no one
would have been able to help him.
Paul Motter
editor: CruiseMates.com
Cal Ford
A few years ago we did a nice 12 day Med cruise and I had a guy in my group that
was telling everybody that they got the regular deal on the Cruise but his wife
booked him in First Class on BA for about $240.00 and he knew this for a fact
because he had seen the tickets.
When people would then ask me how come he got such a good deal I had to explain
that his wife used Frequent Flier miles for the tickets and what he saw on the
tickets was the Tax which had to be paid irregardless.
So unless you know the real story just accept it as a story and move on.
Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises
In article <fqrma...@enews4.newsguy.com>, George Leppla says...
lSnow Bird
> October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
> Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentinehttp://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm
I am in YTB and you are wrong about a card mill.We have to go through
rigorous training before getting our card. We pass the CLIA tests just
like you. We don't need Royal Caribbean, etc. They just eliminated us
because of a petiition of 2,000. greedy travel agents that signed it,
and they didn't want the pressure. It was not because of what YTB did
or did not do. -we are the largest booking agency of Celebrity
Cruises. We have weekly calls with Carnival-Have our own agent through
Carnival. We are not a card mill as everyone mistakingly thinks we
are. We have online training, CLIA training, etc. available daily.
It's a shame that other travel agents are so greedy that the
competition of YTB hurts their pocketbook, thus ignorant people have
to bad mouth the most reputable company (YTB) I have ever experienced.
Please get your facts straight before criticizing your competitiors .
Besides we just don't sell cruises, we can book flights, rental cars,
flowers, hotels, golf packages, hunting /fishing trips. Event tickets
(concerts, sports events). For a recent wedding I booked the entire
event-flight, flowers, cruise, hotel the night before and a bridal
registry where I get 60% commission on all guests gifts (spa, massage,
etc.)
Since travel is a $7 trillion industry-there is enough to go around
without bad mouthing company's you know nothing about--Competition was
hard for AT&T years ago, but in a free trade society that's what makes
our country great!
Please before bashing a company get your facts straights!!!_Irene
Joe
1 - if you think RCCL and IATAN booted YTB because of the petition
with almost 3000 names on it, you're wrong.
2 - CLIA training rigorous??? LOL....
3 - Competition? Not from YTB. The average commission paid per YTB RTA
is somewhere in the area of $500 PER YEAR.
We have no problem with the YTB members that are really truly
interested in selling travel and servicing their clients - its the
ones that sign-up just for the perks that can give ALL travel agents a
bad name - including you.
George Leppla
"lSnow Bird" <liveear...@gmail.com> wrote
>I am in YTB and you are wrong about a card mill.We have to go through
>rigorous training before getting our card.
Absolutely incorrect. You do not need ANY training to be a YTB "travel
agent". You can get training from CLIA, but it is not required to be a YTB
agent.
> We don't need Royal Caribbean, etc.
Sure. Then you don't have a problem that they dropped you.
>They just eliminated us
>because of a petiition of 2,000. greedy travel agents that signed it,
>and they didn't want the pressure.
>we are the largest booking agency of Celebrity
>Cruises.
Really? You did know that Celebrity is part of Royal Caribbean Inv. and you
are no longer allowed to sell their cruises? Now tell me, if you were the
largest seller of Celebrity cruises, why would Celebrity (Royal Caribbean)
drop you?
>We are not a card mill as everyone mistakingly thinks we
>are. We have online training, CLIA training, etc. available daily.
None of which is mandatory to join YTB and be a "travel agent". All you
need is money... no experience necessary.
>Please get your facts straight before criticizing your competitiors .
FACT - YTB's "compensation plan" talks about making money selling
memberships via an MLM plan http://www.ytb.com/downloads/YTB_comp_plan.pdf
The fact is that most YTB agents do not sell enough travel to make enough
commissions to pay their fees. The ones who make money are the ones selling
memberships to other people. Kind of like this guy:
http://travel-pro.blogspot.com/ Scroll down to "March Madness and the Fast
Start Program". YTB is all about selling memberships in an MLM format and
damn little about selling travel.
You might also note that YTB stock has dropped from a 52 week high of $9.50
a share to 83 cents a share today.
>Please before bashing a company get your facts straights!!!_Irene
I think after 15 years of being in this business, I pretty much have my
facts straight but lets look closer at YTB
http://www.modernagent.com/Resources/Editorial.aspx?n=34239
There are 135,000 "agents" and they sold a total of $450 million dollars in
travel sales (twice what they sold in 2006)
That means that each "agent" sold $3333.33 in travel sales (BTW - that would
be one good sale a year). Assuming that YTB is paying you 60% of the
commission and they are getting an average of 12% per sale, it comes out
that the average YTB agent is making $240 a year in commissions. (12% of
$3333 = $400 60% of $400 = $240) Let's be generous, let's say the average
agent makes all the commission... $400 a year. They pay $500 to join and
another $600 per year in monthly dues.
One figure YTB NEVER gives out is the number of agents who quit every year
without making any money selling travel. Their business model in predicated
on getting more and more agents to join. Selling travel is just secondary
to building the "uplines" and selling memberships.
Now, from the looks of the financials, the pyramid may be starting to
crumble. Look at the stock prices!
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
Cal Ford
are just coasting and hoping to pick up some gravy along the way.
If you are doing so good why don't you consider going independent. I have never
understood the concept of paying someone to let me do the work ?????
Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises
Independent since 1989 and never looked back ........
In article <4836af2e-76bc-4e74...@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
lSnow Bird says...
>
>On Mar 6, 12:02=A0pm, "George Leppla" <geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote:
>> "cruisemates" <edi...@cruisemates.com> wrote
>>
>> > There is an interesting article in Tripso about a guy who booked a
>> > cruise from a home-based agent (as many in CruiseCompete are - but
>> > THIS agent was not found through CruiseCompete). She quoted him a
>> > group rate on Celebrity which she rebated below her wholesale cost.
>> > The guy made a deposit and the agent disappeared. Luckily her host
>> > agency was able to trace the money and salvage his cruise, albeit at a
>> > much higher rate than she quoted.
>>
>> Rayoposted a link to this story last week. =A0The agent in quesion was a
>> "professional" affilliated with Joystar. =A0People might remember that Joy=
>star
>> and YTB were two companies labeled as "card mills" and are no longer allow=
>ed
>> to sell Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara cruises. =A0Here is the sto=
>ry:http://tinyurl.com/yodnoz
>>
>> How did this happen? =A0Basically, the only qualification you need to be
>> affiliated with a card mill is the ability to pay the monthly fees. =A0Yes=
>,
>> boys and girls, send in your $49.95 and you too can be a "travel
>> professional".
>>
>> > =A0Sometimes a deal is too good to be
>> > true.
>>
>> What I found incredible about the story is the Joystar exec who said =A0 >=
>>""The
>> passengers should take some responsibility in knowing that something didn'=
>t
>> make sense from the beginning," she said.<<
>>
>> So according to Joystar, it is up to the consumer to make sure that their
>> agents are doing a correct job and quoting a correct fare.
>>
>> To be fair to Joystar, they did rebate all of the commissions to this grou=
>p
>> (and I am not sure how Royal Caribbean allowed this since discounting from=
>
>> commissions is strictly against RCI policy) but the bottom line is that
>> companies like Joystar and YTB and other "card mills" always claim to not
>> have any responsibility for the mistakes of their agents. =A0Makes since,
>> considering that they don't require their agents to have any training or
>> experience.
>>
>> Like any purchase, buyer beware.
>>
>> --
>> George Leppla =A0 =A0http://www.CruiseMaster.com
>>
>> May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleanshttp://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
>> October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 =A0http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
Joseph Coulter
news:fr4h4...@drn.newsguy.com:
> Sounds to me like you are the one that is doing the work for the other
> 999 that are just coasting and hoping to pick up some gravy along the
> way.
>
> If you are doing so good why don't you consider going independent. I
> have never understood the concept of paying someone to let me do the
> work ?????
>
> Cal Ford
> Lido Deck Cruises
> Independent since 1989 and never looked back ........
>
>
>
>
Though not fully "independant" I have a host agency, I do get a better
commissions after my host cut than I would if truly on my own.
I was a part of a franchise back in the 90's (you remember when airlines
paid commission and everyone was at the mercy of their GDS) and realized
then that I was paying for nothing but a little hand holding. We got out of
that and haven't looked back.
>
--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com
yourva...@comcast.net
877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell
Harry Cooper
"lSnow Bird" <liveear...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4836af2e-76bc-4e74-
(snip ad)
Did everybody else enjoy 1Snow Bird's YTB ad as much as I did? I'll be sure
to use them for my next bridal registry so my friends can contribute to the
60% commission.
Harry Cooper
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
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lSnow Bird
>
> - Show quoted text -
you don't even know me and say I give travel agents a bad name-Slander
is your forte. I think you give travel agents a bad name about making
statements without knowing your facts. You need to accept that the
internet is taking over the travel business----And to say that the
customer has no back up is a lie-we have 120 Travelocity customer reps
plus over 100 customer service reps from YTB that handle any problems
24/7--do you answer questions 24/7? Why would I want a travel customer
to have a bad experience and lose them as a customer for life. I do
everthing you do to keep my customers happy and have a enjoyable
experience.
Yes, we are a MLM-we don't hide that. Actually it's called Network
Marketing. Donald Trump and Magic Johnson just opened a travel agency
with our same marketing plan-Except it's several thousands of dollars
to join theirs. I don't think Donald Trump would model our idea -he's
a smart business man. This is not a Pyramid Scheme!! -Pyramid Schemes
are illegal, and you should know an illegal company cannot be
publically traded
Again you show your ignorance. I booked yesterday 4 people on a
Celebrity cruise yesterday-so again the stupidity is showing. If you
would like to see the cruises we have going (I stopped counting at
100) go to my website and click Book Travel look under GROUPS to see
all the cruises that we have now with all the lines, since you don't
believe me. I am active in a Cancer Survivors cruise and a Veterans
cruise so I need to go to work booking travel. You must not be doing
so well if you have so much time to invest in bashing
competitors ,researching YTB and writing in newsgroups all day.Go to
my website at http://www.liveearthtravel.net and look under groups
before spreading false rumors about what cruise lines we work with.
The reason the stock is lower is because it split-do you know anything
about how the stock market works? I looked at your link to back up
your nonsense and I did not see anything there oppositional.
The owners of YTB are visionaries----Many visionaries in the past were
criticized for their wild ideas. 20 years ago we would have laughed if
someone told us almost every American has a computer--Bill Gates was a
visionary also---and God Bless those who "think outside the box"---
Stay in your box, it is where you belong.
George Leppla
"lSnow Bird" <liveear...@gmail.com> wrote
>>The owners of YTB are visionaries----Many visionaries in the past were
criticized for their wild ideas.
Visionaries?
Irene, you really have a lot to learn. Go to your own website at
http://www.liveearthtravel.net and click at the link at the top fo the page
titled "2007 Income Disclosure Statement" or go to
http://www.ytb.com/downloads/YTB_IncomeDisclosure_2-8-08.pdf These are
FACTS posted by YTB but I'm betting they don't tell prospective "agents"
about this.
Let's see what we find:
80.9% of YTB agents are inactive... they make $0 per year but are paying
their dues.
14.7% of YTB agents make $90 A YEAR in commissions
So some simple addition tells me that 95.6 % of YTB agents are pretty much
dead wood.
That is 291,763 agents making nothing.
Read the fine print at the bottom: "The average ANNUAL income for ALL reps
is $299.95, and the median annual income for ALL reps in 2007 was $97.00"
Yet, the top 11 "directors" of YTB averaged $1,935,156 each. Nah... that
doesn't look like a pyramid to you... does it?
Less than 2% of all YTB agents actually make any significant amount of
money.
Read it again.... "The average ANNUAL income for ALL reps is $299.95, and
the median annual income for ALL reps in 2007 was $97.00" and meanwhile, the
top 5 guys at YTB are hauling in millions.
You wanted facts and YTB supplied them.
Enjoy!
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
Joe
> before spreading false rumors about what cruise lines we work with.
>
> The reason the stock is lower is because it split-do you know anything
> about how the stock market works? I looked at your link to back up
> your nonsense and I did not see anything there oppositional.
>
> The owners of YTB are visionaries----Many visionaries in the past were
> criticized for their wild ideas. 20 years ago we would have laughed if
> someone told us almost every American has a computer--Bill Gates was a
> visionary also---and God Bless those who "think outside the box"---
> Stay in your box, it is where you belong.
First, I never said you were giving travel agents a bad name. What I
said was, if you were serious about travel, and it sounds like you
are, all of the others who are in it just for the perks could give you
a bad name - just like the other more traditional TA's.
Secondly, I have owned and run an Internet-ONLY travel agency for 5
years, and yes, we do provide 24/7 service. Many of the agents on
this board do too.
Third, even considering your 3:1 stock split, today YTB is trading at
$0.845, a very large drop in price.
Lastly, Magic Johnson's agency is a standard franchise model, such as
McDonalds or CruisePlanners, etc, there is no Network Marketing
component at all.
I challenge any one associated with YTB to "think outside the box" and
not just reiterate the company line that they are given.
lSnow Bird
> "lSnow Bird" <liveearthtra...@gmail.com> wrote
>
> >>The owners of YTB are visionaries----Many visionaries in the past were
>
> criticized for their wild ideas.
>
> Visionaries?
>
> titled "2007 Income Disclosure Statement" or go to
> http://www.ytb.com/downloads/YTB_IncomeDisclosure_2-8-08.pdf These are
> FACTS posted by YTB but I'm betting they don't tell prospective "agents"
> about this.
>
> Let's see what we find:
>
> 80.9% of YTB agents are inactive... they make $0 per year but are paying
> their dues.
>
> 14.7% of YTB agents make $90 A YEAR in commissions
>
> So some simple addition tells me that 95.6 % of YTB agents are pretty much
> dead wood.
>
> That is 291,763 agents making nothing.
>
> Read the fine print at the bottom: "The average ANNUAL income for ALL reps
> is $299.95, and the median annual income for ALL reps in 2007 was $97.00"
>
> Yet, the top 11 "directors" of YTB averaged $1,935,156 each. Nah... that
> doesn't look like a pyramid to you... does it?
>
> Less than 2% of all YTB agents actually make any significant amount of
> money.
>
> Read it again.... "The average ANNUAL income for ALL reps is $299.95, and
> the median annual income for ALL reps in 2007 was $97.00" and meanwhile, the
> top 5 guys at YTB are hauling in millions.
>
> You wanted facts and YTB supplied them.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> --
> George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
>
> October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
> Feb. 8, 2009 Solstice Valentinehttp://www.cruisemaster.com/solstice.htm
I have read the income disclosures months ago. It's just like any
business, some succeed some don't. YTB's plan is no different than
corporate America. I worked for AT&T in the large business division.
With any large business, who is making the big money? the one at the
top- Corporate America is a pyramid scheme-The CEO at the top makes
the big bucks, the 3 under him (VP's) make less--until we get to the
bottom of the food chain where pions are making nothing but minimum
wage. This is no different than any other large business where the
one's at the top make it all, and the ones at the bottom make them
rich. Are you saying you have never had employees that made you money
and you paid them a small salary?
There are reasons people stay in YTB, even if they don't make it rich.
I know the reasons but theres no sense telling you. Because you
obviously research information that supports your false beliefs,
rather than the whole picture-I'm glad you liked my "thinking outside
the box". I admit when I'm wrong at least, and I did say Celebrity
cruises (which we don't promote) rather than Carnival. Obviously you
did not look at the groups section of my website to see over 100
cruises sponsered by YTB. You only responded to what fits your belief
system.
I would have not joined YTB if it was not profitable. I could go work
for some travel agency and have the owner make the big money and I
make nothing--that's why thousands of travel agents have dropped out
of the business (plus the internet). I am not ignorant, I have 8 years
of college (just want a career change) and have researched this
company thoroughly, not just the few facts you throw around. I have
done well financially because I work the business. Many in YTB do not
work the business and are the ones not making $$. There are business
owners all through the US that keep their business and are not making
money. YTB is not any different.
It appears you must be threatened that YTB might take some of your
business or you wouldn't waste your time bashing it. I'm sure you
wouldn't like it if people bashed your company --YTB, according to
trade journals is the #35 highest travel agnecy in the US currently-
We plan on being higher and our numbers are growing.
I will not lower myself to your level and have never criticized
another company. It is not necessary, shows unprofessionalism on your
part. However, I will not allow false statements to be promoted.
lSnow Bird
> > before spreading false rumors about what cruise lines we work with.
>
> > The reason the stock is lower is because it split-do you know anything
> > about how the stock market works? I looked at your link to back up
> > your nonsense and I did not see anything there oppositional.
>
> > The owners of YTB are visionaries----Many visionaries in the past were
> > criticized for their wild ideas. 20 years ago we would have laughed if
> > someone told us almost every American has a computer--Bill Gates was a
> > visionary also---and God Bless those who "think outside the box"---
> > Stay in your box, it is where you belong.
>
> First, I never said you were giving travel agents a bad name. What I
> said was, if you were serious about travel, and it sounds like you
> are, all of the others who are in it just for the perks could give you
> a bad name - just like the other more traditional TA's.
>
> Secondly, I have owned and run an Internet-ONLY travel agency for 5
> years, and yes, we do provide 24/7 service. Many of the agents on
> this board do too.
>
> Third, even considering your 3:1 stock split, today YTB is trading at
> $0.845, a very large drop in price.
>
> Lastly, Magic Johnson's agency is a standard franchise model, such as
> McDonalds or CruisePlanners, etc, there is no Network Marketing
> component at all.
>
> I challenge any one associated with YTB to "think outside the box" and
>
> - Show quoted text -
Again, only facts that support your claim. Donald Trumps agency is
Network marketing-he wrote a great article about it which I have. I
don't see where I reiterated the company line given to me-these are
all my personal beliefs.I have not quoted any YTB literature==only
some above have quoted YTB. I have gotton a lot of great responses-
individual e-mails, so I thank all of you for the bashing-keep it up--
It helps my business.
It was "Joe" that said I gave travel agents a bad name.It appears
that you are all working together. Are all of the "agents you say
have 24 hr. customer service" which I highly doubt an individual agent
will wake up at 3 AM to answer a clients call. I don't mean 24/7 e-
mails to your website but YTB has over 200 live customer service reps
to assist our clients.
It appears that certain agents on this site want this for their
exclusive advertising and don't want competition. I have been told to
"cease and desist" in a personal e-mail because this is a private
charter group.I contacted Google and there is no such thing. This is
an open group with all views available. I will accept your views but
will respond to false claims against YTB.
If you want a private group with no other input from competitors I
suggest you open a closed members only group This is a google group
open to all--Competition is great, America is built on it. I want you
to all succeed I wish you had the same courtesy for others.
Irene
http://www.liveearthtravel.net
Charles
<d03c7b44-f204-4ce6...@m44g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
lSnow Bird <liveear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you want a private group with no other input from competitors I
> suggest you open a closed members only group This is a google group
> open to all--Competition is great, America is built on it. I want you
> to all succeed I wish you had the same courtesy for others.
This is not a google group. This is a Usenet newsgroup. Please be
courteous and follow the charter of this newsgroup. The charter is
posted at the following link.
http://www.seacruisechat.com/charter.htm
Note particularly number 1 from the charter.
1. Help the traveler make an informed decision in how to book a
cruise without the pressure of a travel agent (travel agents are
welcome to the group and are encouraged to participate in the
discussion provided that there shall be no overt solicitation of
business within postings).
--
Charles
George Leppla
"lSnow Bird" <liveear...@gmail.com> wrote
>>I will not lower myself to your level and have never criticized
another company. It is not necessary, shows unprofessionalism on your
part. However, I will not allow false statements to be promoted.<<
Irene, you are going to have to show me where I made false statements. I
just copied figures from YTD's financial statement that shows that 97% of
the people who sign up don't make any appreciable amount of money.
http://www.ytb.com/downloads/YTB_IncomeDisclosure_2-8-08.pdf Almost
300,000 people paid good money to join a company and they aren't making any
money.
Those are their figures, not mine.
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
Tom K
"lSnow Bird" <SNIP> wrote in message
news:d03c7b44-f204-4ce6...@m44g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> It appears that certain agents on this site want this for their
>exclusive advertising and don't want competition. I have been told to
>"cease and desist" in a personal e-mail because this is a private
>charter group.I contacted Google and there is no such thing. This is
>an open group with all views available. I will accept your views but
>will respond to false claims against YTB.
>
>If you want a private group with no other input from competitors I
>suggest you open a closed members only group This is a google group
>open to all--Competition is great, America is built on it. I want you
>to all succeed I wish you had the same courtesy for others.
>
> Irene
This isn't a GOOGLE GROUP. As Charles said, it's a USENET NEWSGROUP. You
should be the one that gets your facts straight. Google may give you access
to this group, but it's not a GOOGLE GROUP.
And you came here with a number of initial posts that were totally against
the newsgroup's charter. Advertising is NOT permitted here. Putting your
agency name is your sig file is permitted, but posts like your initial post
are consider spam and is definitely against the charter. Telling you to
please cease and desist in terms of overt advertising is appropriate.
Irene, I suggest the next time you try to post your advertising spam here,
you read the charter first...
--Tom
Neal Eckhardt
<liveear...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Are you saying you have never had employees that made you money
>and you paid them a small salary?
There's a difference between paying an employee a small salary, and
having an employee pay you for the priviledge of working (and I use
the term loosely) there.
You have to ask why somebody would pay a yearly fee to "work"
somewhere yet produce no income.
--
Neal
Bobbye Haupt
> You might also note that YTB stock has dropped from a 52 week high of
> $9.50 a share to 83 cents a share today.
>
companies trade. There is no oversight by the SEC or any stock market body
for for these stocks. Essentially, they are "trade at your own risk."
http://notravelmlms.blogspot.com/
The above is a great place to visit.
Bobbye
Dillon Pyron
If you don't need Royal Caribbean, why did YTB raise such a ruckus?
>They just eliminated us
>because of a petiition of 2,000. greedy travel agents that signed it,
>and they didn't want the pressure. It was not because of what YTB did
>or did not do. -we are the largest booking agency of Celebrity
>Cruises. We have weekly calls with Carnival-Have our own agent through
>Carnival.
Cool, so do I. Spent probably 45 minutes on the phone with Kendra
yesterday.
>We are not a card mill as everyone mistakingly thinks we
>are. We have online training, CLIA training, etc. available daily.
>
>It's a shame that other travel agents are so greedy that the
>competition of YTB hurts their pocketbook,
That's odd. I haven't felt any competition.
> thus ignorant people have
>to bad mouth the most reputable company (YTB) I have ever experienced.
Only if your experience includes companies like Enron.
>Please get your facts straight before criticizing your competitiors .
Facts listed elsewhere.
>
>Besides we just don't sell cruises, we can book flights, rental cars,
>flowers, hotels, golf packages, hunting /fishing trips. Event tickets
>(concerts, sports events).
So do I. What's your point?
>For a recent wedding I booked the entire
>event-flight, flowers, cruise, hotel the night before and a bridal
>registry where I get 60% commission on all guests gifts (spa, massage,
>etc.)
60%!?!?!?! Those have got to be the most overpriced gifts I have ever
heard of.
>
>Since travel is a $7 trillion industry-there is enough to go around
>without bad mouthing company's you know nothing about--Competition was
>hard for AT&T years ago, but in a free trade society that's what makes
>our country great!
AT&T, bad example. You realize, of course, that it close to the size
of good old Ma Bell.
>
>Please before bashing a company get your facts straights!!!_Irene
Facts well set.
How much business did you do last week? I only booked a $1598
(commissionable portion) cruise, a $1398 (ditto) and two AUS-CDG
business class tickets. I've been on spring break this week, so the
only thing I've got going is a condo in Hawai'i. $2300.
And I'm an amaeatur compared to somebody like George or Ray.
George Leppla
"Dillon Pyron" <invalid...@austin.rr.com> wrote
>>
>>Please before bashing a company get your facts straights!!!_Irene
>
> Facts well set.
>
> How much business did you do last week? I only booked a $1598
> (commissionable portion) cruise, a $1398 (ditto) and two AUS-CDG
> business class tickets. I've been on spring break this week, so the
> only thing I've got going is a condo in Hawai'i. $2300.
>
> And I'm an amaeatur compared to somebody like George or Ray.
FWIW... I have absolutely nothing against people selling travel as a part
time business and using a host agency to do it. If you are new, it is a
great way to learn if your host agency is responsible enough to train you
and help you when needed. For experienced people who want to work part
time, working with a host lets you make more commission on fewer sales.
I have helped a number of people get into the travel business as part time
agents using reputable host agencies. And being part-time doesn't mean you
are an amateur. There are some very professional agents that choose to work
at this on a part time basis.
For someone who works at selling travel full-time, I see no advantage to
using a host agency.
My beef is with "host agencies" that really aren't much good to anyone
except the few at the top of the pyramid. As they state on their own
financial statement, the fast majority of their agents never make any
money... but the lure of selling memberships and big bucks is a strong
inducement.
--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
cruisemates
a YTB agent could be selling Celebrity Cruises. They are a subsid of
Royal Caribbean and dropped YTB at the same time RCCL did.
Ray Goldenberg
Hi Paul,
She was wrong again just as she was when she said that r.t.cruises is
a Google Group. Irene does not have Celebrity or Royal Caribbean on
the YTB web site. As you said, she can not sell Celebrity or Royal
Caribbean because they have said they will not sell through card mills
such as YTB.
Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--