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Our Readers Continue the Discussion About Legal Action Against YTB

Aug 11, 2008
By: Travel Agent Central Contributor
TravelAgentCentral
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Travel Agent's message board was abuzz this weekend with opinions flying about YourTravelBiz.com’s (YTB) plight with the California Attorney General’s Office.

See for yourself in the following comments:

On August 10, Polly wrote:
For all of those "negative" people bashing YTB...We simply OWN a travel web site where you can book YOUR OWN travel. We are NOT travel agents! We are travel store owners. YTB "referring" travel agents (which means we REFER them to our sites) DO NOT and should not act as a "travel agent". We are legitimate business owners of travel stores. Others can book THE EXACT SAME travel, whether it be a hotel, flight, cruise, etc...on our web sites as they could on Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, etc...with either same or very comparable price. So if you feel "threatened" by us, that is your own insecurity. We own and operate a legitimate business product.

On August 11, Steve Mencik commented:
My primary complaint with YTB and the other travel MLMs (Traverus, World Ventures, Coastal Vacations and others), is that the emphasis is recruiting more and more people to buy websites, not on selling travel.
If people want to have a travel website, but do no real travel agent work, I don't have a problem with that. But please don't represent yourself as a travel agent, and don't try to take advantage of Familiarization trips that are intended for travel agents.
I'd also note that it is possible to find a host agency that will give you a travel website nearly identical to that provided by YTB (both powered by Revelex), along with an 80/20 split of commissions (vs. 60/40 with YTB), and charge you no monthly or yearly fees. Why would anyone even remotely serious about travel want to continue to pay $49.95 per month and only get 60% of commissions instead of paying $0 per month and getting 80% of commissions?

With the recent report of a class action lawsuit and Better Business Bureau complaints against YTB, the discussion will continue to roll with great fervor. We encourage you to join in by sharing your opinions below.

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Comments 1-10 of 10

Gary Knight (AUGUST 13, 2008)

I agree with those who KNOW that knowledge is required to ACT as a travel agent. In some states it is REQUIRED to have a license to sell travel. There are levels of knowledge such as ACC MCC etc .... but some level of knowledge and training should be in the background of anyone who claims they are a travel or cruise agent PERIOD!
MB (AUGUST 13, 2008)

I am not threatened by YTB. I am however upset that YTB unleashed over one hundred thousand untrained, uneducated people on the travel industry. The majority of these people have zero interest in learning anything about the travel business. It's all in the recruiting. And, I am offended YTB uses the pitch for free travel, travel like a pro, discounted travel, take a vacation and deduct it in advertising and recruiting. It is all over the internet and the blogs.YTB also has the audactity to bring religion into the recruiting and saying God blesses them. YTB IMO is cult like and has no business mucking up our professionalism which we worked hard to achieve.
JESS Kalinowsky Professional Travel Consultant (AUGUST 12, 2008)

YTB is a scam. One does not become a seller of travel just because they own a travel website and the SUPPLIERS should be held responsible! USTOA should be held responsible. ARC should be held responsible. Out company name was 'hijacked' by a YTB agent in IOWA and they are draining business away from a agency in business since 1985. People who buy the YTB franchise are not "travel agents" and never will be, especially in California when the Attorney General gets through with them!
Pat Benson (AUGUST 11, 2008)

Steve Mencik makes several very good points. Educated and bonafide travel agents put in a lot of hours, hand holding and follow up work with trade people to get the best for their clients and to correct problems when they occur, to the best of our ability. Not to mention all the hours reading the trades and taking destination specialist courses while spending our own money for them and for trade shows and classes to increase our knowledge to serve our clients better. Owners of websites,with no practical knowledge of the industry and without years of learning how best to deal with suppliers who do not fulfill the clients paid for expectations,have no right to familiarization trips at reduced prices. These are for educational purposes and usually paid for by the agent. The inferred, announced or not, position YTB website owners hold is misleading to the public and should be stopped immediately. We have fought this misrepresentation to the public before and won and we will again.
Bruce (AUGUST 11, 2008)

The huge majority of people bashing YTB are brick-and-mortar travel agents who obviously feel threatened, not our customers. Last year YTB sold over $400,000,000 worth of travel, and this year should be $1,000,000,000. YTB has grown from the 35th largest travel agency in Travel Weekly's 2006 Annual Report to the 26th largest in 2007.

We are owners of travel stores who are experts in business; ttravel agents are experts in travel. We can build a network of travel agencies while the travel agent cannot. We sell the same travel, and can help non-profits generate more income for their cause without having to have people dig into their pockets to make another donation.

How do I feel about what the California Attorney General did? I immediately went out and bought another 20,000 shares of YTB stock!

For you brick-and-mortar agents out there -- imagine if you took your travel expertise and combined it with our business expertise. You would be unstoppable!
Mary (AUGUST 11, 2008)

Your right! you are not Travel Agents or consultants and gives the person buying travel the the wrong idea when booking and gives the Real Trained Agents a bad name. With out the right training and know how or idea what to do when you are truly needed or just plain know your stuff with a client.

I am a Travel School grad from 1990 and have worked,trained hard to be a top Travel Consultant and can get my clients out of trouble if need be & my customer service is of high standards. I have worked for large and small Travel co & have been a homebased since 1997.

By the way I have helped Expedia set up travel depts & worked it,98% of the people working are order takers and have no clue, that's been a big problem for & has gotten Expedia into trouble, Bookers or CS rep will blow you off or explain it a way. You must know your stuff even if you are just a order taker.

If you want to be in Travel, talk to real agents or people who know the ropes & right way. Get a Host to help!!!!
Shannon (AUGUST 11, 2008)

Steve Mencik - your comments are intriguing. Tell use more. Maybe YTB isn't the best option for starting a home-based travel business!
Michael (AUGUST 11, 2008)

These charges are made by those who are ignorant of YTB's business model. Every YTB travel store owner is completely informed about what they're buying into. Nobody's being ripped off. This is no pyramid scheme. YTB's Referring Travel Agents make their money by selling travel and helping other people sell travel. YTB's business is travel, not selling web sites.

Those who only understand the old ways don't get the idea of selling travel through a network of friends and relatives, rather than through brick and mortar agencies, or huge corporate advertising budgets. YTB has been around for 25 years, and is on track to be the largest travel retailer in the world in the not too distant future. That scares the competition, so they spread misinformation. Don't believe it.
Polly (AUGUST 11, 2008)

Response to Steve Mencik...I no longer pay the $49.95/mo fee, and when I was, I didn't mind because YTB maintained my web site, kept track of ALL of my bookings, commissions, etc...I don't have the time or the knowledge to do this on my own. So I believe it is MY prerogative to pay this so I don't HAVE to do it. Why should MY paying the fee bother you? The bottom line is, YTB is not doing anything illegal...if one of my family or friends want to do what I do and I can make money for it, WHY NOT? I sell travel AND travel stores. What's illegal about that????
ListManager (AUGUST 11, 2008)

Steve, before you go quoting names outside of the YTB Story, you should know your facts about the companies first and what they teach. It doesn't matter who a person uses as the host agency, as long as they are comfortable with the company, and agency is ligitimate in selling travel.

Comments 1-10 of 10

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