Travel Business Opportunities

I've been reading some of the threads regarding travel MLM's. Many of the posts are confusing if you have no experience.

If anyone posting here has experience with a travel business (does not necessarily have to be an MLM), can you please post a brief description of what your business consists of? I'm looking for direct information on start up costs (with no hidden costs), credentials needed/preferred, and what the business owner actually does day to day to work the business.

My husband has briefly looked into the AMEX travel franchise, however I'd like to research other options.

Thanks!
Kritter

 

Hi Kritter,
I just found your post.
I am a certified travel agent with TraVerus Travel Inc.
I, like you, do not like hype! I say give me facts!

So here's some no hype information on TraVerus.
Travelworks International was a brick and mortar travel agency based in Allen, Tx. for 21 years. In 2003 David Manning bought out Travelworks and continued to run the business as it was.
David took the first 5 years to build relationships with travel suppliers around the world.
He eventually changed the name to TraVerus Travel and open the doors to home based travel agents and implemented a multi level marketing aspect to the business.
Now a few facts about the travel industry...........................
There are several travel host agencies that will hire and train people to book travel from home. TraVerus is a travel host agency and as far I have been able to find out, TraVerus pays the highest booking commissions of all.
CTA's earn 70% booking commissions and work directly with suppliers.
Rta's earn 20% booking commissions and only book online or refer travel to home office.
Example: say someone books a vacation with you and the cost to them was $2,500, the supplier that you booked through pays a 12% commission to the agency.
Here is how it all breaks down.........................
vacation cost: $2,500
Supplier pays 12%: $300
TraVerus makes: $90
CTA earns: $210

My day consist of posting ads, posting in forums, sending out emails to people looking for an opportunity and my team. I am now working with a web designer to build me a personal site.

There are other projects I need to complete such as my blog, writing articles, placing solo ads which will bring people to me instead of me have to look for them.
My monthly cost for running my business is between $90 to $150.

I also feel that to be successful at working from home, you must see your business as a business and have at least 15 hours a week to work your business. Of course the more time and money you have to invest , not only in your business but in educating yourself with the industry will help to propel your success at a faster rate.

I hope this information has helped.
Feel free to call me with any questions,
Sincerely,
Cynthia

 

Hello Kritter,

Im sorry I didnt see you post earlier. But better late than never. My name is Adam and im a member of Coastal Vacations. Coastal Vacations is a home based travel opportunity where you market a lifetime travel package. There is no need to become a travel agent but I encourage my team mates to get those credentials as well to become a better travel professional.

Here is the skinny on the opportunity. We market a membership that is much like buying a membership in lets say a Costco, Sam's Club or a BJ's. Only this is in travel. The details of the membership can be found on my website links below but in a nutshell its broken into two parts. Your discount membership cards and your vacation certificates. The membership cards allow you to book travel on the spot at discounts of up to 80%. The vacation vouchers give you deeper discounts but you must book your travel 60-90 days in advance. With the vouchers you pay a $6.95 activation fee and then pay the room taxes for your 3 day 2 night stays.

To get started in Coastal you buy a membership at one of the 3 levels. Level One for $1295 Premier for $3995 and Platinum for $11000. You then complete two training sales and become a director at the level you came in. Thats a quick overview and I always suggest going to the website as it is a tools we use to do 90% of our work and explains this all in detail. As a new person the website and your director ( the person who got you started) are your best assets.

Ive even created a free option to get people started so they can earn as they learn with no risk.

Now the typical day of a Coastal business builder varies. Understand our customers are anyone that travel , anyone looking to have a business as well as business that understand how to use incentives to increase their own businesses. I teach various methods on how to run your Coastal business and it really depends on your skills, your likes as well what is the best market for you.

Id love to talk to you offline and on the phone to go over any questions you might have.

Adam Frederick
Coastal Level III Director
Founder of A-Team CV FREE Apprentice Program
302 327 6263
[email protected]

 

Cindy is right TraVerus is the best I found in the business they are so helpful everyone is nice and will be glad to answer any questions. You take the CTA training that no one fails and become certified. The start up cost right now is $79.95 and your first month of $49.95 is waived for the cost of your own website you pay the an extra $50 to become a Certified Travel Agent. But you need to hurry because the time is running out for the special it will end on the 30th of the month. We have celebrity spokes people like John O'Hurly and other and we all know that celebrities don't like putting their name on things that aren't on the up and up. If you have any questions just email and either I or cindy will be glad to help you.

 

Hi I am with Global resorts Network, It is a travel membership, the member can choose from over 5,000 LUXURY 5 star resorts to stay at, for JUST starting at $298 a WEEK!!Some resorts week stay are $600 .

The membership costs are $1495 for the gold membership and $2995 for a Platinum membership.

You can strictly sell the product retail OR if you so choose you may enlist others looking for a great travel opportunity!!AND receive a commission of $500 for Gold members and $1,000 for Platinum members.

I am currently with a sales marketing system that will close the deals for you, you get a Virtual Assistant who calls the prospects for you and closes the sale. The system is just $69 per month!! And we give you all the training you will need to succeed!

Terri

 

Hi Kritter,
I missed seeing your post as well!

I guess I was just too busy to spend a lot of time on here lately - I am with Coastal Vacations also and Adam gave a pretty good rundown on it...

There are several different groups marketing the Coastal Vacations package - (see you in Florida, Adam!)

What I do on a day to day basis is simple but I do like personal contact best so I get back to folks by phone if I can (these are people that are looking at the business opportunity end of Coastal - I personally haven't done a whole lot on the retail end of it...)

Our websites do most of the selling or explaining for us but there are always questions to be answered, etc. just like in any business...

As far as cost..Adam gave the main cost , which is the package cost and that is a one time investment - as members of Coastal Vacations we do have to have our own travel package in order to turn around and market them.

And that investment provides you with one of the most lucrative travel memberships on the market today - FOR LIFE!

The other costs involved are the normal costs of doing business - like your dsl, you would want unlimited long distance on your phone, and the cost of your websites will depend on which system you go with - anywhere from $49.95 - $89.95 a month. With the CWB, which is the group I am with , they have a system all set up with auto-responders, campaign manager, and 4 websites, landing page for advertising etc. all in one package for $59.95 a month.

Then, of course there is the advertising costs, I usually spend anywhere from $200 - $400 a month on that, just depends on what form of advertising I am doing...

Only one sale a week at the lowest level will net you over $40,000 a year so it is well worth the money spent in advertising your business with something of this nature...

Hope this helps and feel free to ask if you have more questions!
Viola

 

Hi Kritter,

I'm also with TraVerus Travel and Cindy mistyped it pays out 30% commission as an RTA and 70% commission and more as a CTA. You should take a look for yourself at our compensation plan to see how it works and how we are paid as Independent Agents.

After becoming a member you get training materials in your back office and there is weekly training as well. We also show you how you can get additional training at no cost, plus we have some incredible membertrips for members. Just this week we had a 7 day cruise for members for $285 including port fees and taxes that went to Jamaica. As Jeannine said we are running a promotion to get started for $79.95 as a RTA until Sunday night. Hope we were all able to answer your question.

[Post edited. Link removed - Admin]

 

Cynthia,
I'm in TrVerus too, and that was an awesome explanation.

 

So maybe I missed something.... I see alot about how much it COSTS to run this sort of business but I don't see anything about how much anyone is actually MAKING....

 

If you want to see how much we get paid view the presentation which will explain our compensation plan. If you still don't understand it I'm sure we can assist you. My team has webinar training and team building every single night plus an all ladies team for the ladies that join my team. We teach you how to market yourself on the Internet to get the information out there, plus my upline is Daryl Djuan who is the youngest National Executive in TraVerus. Hope this helps. Take Care & God Bless!

 

It really depends on what you do with the company. If you booke travel, you'll get 20-70% of the commission. If you recruit, you make $50 per recruit, $70 from your 3rd on plus bonuses.

I booked a family on a December cruise, for which I'll make around $400. So again, it just depends.

 

IAM,

Great question about how much people make. I do this f/t and have retired from my job but just because I do well doesnt mean anyone else will. In my first 7 weeks of business I made over 10k. Will hat be you? Maybe or maybe not. Results vary. Thats the way of business. Why does one hair salon do better than another? Or one gym. They both offer the same product but the results vary.

I will say that the travel industry is a 7 trillion I repeat 7 trillion dollar industry and growing. We all sell travel at a discount so I look at this as a no-brainer.

Adam Frederick
Coastal Level III Director
Founder of A-Team CV FREE Apprentice Program
302 327 6263
[email protected]

 

Hi,

I am Chon. I am with Cruise to Cash.

It is a travel club program that allows you to have access to may hotels, condos, resorts, cruises, air fares and many more around the world by paying only taxes or minimal fees on those.

The cost to join is $477 for Weekender package or $977 for cruiser package.

You pay monthly fee of $39 or $59 depending on the package.

You earn commission from the first sale. You don't have to pass up commissions to your sponsor entirely.

First two sales you earn 50% commission i.e. half of $477 or $977 (assumed to start with $977 package) and after that you earn 100% from every sale.

The nice thing is you earn monthly residual income from every person you refer to your team. The first two sales from each referral become part of your team too.

I urge you to compare among Cruise to Cash, Traverus and Coastal vacations that we all presented to you here. I hope you will pick the one you like best.

Send me personal mail or call me. Look at my signature and put your email in there and you will have video explaining details to you in series. It is easier to learn that way.

I am glad you have interest in travel. People love travel and it is easy to sell than other opportunity.

You can sell this people by making them see the business potential or they may just want to buy this as a travel club discount to use for the rest of their lives. The initial cost and monthly is reasonable enough with Cruise to Cash to justify buying it for personal use with out business promotion. Especially when you look at all the product available.

I promote mostly by free advertisement. Blogging like this one, writing articles on website, create website to be picked up by search engine, give out business card, flyer, poster, word of mouth, give away free travel vouchers since Cruise to Cash give me UNLIMITED vouchers for vacations to give away to my prospects.

Your income will be solely up to your effort. You can see though that only 2-3 sales and you are already in profit. Not to mention UNLIMITED CASH and UNLIMITED VACATIONS with Cruise to Cash.

Thanks
Chon

 

Kritter,

I am with Traverus Travel. Right now there is a promotion going on until midnight Sunday night for $79.95 to join as a RTA (referral travel agent). You are paid when you sign others up or if you are just interested in being a travel agent you are able to make commissions of 20-70% depending on how you are booking the travel.

What I do on a daily basis with my business is post in forums, post free ads, paid ads, returns calls or e-mails of those interested in being involved in a travel business. I also let everyone I know that I am a travel agent and able to book their next vacation or cruise. There are many ways to work your travel business. Just find one that you really enjoy and go with it.

Any questions, pm me.

Becky West

 

Interesting,

I use to own a travel agency, a real one, not all these MLM card mill deals which have popped up everywhere in last decade. I sold my agency given commissions were shrinking every year, and the only money we earned was for bookings, not recruiting other so called agents.

I use to provide training for what are called outside agents, and I charged a small fee of $40.00 back in 80's and filled the office conference room every month, and I suspect this is how MLM got into industry, making money on training, while few make anything on booking these days.

What you should do is hook up with a local travel agent, a legitimate full service brick and mortar one, and become an outside agent to learn the industry as it should be learned, not how to recruit other agents. This will give you a real inside view of industry and potential income as you will split commissions with agent in most cases, so if you cannot book travel, you will not make any money, so like all businesses, don't pay to play. Many agencies will train you at no cost, but to pay monthly to be in business doesn't make a lot of sence unless you are booking travel, and if you are only being paid for recruiting others, run for the hills, this practice is under investigation by regulators, so beware of this strategy of MLM's, you cannot survive if the a companies revenues come from recruiting only.

Good luck,

 

The travel company I am with is not a card mill. They give you the option of recruiting other agents or if you just want to actually work as a travel agent and only book travel there is a lot of training so we are able to learn what we need to learn. We have access to training from the actual companies we book travel from so we are getting it from the source. There is a lot to learn but you don't have to be in a "brick and Mortar" building to offer excellent travel services and be able to help people plan their travel.

Becky West

 

Global Resorts Network Business

This is a business where you receive $1000 for every person that joins a lifetime resort membership.
I have had various businesses for almost 14 years and have spent tens of thousands in marketing various opportunities.In that time I have never seen a business like this before.

There are a few things you need to look for before starting any business:
-Find an Opportunity with good Profit Potential
$1000 are paid EVERY membership sold. There are residual $1000
commissions paid when people you have joined make a sale.
- True Training/ Mentoring available
Since you are not competing with your down line and you make money when your down line succeed it is very smart to properly train and mentor your partners. My team of successful entrepreneurs personally mentor are partners till they
succeed. We train our partners with web 2.0 and various free advertising methods.
-Great Product Behind opportunity
We offer a product that everyone wants in the 7 trillion dollar
travel industry that you will personally enjoy. The product provides a lifetime membership to over 5000 4-5 star resorts in over 70 countries. This is all for the price of one vacation. Included in the membership is the right to promote this opportunity and membership.
- Stable Company
The Company has been around for over 21 years.
- Able to Contact in person
This marketing arm is new but the company behind the product is 21 years. I actually was going to join with another travel membership just for the travel before I found Global Resorts. I researched Global Resorts network and various teams for three months because it seemed almost too good to be true. I had trouble with my payment and the corporate office refunded my money in a 2 days! I wanted to position myself to succeed at this and so wanted to join a team. The best team I found actually spends ten of thousands in various advertising campaigns and rotates the leads and sales that come in within the team to help you get started. They have a huge back office with lots resources and mentoring in various web 2.0 methods. How much would $1000 sales change your life ? Oh, and there is that lifetime membership to luxury resorts. A few of my partners are having $20,000 months ! I will be happy to answer any questions regarding global resorts and other businesses I had.
Dan H

 

Interesting,

That is good to hear, but providing the option to recruit is only the first acid test regulators use. The real acid test is based on overall agent incomes, in other words, how many are booking travel only, and if the total booked travel commissions represent more income than the agent recruiting income, then you are safe.

Good luck to all, Mike

 

I personally enjoy working with Global Resorts Network. The reason why is the product was sold for 20 years without the oppty attached to it. It is a stand alone product and that is one of the ingredients you need to be successful in the home based business industry. It has to be about the product and not the oppty.

We are having great success teaching others how to duplicate by having them go after people who have lists of people who would buy. This is a perfect downsell product for those that cant afford the 10k-30k for a timeshare. Business is booming

Whatever business you pick make sure you can truly stand behind the product and it is a product people would buy WITHOUTH the oppty attached to it.

 

Let me step in here too because I'm with the same company as Becky. Our company is constantly in the top 5 booking agencies. Also, we were a travel company for5 1/2 before we opened the recruiting division. Although this is wave season, we really did not have a slow season last year.

As for Brick and Mortar agencies, the big ones might be around for a while yet, but the smaller independent ones are closing faster than we can count. And unless the larger ones change how they do business, well...................

I agree that the card mills need to go, and the travel industry is cracking down on them.

One more point, our company is a pioneer for new technology. We will soon unveil a new booking engine that most store front agencies can't afford. And, we're always looking for good travel agents we can be a host for. So, have people get with Becky or myself if you or anyone else might be interested.