MLM Travel Business vs. Affilliate Sites
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Loading ...Alex Bainbrigde over at Travel UCD wrote about a company called Your Travel Business (YTB.com). I had heard about this MLM travel business a few years ago when it first started and I paid it very little heed. I am quite surprised that it has managed to last this long. To my surprise it is now publicly traded and boasts over $226 Million in sales in 2006. I have to admit however, that my perspective is ofcourse that of a technologist and not that of a laymen, so my review is strictly from a technologist’s point of view. I reviewed the online booking system and I was quite surprised at what I found. I have included the link to the YTB member site that was mentioned in the Alex Bainbridge article and a link to the sample website offered by World Choice Travel, which is the booking platform that YTB uses for the bulk of their online functionality.
Flight Bookings
This is the flight search engine offered by World Choice Travel. When you sign up as an affiliate with World Choice Travel (which is a subsidiary of Travelocity) you also get access to a hotel booking system, car rentals, vacation packages, and last minute deals. There is no cost for signing up as an affiliate with World Choice Travel.
This is the YTB results page for a search for
flights from Seattle to Orlando on Nov. 11, 2007
This is the WCT results page for the same search.
Car Bookings
This is part of the WCT package. Again, no cost to sign up for World Choice Travel.
Results for a YTB car rental search for
a car at Orlando Airport on Nov. 11.
WCT results for the same search.
Hotel Bookings
Same deal as the Flights and Cars. This is the Hotel portion of the WCT program. The results are the similar to the flights and cars, so I won’t bother posting screen shots.
Cruises
This is powered by the Cruise database product built by TravelTech. Although I am not familiar with this particular product it is very similar to the product available through WCT. Why YTB decided to use their own database for cruises when they already have access through WCT I can’t say. Personally I think the cruise offering through WCT is more attractive and easier to use then the TravelTech equivalent.
Last Minute Deals
Again, this is part of the World Choice Travel program. Look for the lmdeals.com domain when viewing “Deals to…” links.
Travel Insurance
The travel insurance link forwards to InsureMyTrip.com which is one of the most popular online travel insurance providers. They offer an affiliate program that is free to join and is very simple to set-up.
Foreign Exchange
This is powered by EZForex.com an online foreign exchange company. Individuals can sign up for an affiliate account at no cost and generate between 30 and 80% commissions on sales.
Airport Parking
This feature is powered by AirportParkingReservations.com which again offers an affiliate program that is free to join.
Passport and Visa Services
Online passport and visa expediting services are offered by PassportVisaExpress.com, a popular and reputable online visa service. You can join their affiliate program by linking to the “Join our Affiliate Program” link. It’s free to join.
YTB Flowers?
What is up with this? Sometimes I wonder what these MLM schemes are thinking. I can only guess that this is another low hanging fruit that someone decided would be great to add to the site. If you really want to sell flowers on your travel site then I recommend you sign-up for a free affiliate account with 1800flowers.com, the largest and most credible online flower delivery service.
So after taking quite a bit of time to go through all the areas of a YTB booking site, I have to ask the question… why would you need to pay $500 and $49.95 for services you can get for free? Not to mention, if YTB is using the WCT engine then you’re giving them 40% of your commissions. Are you paying the monthly fee for access to the booking system or are you paying to be part of something bigger. If your true intention is to sell travel as a business then you would be better off becoming a member of the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN) which is the largest support network for independent travel agents. A membership is $195, you can apply for travel agency credentials, and there is a huge network of agents to interact with. If however, your intention is to sell people on the “Business Opportunity” of YTB then that is a completely different story.
In the end, if you swap the flights, hotels, and cars for soap, shampoo, and makeup then you’ve got just another MLM business. As successful as YTB is, it is an MLM business and in the end will never have the same credibility as a mainstream travel business. Sorry travel agents, this is just something else you have to deal with.
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