"Super Sleuth"

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I started a huge task weeks ago when I promised John Frenaye that I would get his questions answered. ALL his questions. Over the next couple weeks due to the length of this list, I have focused on each of these questions one at a time. My goal here is not only to answer the question, but also point out why this question is even asked in the first place.

While I hoped this would be an excellent opportunity and tool for anyone with additional comments about each of the specific questions to get better clarification, I seem to have been doing an outstanding job. Very little has come from the “other side” to contradict what I have to say. The comments section to discuss each of the questions in greater detail has been lacking at best. I think they’ve learned early on in this process that documentation beats conversation any day of the week.

Question #4 - How nearly 150,000 RTAs can pay in the course of 9 months $79 million dollars in website sales, fees, and training; and receive $9.3 million in return. (This is huge…anyone?)

Question #5 - And for those that say I don’t get the math, I did not learn how nearly 150,000 people paid in $79 million dollars and only got $64 million in return. (Hello? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

Question #6 - Why it is a good thing to have your top executives selling off stock. (There were no takers on this one, so I am gonna assume that it probably is NOT a good thing as everyone initially thought.)

Question #7 - Why a 3:1 split was a good deal when two of the three shares are worthless. (Thanks to Doug for the most reasonable explanation of this. The split may have been a good deal but with the current value of the stock, it is anyone’s guess.)

Question #8 - Why employees at YTB could not sell me a cruise on November 9th. (Still no answer on this one yet other than they don’t do anything till an RTA sells it. Well, the YTB site said to call them. Coach in an interview was touting how the res center is all staffed with professional agents. So, why is it that they cannot sell me a cruise, and how is it that they do not know that cruises do not depart from Phoenix?)

Question #9 – Why when presented with facts and figures, the argument mysteriously turns to “you don’t understand”. (This is another one that we will just have to say…because that is the way it is.)

Question #10 – How many RTAs drop out in a month…a year….. (This number I fear will NEVER be known.)

Question #11 – How long does an RTA continue to pay the fee before canceling? (Answered. They continue to pay as long as YTB continues to charge them and they jump through the hoops to get them to stop.)

Question #12 – How it is a misunderstanding with IATAN and Royal Caribbean. (Answered. It apparently was NOT a misunderstanding and RCCL called a spade a spade and it is what it is. YTB has moved on and said they would never do business with RCCL again.)

Question #13 – How the air gets booked — through a YTB ARC number or a Travelocity number. (This is the biggie. No answer other than the errant dribble from a director about it being a cruise misunderstanding. When a RTA sells an airline ticket, who’s ARC number does the sale get attributed to when processing via IAR…is it a YTB number or a Travelocity number?)

I guess we’ve hidden this answer from John and the rest of our Traditionalist’s long enough and it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. Jo
hn, being someone who boasts about finding out all kinds of information about YTB and having all kinds of connections in the industry may not be quite the “Super Sleuth” he would like us to believe.
On the other hand, John may in fact know this answer (as you may conclude based on where this answer for this question can be found) and just wants to see if any other YTB’er may know. Since most of the subjects in the comments section get derailed and completely off topic on both sides of the fence on John’s blog I’m not at all surprised that the answer could not be found there. John needs to take most of the blame for the rampant misinformation found on his own blog as this week alone he’s had to make two amendments to posts correcting what he initially posted.
On Monday, he incorrectly assumed that a magazine subscription to “Success” magazine was $29.95 a month, instead of a year, and the very next day he assumed that no one in Canada could actually book travel, leaving 9000 new RTA’s in Canada high and dry. Not a good sign when he’s already exceeded his weekly limit of post amendments the first two days of the week. (And it’s us who have a problem with “Reading Comprehension”?)
I mentioned some time ago on his Blog that all John is trying to do is throw a bunch of mud up on the wall to see what will dry and stick. This question is a perfect example of how this works. He wants the reader to assume that all we are is a Travelocity Affiliate site and that we ride on the coat tails of Travelocity. Any “real” Travel Agency would have their own ARC number to book air directly with the Airlines.
Yet with just a little research and reading we find that YTB produced ARC sales of $52.1 Million in a Travel Weekly Power List for 2007. Knowing this, I find it extremely odd that John didn’t consider this documentation before he asked his question. This Power List has been beaten to death on both sides based on our Traditionalists spewing their dribble about $175.2 Million being “fees” and not “travel sales”. With so much attention and arguing being focused on their “fees” maybe they couldn’t see the “ARC Sales”? I don’t know…you’ll have to ask them how they missed this little gem. While you’re at it…ask them how $38.6 Million in “fees” suddenly turn into $175.2 Million would you?
Thanks.
So, this puts John is a little bit of a pickle. Does $52.1 Million in ARC sales represent sales through our airline booking engine which is powered through Travelocity, or does this represent $52.1 Million in sales directly with the airlines by a bunch of YTB Yahoo’s? We do know that John and other Traditionalists believe that no one in YTB is trained properly, and airline tickets happen to have some of the most stringent regulations anywhere in our industry. Neither scenario will produce a comfortable resolution for our Traditionalists.
I’m happy leaving it at that. Just like the “fees” that grew from $38.6 Million to $175.2 Million, our Traditionalists are going to believe what they want to believe, and there is very little promise that they will ever view the facts any other way.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 4:58 pm and is filed under ARC Sales, Power List, Travel MLM, Travel Weekly, YTB Travel Network. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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