I’ve mentioned this a time or two before on the internet, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever written about it here on this blog. When a client comes to me with a request for a cruise, the very first place that I look is on our Groups Page to see if anyone has something that would fit.

The search for a Group that matches a clients request just became a piece of cake with YTB’s new Group Search Upgrade on the YTB Booking Engine. It also enables your customers to book your group without having to search through all of the groups. (Over 500 at any given time!) You can now search by ship, by name of group, destination or date.

How cool is that?

The new group page comes via Convergentware, an upgrade that YTB purchased last year that I really like. The technology platform is extremely versatile and easy to use from an end user prospective. It’s also easy to use from a Travel Agent perspective. Set up a client with a user name and password, create the itinerary, and send them a link to view and book it themselves.

One of the reasons I love groups so much is because the price just can’t be beat. Typically, a group cruise is going to be $50 less per person than anything else a client can find on thier own. I’ve had some challenge me on this, but quickly shut them up when they realize they never added port charges or taxes (and sometimes gratuities) to the total price.

In all the years I’ve been doing this, a group rate has never been beat. (And if anyone else tells you differently, just smile – tell them “Thanks for sharing” – and move on. They’re not worth the time.)

A couple other cool changes you need to be aware of with the new upgrade that I like. As a site owner, you have the ability to have a public or private group. A private group will be assigned a special code that will be needed in order to view the group. If you want to reserve the space for just family, or a class reunion, you can now do that.

Also added is the ability to reserve as few as 8 cabins to start. If you need more, all the better. In that past, a group required 20 cabins to get yourself listed on the groups page. (One of the reasons the price was so attractive.) Convergentware also makes it easier for the Home Office to set up, so they’ve lowered the minimum requirement to get your group listed on the page.

To show you how easy it is to use this puppy – let’s say you’re looking at the new Carnival Dream. Simply pull up the new Groups Page from any YTB website (preferably mine) and select “Ship Name” for the pull down menu in the box. From there you can select the “Carnival Dream” and click the “Find It” button. Up comes two pages of group cruises ready for you to book at the special group rate on the Carnival Dream. You can do the same for length, date, region..you name it.

A couple things you need to keep in mind when looking at this pricing. Pricing is not only based on double occupancy (meaning it includes both berths in the cabin) but also includes port charges and taxes. Most but not all, also include the gratuities for the length of the cruise as well in the unit price that you’ll see. Most clients will realize the value you provided them when they compare apples to apples with any other Agency or Online Booking Engine they do a price comparison with. (Some clients, and all critics however, will need some help with this.) It should also be noted that most of these groups will only require a $25 deposit (per person) at the time of booking to reserve the space. This provides some additional time for them to budget for the deposit and the final payment due around 60 days before sailing. (Most really like this option.)

I’m really jazzed about this new upgrade. My job just got A LOT easier for those clients who look to me for a great cruise value. If you’re serious about making some decent money selling travel, cruises are an area you need to specialize in. All you really need is one 7 day cruise booking to break even per quarter, and when you add just one group per year – that my friends is gravy!

Thanks YTB!

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Do You ZamZuu?

I wrote on Monday about Paul Henderson, who like me is getting just a little tired of the nonsense filling our in boxes, and the witch hunt that’s going on in our industry right now. There are those who believe that we as a group of MLM’ers can not call ourselves “Travel Agents”. The reality of the issue however is that not one association or group has been able to outline for us what type of qualifications are necessary to provide us with the proper definition or qualifications to be considered a “Travel Agent”.

IATA enables you to carry their card with a paid commission level of $5000. CLIA just upgraded their qualifications with training and a minimum of 25 cruise sales.  Others have their own hoops to jump through such as a business license, or an approved host that you need to align yourself with.

Yet we are still left without one clear definition as an industry that everyone can agree on (or at least reference too) to become a real live “Travel Agent”.

Over the last couple of years YTB has made many changes in order to legitimize it’s model in the industry and become a respected member of the industry. We’ve listened to and responded accordingly. Some call it “reactionary” and that’s okay, because it’s the first step for some in noticing that changes ARE being made. Before any of this mess erupted back in October of 2007 with Royal Caribbean terminating it’s agreement with YTB, during a Funshine “Travel” Trade Show no less, YTB rolled out E-Campus, a course designed by one of the industries leading educators, Marc Mancini. YTB also revamped it’s certification program to First Class Training, and with that, changed both the level of commission percentages, and qualifications to book directly with vendors with it’s First Class Training Program. When you enter the industry with YTB you are an Affiliate, and without the proper training via either YTB or an indsutry associations no title of “Travel Agent” is bestowed upon you.

In addition to training, the company has made numerous changes in the way it actually books travel and helps customers secure the services we offer. The Convergentware upgrade with direct connections to GDS, suppliers and vendors has eliminated the need to “glean” numbers, and since we have enough staff now to handle our own calls in our expanded Home Office, the primary number in the help section is now directing customers to our own support center instead of pawning the responsibilty off on vendors.

In addition to the changes YTB has made, we’ve seen changes from suppliers such as Carnival Cruise lines, who implimented a minimum booking policy in eary 2008 before enabling anyone to enjoy a discounted cruise with them. We’ve also seen changes from Assoications such as CLIA who now requires not only training but actual production in order to have the privilege of carrying their card. While I’ve heard of rumblings of a loophole with this, YTB as a company, nor do I support or promote such a loophole.

This above snapshot of changes should provide for many that both YTB and the industry is serious about being a player in this industry. I for one am pleased with the response both the industry and the company has made. There are a select few however who either don’t want to talk about the issues or are incapable of communicating effectively what the real issues are.

I was amused this morning to find a comment, which I approved. In a very roundabout way, this TA finally got to the bottom of his issue after several days of comments and an entire post yesterday.

The real phobia for him and for the rest of this small group is “recruiting”.

I don’t know why it took so long or why he needed to go off on a tangent about Delta Airlines being the first to start cutting commissions in 1995, or that online companies such as Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and Priceline have call centers to support their initial design of self service booking. My guess is that he needed to show how smart he was and attempt to point out how little I know, thus disqualifying me as someone who is worthy of recruiting anyone into the industry the right way. If he feels that works for him, I have no problem with it, but he could have saved himself a couple days of ranting and badgering, and needless reading by me and just come right out and told everyone that he can’t stand the recruiting aspect and we need to dispose of it in order for him to personally accept me or YTB into the fold of brethren.

I suspect however that he certainly feels better now that he’s been able to vomit on two separate blogs.

Now that he’s fianally been able to get the real issue of the matter, he’s asked me to participate in a webinar that’s coming up at the end of the month. While I’m not sure if he’s cleared this with those who initially set this puppy up, but regardless if he actually has or not, I politely declined the offer to join the group and have chosen to participate instead in a Sail-a-thon with Princess Cruise Lines later that evening.

Be that as it may, I have to wonder why he feels this would benefit me or anyone else in the Travel Industry resolve the issue of “qualifications” and finally be considered a “Travel Agent”.

Here’s the outline of this little seminar and you tell me if this looks like it’s designed to talk about qualifications or if it helps the industry resolve the real issue here.

Card Mills.  Instant Agent Programs. MLM Travel Companies.  These entities spring up relentlessly, convincing consumers that anyone can be a travel agent. Card Mills disparage the professionalism of traditional travel agents and misrepresent industry “benefits” as a reason for joining.

Too often, travel agents are left without the tools necessary to successfully educate consumers and market effectively against the Card Mills.

No longer.

Join Richard Earls, publisher of Travel Research Online, in a webinar that will turn the tide by providing traditional travel agents with effective strategies, press releases and marketing tools to educate their clients on the fallacies of the card mill phenomenon.

You will receive materials after the webinar that will assist you in combatting Card Mills in your own communities.

A panel of experts will assist travel agents with arresting the Card Mills in their tracks.

By the way…the emphasis here is not mine, it’s theirs. This seminar is nothing more than the “witch hunt” that both Paul Henderson and I both abhor. Why on God’s green earth would I have any interest learning how to spew negative propaganda about a company that I support? There is nothing about this recruiting message that talks about the issue of qualifications, training, or customer support to enable me to be a better travel agent.

What it does appear to teach however is how belittle me in press releases, marketing tools, and seminars. (Something that I’ve grown quite accustom to, and expect as a rebuttal to what I write here.)

Oh Joy!

According to some, I’m the one who doesn’t offer “value”, and I’m being ridiculous for not wanting to spend my afternoon rolling in this very large pile of horse dung.

I do find it serendipitous that while this group of professionals attempt to educate the world that all we do is focus on recruiting so anyone can be one of these Travel Agents, the lead company they will be talking about and slandering is actually doing what they should do…selling travel and supporting the hand that feeds them.

Now there’s a novel idea!

I’m sorry gang, but I have to state for the record once again. I don’t find this “get together” the least bit productive, or see how it answers any of the issues we talked about on Monday.

The answer is still “no thanks”.

But that just me.

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Do You ZamZuu?

After looking around the internet the last few days, I’ve come to the conclusion that not much has changed since I went off on my Super Bowl run. While it was nice to get away, move off in another direction, take a break and actually enjoy myself, I see that some are still stuck in a rut. While there is always something going on in this industry, there are certain people you can count on for dragging their feet, kicking and screaming bantering about the same ol’ same old.

If you’ve been following the industry with me, we know how much turmoil is going on in the industry right now. Sure the economy has a lot to do with some of the issues going on and only the strong will survive. (Some might even thrive in this environment.) Back in November Liberty Travel decided to close a number of it’s poor producing Agencies, and while it’s CEO is adamant about leaving on her own terms, Cathy Pelaez will resign at the end of the week. Mid November Cruise Value Center closed it’s doors overnight, leaving cruise customers without a lifeboat to rescue them. And Friday will also be the last day of full operation for TripTailor and Vacation 59, as Sabre closes it’s wholesaling business.

US Airways posts a $220 million loss, Continental reported a loss of $96 Million, and JetBlue lost $49 million. Car Rental companies are being sued after filing bankruptcy and with the credit crunch slashing new car orders. Royal Caribbeans profits fall 98%, and Starwood drops by 46%.

Joystar is yet another black eye in the industry these days after it’s Agents file a petition for “involuntary bankruptcy”, and cruise lines have to fight courts in order to switch bookings to other Agencies so the agents can actually get paid. And while both myself and Travel Weekly wrote about an agent who broke into IHG system, stealing more than $163K in hotel bookings, we find yet another North Carolina Agent who stole some $512k from NCL, and $70k in chargebacks from Blue Sky Tours.

So what’s the problem you might ask?

Isn’t it obvious, it’s MLM.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people can be so obsessed about an issue that they can’t gain a proper perspective of the entire industry. MLM is the only model that has any type of issues like we have referenced above and if they rid the industry of this pariah, everything will be hunky dory once again. Depending on their mood, or possibly what position suits them at the time, they will either proudly accept or deny the role of “MLM Expert”. If challenged or called out by someone such as myself about how little they know, they deny it, as referenced in the comment section of my ariticle concerning IHG last week.

“I never professed to be an expert except in my own travel business.”

I have no idea who John is trying to kid here. He’s been attempting to tell me how things are since October 2007 here on this blog, while both myself and time has now shown that his comments some 16 months ago were certainly proven wrong. Along the way, we’ve seen posts like “Black Gold”, and one of my favorites from the industry itself, “The Cookie Jar”. And through it all, he just keeps coming back for more embarrassing moments while his followers hold him up in honor and appear to be proud of his antics of flipping the bird to Christians, and having links to other blogs with explicit titles and a niche subject matter concerning animal intercourse.

Pure class if you ask me.

What’s even more astounding is how blind the industry is concerning how clueless, foul and dirty this man is. As sad as it is, the industry does consider him an expert. I have not yet decided or figured out if the industry is either proud of his antics, or just so desperate about their own situation, that they simply look the other way whey he strays out of bounds like he does. (Based on what I’ve come to know about cynics and zealots, I tend to favor the latter.)

I’m only aware of one blog, board, or forum that John doesn’t have something to say about either YTB or MLM. That one forum would be WAHM and based on the subject of Work at Home Mom’s, I’m thankful that he at least knows his sexual orientation. However, the rest of the internet is fair game for this snake as he slithers all day long from site to site, and posting and promoting his hideous blog. This promotional tactic of linking back to his blog he uses, is ridiculed as sleazy when someone like myself would do the same, but for him, he’s obviously above reproach since his cause if more important than mine or YTB’s.

And now, oddly enough, just after denying his self proclaimed expertise, he’s elevated his own mind to writing about the MLM model in both TRO and getting his buddy George Dooley to post an article in Travel Agent Central. The basis of the article is not an actual warning about supporting MLM’s but the “hidden costs” of dealing with MLM’s.

It’s a been a topic of conversation for some time and try as they may they keep on promoting this bogus notion that YTB costs them money. The problem with this idea is that one of the sheep that follow John actually works with a supplier that’s offered on YTB’s booking engine. What’s comical about this relationship is that the employee that works for Pleasant Holidays calls himself “No Moron Here” but he keeps on contradicting what John is attempting to promote. It’s fun to read and I wrote about what his employer has told him in the past about his own misconceptions and fears about our company. We got a glimpse of what suppliers are actually saying behind closed doors some time ago. For as much whining this guy does about MLM’s he was told point blank that he didn’t have a say in who his employer does business with.

“The MLMs don’t bring in enough business to worry about them.”
“We don’t treat them the same way as our traditional agencies.”
“We will take their bookings (money) and supply them our product.”
“Stop worrying about them.”
“You are not to discuss the MLMs with the agents or agencies.”

Since his misconceptions have been cast aside, he lowered himself to forming relationships with other zealots who are just as clueless, angry and bitter as he is. The problem however, is that once again, he’s given incredible insight concerning the truth about supplier and MLM relationships. Take a look down towards the bottom of the comments section and what this employee from Pleasant Holidays wrote.

I guess a buck is buck and when they don’t have to put any money into YTB, they can still scrounge a few bucks off the so few bookings you morons place.

So while John attempts to convince everyone that YTB costs suppliers money, a supplier himself provides a rather unique Freudian slip and let’s the cat out of the bag that suppliers don’t hire YTB, suppliers don’t provide Co-op advertising to YTB, and suppliers only pay YTB for what YTB produces. That’s my friends is a model that suppliers NEED in an economy such as this, and the smart suppliers that actually get that concept such as Carnival Corporation, Globus, Trafalgar, MSC Cruises, Apple Vacations, Disney, and many other preferred suppliers reap the rewards of our business model. I can’t remember the last time Pleasant Holidays was even mentioned in a Travel Compass, a training call, or at Funshine. They do sit on our site, but nobody pays any attention to them because nobody from the company is promoting their features, advantages, and benefits. In all honesty, how much would it cost the company to get on a conference call the we provide, or hop in front of a camera for a video that we produce?

But no…they would rather spend thousands with a bunch of struggling Agents who demand co-op dollars in order to promote them with no guarantees of any return of their investment, when one call, or webinar would drive traffic and sales to help thier bottom line costing them virtually nothing.

I know this type of promotion from John frustrates many of you in YTB with the false claims and misrepresentation of our company and our model. I don’t know why he does it either, but you have to take it with a grain of salt, and be thankful that the truth about our model is known by the suppliers that not only understand our model, but support us. For those who don’t, they end up on the sidelines like NCL and eventually end up looking for answers somewhere else, when the diamonds in the rough are right under their noses.

Some may never get it, but with the Convergentware upgrade released late last year, some already have and many more will realize very soon just how powerful our model really is. As YTB continues to expand this solution to cruises, tour opperators, and other offerings with direct connections, trust me, thier eyes will be wide open and there will be very little anyone can do to promote otherwise.

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Do You ZamZuu?