About three years ago a new way of selling travel appeared on the scene. According to their hype, their multi-level marketing scheme was the future for travel sales and that travel agents as they were now known were dodo birds that no one had had the courtesy to tell they were extinct. The company that brought this radical new tool to the world was Your Travel Business, usually known as YTB.

Like every other MLM that has ever come along, those in early who sold lots and lots of suckers on the downline did indeed make a lot of money. And just like every MLM that has ever come along, those entering late who bought in never recouped their investment.

The idea was that each new recruit, who paid $500.00 to join and $50.00 a month to stay a member, would become a "referring travel agent" or RTA and in turn recruit others to buy in and they would recruit still others. It was clear to those who hadn't drunk the kool aid that the whole thing was a pyramid scheme, had nothing to do with selling travel and made false promises to recruits about how much money they could make, how many free trips they could get, and more.

Many of the recruits were fervent, passionate believers to the point of being obnoxious and insulting to those who truly are travel consultants, who have studied and worked hard to be a part of an honorable profession. Just as knowing where to buy aspirin doesn't make one a doctor, knowing where to find travel content did not make someone a travel agent.

Things began to unravel about a year ago when first California and then Illinois filed suit against YTB alleging, among other things, that the company was an illegal pyramid scheme. The situation is about to come to a head. See this link http://www.travelweekly.com/article3_ektid194332.aspx

I'll save you the time of doing the math, but the average YTB "travel agent" made less than $31.00 commission in the first quarter of 2009. That a little more than $10.00 a month for which each agent paid $50.00 a month to participate.

I didn't major in accounting but I took several accounting courses and as near as I can tell, this isn't a good deal.

To all those out there who bought off on the YTB myth and joined: If you are serious about wanting to sell travel, if you have a passion for helping people get the best vacation possible, contact me at charlie@justcruisinplus.com.

There' no hype, no kool aid, and no membership fee.

Meanwhile, all the real travel agents and counselors in the world can take satisfaction in knowing they represent the best in what we do.