Travel - Friends - Dating -- JoinMate.com!

A travel agency offering 50% discount but must pay a 7000USD membership fee??

Hey there, I was approached by a respectable travel agency, basically the deal is the following, I can get 50% discount on cruises, 30% discount on travel flights, 70% discount on Hotels and so on… the catch is I have to pay to become a member, and the fee to pay is 7,000USD! Plus a 100 USD yearly fee for ever… So, here is my question, has any of you ever been approached by such deals? And if so, what do you suggest I do? Is it really worth paying 7000USD!!?? Wow, that’s a pricy membership…

Anyhow, thanks for your answers…

Public Comments

1. Sounds like a skam to me. If you truely got a 50% discount off the lowest price on cruises, you would have to take USD 14,000 worth of cruises yearly to break even. There are all kinds of web sites that guarantee the lowest price, 30% off airfare, 70% off hotels, etc. Thing is a "Y ticket is the most expensive economy air ticket, there are lots of different classes of tickets, ("Q", "M" etc) which are all less than "Y"
so "Q" might normally will be 30% less than "Y" any way. Any place that says you need to pay "for ever" I'd avoid. It's a legal contract and there has to be provisions for you to get out of the contract (may cost [i.e. $175 early disconnect fee for cell phones]).

2. I do extensive research for all my cruises, trips and travel and have never heard of this. It sounds very fishy.

3. Definitely sounds like a scam. There are always ways to find discounted services, why would you need to pay $7000 to do it. report them to the BBB, and your local consumer affairs office.

4. As a Independent Professional Cruise Specialist and as the Mgr of New Agent Recruiting for our company (and we are a major company), I can assure you that is a farse!

There are a couple of companies that are network marketing or MLM structured (or pyramid). You pay the fee and then have the right to sell others the package you bought. the are not "sellers of travel" but "sellers of the right to sell others the package"

The 50% on hotels for example is off the "rack rate" (or highest rate authorized to charge per the sign on the back of the room door) which no one ever pays anyway. In fact, there are usually promotions that will give you greater discounts.

There are no discounts off airlines unless you figure the ticket you buy at the airport the day of flight as $1000 (for example) and you are only paying the rate for buying 21 days out.

When it comes to cruises, they could be referring to brochure rates again which no one ever pays as it is rare to not have some promotion offering lower rate.

When they say you will have an "official" travel Agent ID, they are called "Card Mills". To get an official CLIA or IATAN card, you have to qualify and earn it, they don't just give them away.

There is an old expression "When it sounds good to be true, it probably is."

People seem to think that cruise agents go for free. Well, yes on occasion we can earn free trips or get invitations to inaugruals, but for the most part we do pay. True, there may be TA rates or other opportunities to save on our own cruises plus we would save the commission we normally earn.

Don't get fooled! Save your $7000.

Al Richman
Cruises Inc
Mgr, New Agent Recruiting