Can You Really Make Money With Traverus?

Traverus Review

Company Name: Traverus

Industry: Travel

Note: This was previously a review of Paycation, which has now become Traverus. I'll update the details at a later date. Thanks for understanding!

What Is It

Sell vacation packages as a ‘travel agent’ and recruit members into Paycation as travel agents.

Quick Review

Honestly, I think the product isn’t that bad, and could be a pretty good business idea if it weren’t for all the MLM junk tied up in the program. Personally, I would rather build a website about traveling and make money through affiliate marketing so I didn't have to rely on a downline, or send money to my upline.

Product Breakdown

The very basic product you’ll be selling is a monthly subscription to a ‘vacation club’, which is supposed to get you discounts on travel packages. I did some investigation into whether or not you actually did save money, and here’s what I discovered

Sorry the graphic is so hard to read. The trip to NYC including the hotel and a broadway show is $412 total. The price of the same hotel room offered in this package alone is at least $314 and the Broadway show price ranges from $53 to $225 depending on the show. Though they don’t tell you what the show is, if they get you anything but the very cheapest of the cheap shows, you’ll probably save some money here.

There’s nothing else included in this package, so just based on the hotel alone, you’ll save money here too – about $40 per person.

This was very surprising to me, and it’s why I mentioned in the short review of Paycation that I think that product isn’t that bad. However, I have a few concerns.

1. As a traveler, I know that vacation packages are almost never what they are advertised, and there’s always hidden costs. The prices you see listed are not the final price of your vacation. I have been on package trips before, and almost always been disappointed in what I received for my money. They lure you in with a good price, then get you with other things like food costs, extra services, and whatnot.

2. The amount of money you save is probably not worth it. Your membership fees are $30/month, so even if you vacation every year, you need to save $120 just to break even. How much vacation time do you have and can coordinate with your spouse?

I just think most people won’t be using a vacation membership since most people don’t go on regular vacations. If you do have that kind of money and freedom, you probably don’t need to save $50-$100/year

3. Limitations are obvious. To save a couple bucks, you are limited to dates and destinations they choose for packages.

For regular booking of whatever trips your friends and family go on, this might not be a bad business. If that’s the case though, why not become a certified travel agent? And are you going to be able to compete with all these places like Orbitz or Kayak?

My Grandparents recently went to the East Coast for a wedding and used a travel agent. Honestly, I didn’t think travel agents still existed, but they do. I’ve never been inside one and have always booked my vacations online based on my own research and travel plans.

Opportunity Breakdown

Let’s the fundamentals of how the system works.

As a basic member, you just sell the subscriptions to the travel club and earn $10/sale. In order to make higher commissions, you need to refer at least 3 of these people. After that, you can make $20/sale and $50/sale if you sell higher levels of membership (while maintaining your status as a basic affiliate.

These are called “coded bonuses”

If you want higher commissions, you’ll need to become a Referral Travel Consultant or Certified Travel Consultant.

Your Commissions

• Paycation Travel Club (IA) – $10.00
• Referral Travel Consultant (RTC) – $25.00
• Certified Travel Consultant (CTC) – $50.00

Once your recruited agents start recruiting, you then get enrolled to earn “matching coded bonuses” based on what they sell (150%). I don’t really understand how you receive 150% of what they receive, i.e. where the money comes from.

This happens again at 100% for your 3rd IA referral.

After those bonuses are paid, you start to receive 8% commissions on monthly subscriptions of RTC and CTC. This is the point where the compensation plan starts to turn into a bunch of gobbledygook like most network marketing programs.

A lot of what’s after this point requires you to be an upgraded member, so realize that even if you are making money, you are still paying $59.95/month to maintain your membership, plus $40 annual fee (paid up front). So if you upgrade to the highest level, you are starting off at least a couple hundred bucks in the hole. They do not make it clear if you upgrade immediately to CTC if you are still require to pay the IA and RTC fees. I'm guessing that you are.

The Gobbledygook

MLM compensation plans are notoriously complicated, and I learned doing this review of Paycation, that this company is no different. Fans of direct selling and network marketing love these special tricks to make money. Critics say that it’s meant to confuse the average member, making the system sound a lot more attractive than it actually is.

For example, we’ve talked A LOT about how much money you’ll make at each level, but we haven’t even discussed what it’s going to take to get just ONE person to sign up.

So, does Paycation have systems in place to teach you how to sell? Do you plan on cold calling family members? Can you build a website or make YouTube videos and market online? Know the risks and challenges of any ‘biz op’ you get yourself into.

Beyond the basic comp plan, they start to get into a 3×7 matrix and how to achieve various levels of qualification for additional bonuses.

All of the focus is on recruiting other members into the system and getting them to upgrade to PTC and CTC packages. Those packages are meant for recruiters, so basically you are getting more sellers into the system. Now, instead of being a travel agent, you are a recruiting agent for Paycation.

If they would cut out all the fat and just have THIS, I might even recommend Paycation.

…odd, there wasn't much mention of the CTC Travel Training Course til now. I wonder why they downplayed the certification. It sounds like a perk to me!

Other Comments

Everything sounds great on paper, and while investigating an exciting new thing, it’s easy to imagine the way things will be. But sit down and have a serious conversation with yourself – how often do YOU go on vacation?

If you really dream of helping people book vacations, become a travel agent, but it’s not as glamorous or full of riches as it may seem.

If you really are interested in travel, you should create a business related to traveling! The best way I know how to do this is to make a small website and earn money from ads on the website. You can learn how to build a website about traveling and make money from it here.

Even if you want to be a travel agent, having a website about traveling can get your business listed in Google, and help you get more clients to your business.

If you are serious about starting a business, you need to get a real business plan. Part of that plan has to be how to reach a wide audience to advertise your products, or even help other companies advertise. Learn how to start an online business about traveling or anything else at this online business training center. It's where I started over 5 years ago, and now I run my own business from my home.

MLM Critic & Author: Nathaniell

What's up ladies and dudes! Great to finally meet you, and I hope you enjoyed this post. I have to be honest with you. MLM sucks. I've tried it. The fees. The recruiting. The parties. The cold calling. Bleh.

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