Wow. What an unpleasant ride I have had with http://Travel4RoadWarriors.com over almost two years.
Here' what I observed.
I met a person that suggested since I travel so much, I should become my own travel agent, with someone called YTB. It didn't take a ton of research in the early winter of 2007 to come up with less then great news.
In 2008 The California Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit. Http://www.ag.ca.gov/newalerts/release.php?id=1596
So I said no thanks and tried TraVerus Travel. Big Mistake, and I got a lot out of it.
What had me hooked was the fact the booking engine was so dang great!
While my buddy Gudrun 'has my back' with only the best intent, well, lets say we didn't really see eye-to-eye on TraVerus. I am not saying I was blindly being taken for a ride. I *knew* I was being taken for a ride with TraVerus. And I was willing to go along with it because the travel booking engine was so damn good.
So I put up a little extra cash and effort to launch http://Travel4RoadWarriors.com
I figured if *anyone* at least got the same fast/super fair travel engine I was buying for myself, I might make back a few bucks a month. Between TraVerus and other minimal overhead, I was putting out $100. a month.
Guess what? No I never did see a dime in commissions, even for my own car rentals. TravelTrade.com reports it has helped collect about 1/2 million dollars for 4,000 agents combat "commission bypass." And I paid. Because of things like:
The flexiblity of being able to do things like:
Search Near By Airports (Checkbox or not)
Search dates +/- days on either side of the trip. (Checkbox or not)
And after almost 2 years of attempting to run a retail TraVerus business, I folded to Gudrun and hung up http://Travel4RoadWarriors.com I couldn't get answers to questions, even sent by certified US Mail. Nor did they ever notify agents in California that their computers with the agents credit card data was stolen from the TraVerus offices. All they wanted to do was run something just like the YTB thing.
So for about 6-months, http://Travel4RoadWarriors.com went to limbo.
And with a bunch of effort from the TRCB Dream Team, its back, with the same engine.
So my buddy looks at my details for speaking at SMBNation Oct 2-4. Asks me what do I want to do?
And I let her rip. And she does, through at least 10 travel portals. Guess what?
*My baby* came in at least $12 less because they thoughtfully included round trip tickets for the Las Vegas airport and Strip along with my air and motel.
*aahhh* Did I feel vindicated.
My old friend, Priceline.com has gotten old, fat and greedy too.
For the exact same package, Priceline was 25% higher, and wasn't even throwing in the van ride to the strip.
A few weeks ago I discovered the Hyatt wouldn't accept my rewards because I booked through Priceline, and not direct.
At least my airline accounts are honored through http://Travel4RoadWarriors.com
So I've said goodbye to both PriceLine and TraVerus. I'm not sure about you, and I just don't have the time for the nonsense. I need travel, not a flaky MLM.
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