YTB's Survival questioned after a net loss of $1.9 million

YTB International reported a net loss from operations for the first quarter of 2009 of $1.9 million. In its first-quarter report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), YTB said that negative current economic conditions and other factors have led to a fall off in the number of active Travel Site Owners (TSOs) in YTB. Net revenues totaled $21.8 million in the first quarter of 2009 compared to $42.7 million in the first quarter of 2008.

YTB said the number of active TSOs has declined during the quarter ending March 31 by a net loss of 18,582 to 73,801 active TSOs from the 92,383 reported as of December 31, 2008. TSOs were formerly known as Referring Travel Agents (RTAs), most of whom work from their homes.

“The Company is also defending against two cases challenging the legality of its network marketing program," YTB said in its report to the SEC. "Litigation claims can be expensive and time consuming to bring and defend against and could result in settlements or damages that could significantly affect financial results.

“The Company’s loss from operations, declining active TSO count, working capital deficiency, uncertainties surrounding the Company’s pending litigation, and the general downturn in the economy raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the report continued.

YTB said it had taken action to ensure that the company will survive, including a consultant to provide recommendations to the Board on cost structure, compliance and other matters to improve overall profitability.


For more information contact:

Daryl D. Alex
Regional Executive
Traverus Travel/ Televerus Cell Phones
1-800-781-3254
1-877-744-3431
225-590-7700

$1 MILLION Fine handed out to YTB

YTB Travel News: As reported by Elizabet Donald:WOOD RIVER -- Illinois has filed a lawsuit against the YourTravelBiz company and California has leveled a $1 million fine against it.

The company and its officers face litigation from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, according to spokesman Natalie Bauer.

Jonathan Quinn, an attorney for YourTravelBiz, said the company does not have a comment at this time on the Illinois complaint. "We have not been formally served, and when we are we will review the complaint and be in a position to comment," he said.

According to the Illinois complaint filed against YTB on Thursday, the company charged its clients a $450 initial fee plus $50 a month to purchase a travel Web site. The suit alleges that the company misled their clients as to the commissions they received, that advertising showed there was no cost to join. Calling it a pyramid scheme, the complaint alleges that the real money came from referring others to join YTB instead of the travel sales themselves.

According to the suit, the average representative earned about $114 a year, while executives made millions. Madigan alleges that the company violated the Consumer Fraud Act and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

This comes after California's lawsuit against the company was settled for a $1 million fine on Thursday.

Also, the company faces a federal class-action lawsuit from former customers.

The class-action suit, filed last year on behalf of more than 1,000 people who participated in the YTB system, seeks more than $100 million in damages.

For more information contact:

Daryl D. Alex
Regional Executive
Traverus Travel and Televerus Cell Phones
1-800-781-3254
1-877-744-3431
225-590-7700

YTB Travel International Inc. Travel Agency or Travel SCAM ?

YTB Travel International Inc. problems have widened the gap between the learning and earning curves of becoming a REAL certified travel agent alone with the learning and earning to become a REAL marketeer. YTB Travel International Inc. has some success at marketing travel But, at the expense of it's very own YTB Travel International agents and other associates, who are frustrated with YTB Travel International Inc. attractive opportunity, but, YTB Travel International Inc. unrealistic goals.

There's something very wrong and the growing list of YTB Travel International Inc. problems has caught the attention of not only The Attorney General of California but, also that of IATA. YTB Travel International Inc. complaints has made The Travel industry punch drunkend, And has many people who are seeking their fortune to enhance the quality of their life with the aide of this lucrative Travel Industry have been left asking questions as to how or will they ever get a head with YTB Travel International.

As a result of the many YTB travel International Inc. lawsuits, it appears that the travel industry may have to take a different approach or at least the suppliers and vendors of travel will have to. YTB Travel International Inc. problems are just the beginning. YTB Travel International Inc. illegal marketed marketeers. YTB Travel International Inc. lawsuits have now convinced the suppliers and vendors to cancel its ties. YTB Travel International Inc. has been revoked from IATA.

Avoid the circus of YTB Travel International Inc. problems and learn to become a REAL Travel Agent, get paid to help others learn about becoming travel agents and earn high commissions and residual income as well.



For More Information Contact:

Daryl D. Alex
Regional Executive
Traverus Travel and TeleVerus Cell Phones
1.800.781.3254
1.877.744.3431
225.590.7700
Traverus Travel Update and TeleVerus Cell Phones

YTB The Robbing Hood Of Travel

How many of you remember the legend of "Robin Hood"? who took from the rich and gave to the poor and the less fortunate; Now for those of you that do we have our very own 20th century legend However, this legend is spelled a little differently then
we are accustom to and his policy are all together different then that of the old "Robin Hood" is known as "The ROBBING Hood of Travel" and is the owner of YTB Travel International Inc. or more commonly know as yourtravelbiz.com. Who sells false hopes and dreams of wealth and luxurious cars and houses all for a $450.00 start up fee and a $50.00 monthly maintenance fee. However, Some, like California Attorney General Jerry Brown, say the whole thing's a scam that recruits thousands of members with deceptive claims. The only people reaching their dreams, they say, are a handful at the very top, while most get nothing. But YTB's legion of supporters say that's just not the case. They argue that the YTB complaints come from ex-agents who thought success would be handed to them, and that YTB Travel International Inc. is rigorously aboveboard. Whoever's right, there's no denying that YTB Travel International Inc. has tapped into something powerful, and has ridden it to become one of the fastest-growing small companies in the St. Louis region.

Along the way, the Tomers prospered. Scott Tomer and Sorensen each earned $2.3 million in cash, benefits and stock last year, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lloyd Tomer earned $3.5 million. Top salespeople made out well, too: A couple earned more than the top execs last year, and 11 sales directors topped $800,000, according to the company's publicly available income disclosure statement. Dozens more earned six figures.

But beneath them, the vast majority earned little.

YTB's 45,000 entry-level sales reps — the people who sell new travel agencies — on average earned $90.32 last year. And of the more than 200,000 people who paid the company as much as $1,000 to run a travel website in 2007, nearly 125,000 didn't earn a penny in commissions, according to Brown's lawsuit. Half of the rest earned less than $39. And while YTB took in $103 million last year from selling and maintaining websites, it paid out just $13.4 million in commissions for selling travel.

Those numbers led to grumbling that YTB is little more than a pyramid scheme, a shell game designed to enrich a few on the backs of many. Those grumbles grew for months, and then burst open with Brown's lawsuit, followed by news of an investigation by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and two class-action lawsuits filed in federal court in East St. Louis.

For More Information Contact:

Daryl D. Alex
Regional Executive
Traverus Travel and TeleVerus Cell Phones
1.800.781.3254
1.877.744.3431
225.590.7700

YTB Travel International Inc. Laid-off 25 employees?

YTB Travel News(Press Release): After doing a little private investigative work YTB Travel News has uncovered some very disappointing news
as reported by Cynthia Ellis of The Telegraph; YTB Travel International Inc. has began to lay-off some of it's employees from it's corporate
headquarters as of Wednesday August 27, 2008. However, the following story can
give us better insight as to "WHY" these alarming steps were taken:

By CYNTHIA M. ELLIS
The Telegraph

WOOD RIVER - YTB International Inc. reportedly terminated the employment of 25 people from its corporate headquarters on Wednesday.

A laid-off employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he and two dozen others were told their positions were being eliminated due to the "current economic environment in the United States," and that the company's management "regret this necessary decision."

The man said company officials knew Tuesday that positions would be eliminated, because they scheduled meetings with the employees Wednesday to inform them about the situation.

"I was told by my manager there would be a meeting, and I had no idea what it was about," he said. "I didn't know if I had done something wrong. I was stressing all night."

The man said that ever since the California Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against YTB Travel International Inc. in early August that claimed the company was operating a "gigantic pyramid scheme," company officials have been telling employees that "everything is fine."

"I don't think it's fine," he said.

Legal action was taken against YourTravelBiz.com, a subsidiary of YTB International Inc., for allegedly recruiting tens of thousands of people with deceptive claims that they could earn huge sums of money through its online travel agencies.

So far, the lawsuit is the toughest one filed against the company since it started operations seven years ago. YTB Travel International Inc. runs Web sites for referring travel agents, online agencies that sell flights, cruises and vacation packages and earn a commission.

Since the filing of the California suit, a class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court in East St. Louis and a third in Madison County Circuit Court. A judge has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 2 in the circuit court case filed in Edwardsville by Terry and Teresa Braswell, in which the couple claim that YTB Travel International Inc. Chairman J. Lloyd "Coach" Tomer "repudiated" a contract with the couple that called for them to receive about $10,000 per month.

The company has defended itself against the legal actions.

"As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation. However, we can tell you that YTB Travel International Inc. believes the allegations we've heard are without merit, and we will vigorously defend ourselves," YTB Travel International Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott Tomer said recently in a prepared statement.

Tomer said the company is proud of its business model and how the operations are conducted in an ethical and transparent way by management. Last month, the company announced that it was contemplating the replacement of its referring travel agent business model with a franchise operating system, to start in 2009. The model, if adopted, would be similar to other franchise businesses; however, details about the plan still are in the works.

YTB Travel International Inc. officials did not respond to an e-mail sent by The Telegraph, asking questions about its layoffs or whether any legal actions have had a financial impact on the company.

During the past several years, YTB Travel International Inc. has grown significantly; last year, it was ranked 26th in a survey conducted by Travel Weekly magazine, selling $414.5 million. Reports show that nearly three-quarters of its revenue came from selling new agencies rather than from actual travel sales.

YTB Travel International Inc. employs between 300 and 350 people at its headquarters at 1901 E. Edwardsville Road, where it is spending $25 million to expand the facility it purchased more than two years ago.

Wood River Mayor Fred Ufert said he hates to see employees lose their jobs. He said the layoffs would hurt the city economically, as well.

"Some of the employees live in the city," Ufert said. "It's a bad thing for everyone. We can only hope they will get through it."

The former YTB Travel International employee said the situation is upsetting, but he has come to the conclusion that he doesn't need to be working for a company that cannot be honest with its employees. He said it is likely that more positions will be terminated.

"We could clearly see something was going but were assured everything was OK," he said. "Does it seem OK if they are letting people go?"

In closing, YTB Travel International Inc. doesn't appear to be as recession proof as it has everyone thinking I mean to make such a bold step as this just days before YTB Travel International is to meet with a circuit judge to answer the allegations pending from The California suit, The class action lawsuit that has been filed in federal court in East St. Louis and a third in Madison County Circuit Court is a sure sign that everything isn't at all what YTB Travel International Inc.Chief Executive Officer Scott Tomer and others are confessing them to be, it's funny that I choose the word "CONFESSING"
maybe it time that YTB Travel International Inc. began to do just that "CONFESS" it's wrong doing and set their captives FREE!!!!!!!

For More Information Contact:
Daryl D. Alex
Regional Executive
TraVerus Travel and TeleVerus Cell Phones
1.800.781.3254
1.877.744.3431
225.590.7700