We could all use a break from the monotony of our jobs and the humdrum of domestic chores, and the first thing that comes to mind is often a vacation. As many health experts say, taking a vacation every now and then is indispensable to good health.

The next thing we do is look for great travel deals through a travel agency. This is important because if taking a vacation means emptying out our wallets and bank accounts, what good can that do to our financial health? In dire economic times, topmost in our minds is to get the best deals, which are typically possible only from travel agencies.

Many people think that getting travel deals on the Internet is the way to go. The reason for this is that there is very little overhead involved. Online ticket sellers don’t need a physical location; all they need is a web site and a marketing campaign. A recently released white paper says, however, that people who book with travel agents receive discounts of as much as $56.00 more than when booking with the Internet or with an airline.

Great Deals through Your Travel Agency: Tips

Here are some things to bear in mind when you want to obtain great deals through a travel agency.

1. Remember the concepts of off-peak and peak – these concepts relate to travel time periods. For instance, peak travel periods would be Thanksgiving, Christmas, graduation and Easter. You probably still might get a great deal, but chances are very slim. Peak season equates with greater demand for tickets and more crowded airports, not to speak of higher fuel costs. You can obtain great deals if you schedule your trip during off peak travel periods.

2. Air consolidators – when you hear someone say, “my ticket is a consolidated ticket”, that means they are travelling to an overseas destination like Asia or Europe and their travel agents sold them consolidated tickets. Agents have access to consolidated tickets because they have special and exclusive arrangements with major carriers, thanks to frequent volume purchases.

3. Wide network of providers – travel agents work on special computer systems that provide access to the world’s discounted travel packages. This is why your best bet is to deal with a travel agent when hunting for deals because agents use the most sophisticated program applications, technology and relationships to do some bargain hunting for you.

4. Group travel – just as buying in bulk would fetch a lower price at a food wholesaler, your travel agent will be pleased to seek additional discounts for you if you’re travelling in a group. If you tell your travel agent that you need tickets for a party of four or five people, the potential of obtaining great deals is higher.

5. Budget travel – ask your travel agent for a variety of ways of travelling on a tight budget. You should tell your travel agent that you are willing to take the train, stay in a youth hostel, and eat in cheaper restaurants. Numerous travel associations here and abroad cater to younger travellers who are usually on a limited budget. Your travel agent has access to a wealth of information relating to cheap accommodations and cheap dining, as well as access to discount coupons and free passes to attractions.

6. Advance booking – it used to be that the magic number was “21”; that is, booking your trip 21 days in advance, giving you a cheaper fare. Not anymore. If you’re going to London for Christmas, call your travel agent six to seven months ahead and ask her to look for the cheapest possible flight; be aware though that Christmas time can be an expensive time to travel anywhere. If you’re travelling to say Hong Kong for Chinese New Year, you’re better off booking about seven months ahead.

7. Restricted plane fare – if you’re a no-fuss traveller and you know exactly what you want, tell your travel agent. For instance you can tell your travel agent the following:

· You’re travelling on say June 21 and that’s a definite date (which means you’re not going to change the date) and you’re returning on July 31 (again no changing of dates);

· You don’t mind a circuitous route (direct flights are more expensive)

· You’re open to taking red eye flights

· You don’t mind being on stand-by

· Remember that if you do change the dates, you could be paying a penalty.

8. Retiree – if you are a retiree, tell your travel agent. Some travel agents offer hot deals to seniors and have special relationships with hotels and sightseeing tour operators that cater specifically to this age group.

9. Children – again, some travel agents can offer half fares or practically free fares for children under a certain age. Some agents will even offer the fourth ticket free if you’re travelling with four children.

10. Day of the week – it matters what day of the week you want to travel – provided these days are not close to national holidays. For instance, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturday are considered off-days.

YTB Travel is a legitimate business opportunity that is powered by one of the leading travel booking engines, Travelocity. The problem with YTB Travel or ANY business that has received such a blow to its reputation, business or sales will suffer as a result.

Travelocity is a leading travel booking engine that offers many Features and Benefits to any home based travel agency such as:

Partnership with a strong brand like Travelocity

Tools, data feeds, and products to help you succeed

Reporting and tracking

Competitive commissions with increases for high producers

Merchandising and marketing support

Dedicated team to support your business

Travelocity award-winning customer support

Travel FHTM offers 24/7 customer support, something not offered by similar online travel booking engines, so you can rest assured that you guests will have a worry free vacation with Travel FHTM.

Travel FHTM is a travel website being offered through the Travelocity Partner Network. Through an FHTM Independent Representative’s travel site, you can book travel on 60+ airlines, stay in one of over 55,000 hotels and resorts and rent cars from over 28 rental companies.

Travel FHTM, also a Travelocity partner guarantees that everything about your booking will be right, or we will work with our partners to make it right, right away. The Travel FHTM 24/7 customer support and booking guarantee are two of the reasons we chose to leave YTB Travel for Travel FHT.

Other reasons to compare YTB Travel and Travel FHTM are price comparison. YTB Travel costs $449.00 to join and $49.00 per month vs. Travel FHTM at $299.00 to join and $49.95 per month. By joining Travel FHTM, you save $150.00, so in this rough economic times, cost was an important reason to switch to Travel FHTM.

YTB Travel offers the ability to get the travel booking engine for free, once you recruited and maintained 5 YTB RTA’s, but MOST YTB RTA’s were not able to get the free site because of the initial start up costs.

Travel FHTM does not offer a free travel booking option, but you will earn customer points and earn commissions on your monthly fee, weather you have no reps under you or 100 reps under you.

When you join YTB, you get one product to sell, that’s travel! When you join Fortune Hi Tech Marketing, you currently have 20 ADDITIONAL products and services to sell and each pays a monthly residual income.

Yes, you heard me correctly, 20 ADDITIONAL products and services from Fortune 500 companies, such as Dish Network, Sprint/Nextel, Verizon Wireless, GE Home Security just to name a few. So, for $150.00 less to join Fortune Hi Tech Marketing, you get 20 Additional products and services to sell and earn additional monthly residuals.

Overall, YTB Travel and Travel FHTM are both powered by Travelocity, both offer travel commissions to 70% and all the same great travel trips, destinations, travel providers and weekly travel deals emailed to your prospects, etc.

Both companies offer travel training, but the travel training at YTB will cost you money, travel training at Fortune Hi Tech Marketing is free.

In conclusion, when you compare YTB Travel to Travel FHTM the benefits are clear. With Travel FHTM, you join a company with a positive reputation, you save $150.00 upon signing up, you have Travel FHTM’s 24/7 customer support and travel guarantee, and you have 20 ADDITIONAL products from Fortune 500 companies which to sell and earn residual commissions from, in addition to building business of independent marketing representatives.

To learn more about the benefits of joining Fortune Hi Tech Marketing, vs. YTB Travel visit Fortune Hi Tech Marketing or Call Brent Vanderstelt at 231-206-5333 or Sherri Russell at 616-638-9384. We are Fortune Hi Tech Marketing approved trainers and internet marketing experts and will help you succeed in building a successful home based business.

Ways that Travel Insurance Can Help You Save Money

There are at least three situations where purchasing travel insurance can help you save money:

• Cancellation of flights – If you or the airline decides to cancel the flights you are booked in, your airfare will be partially covered by travel insurance. Say if you spent $4,500.00 worth of air tickets for you and your family, and suddenly the airline closes down for business or cancels a flight for any reason, you do not lose all of the $4,500.00 because travel insurance will reimburse that amount. Of course the airline will probably refund you the money if it is their fault, but having travel insurance will compensate you for the inconvenience and trouble. Also, if you cancel the flight yourself, travel insurance will get you back your money.
• Loss of luggage – When you purchase travel insurance, make sure it covers lost luggage as well. Imagine landing in some foreign country with none of your luggage! While most airlines are efficient about recovering lost luggage and delivering them to your door, don’t rely on that efficiency. There have been instances where luggage was never recovered.
• Medical problems – You may be in perfect health when you leave for vacation but you increase the likelihood of getting exposed to viruses or bacteria either in the plane or in your country of destination. There’s also the chance that you could accidentally drink the local drinking water or eat contaminated food. Medical visits in some foreign countries can cost an arm and a leg so you wouldn’t want to spend all your vacation money on doctor’s visits! If you have travel insurance that covers expenses for brief hospitalizations, medicine and emergency situations, think about how much all these could add up if you didn’t have travel insurance.
Tips for Purchasing Travel Insurance
• Ask your insurance provider – If you have an insurance company that insures your car, house and other property, they may also offer travel insurance or they may work with a partner or affiliate who does. Because you are an established customer, they may offer you travel insurance at lower rates. It doesn’t hurt to ask. In fact, in some instances, you may be better off going with your existing insurer than purchase separate insurance from the travel agent who books your flight.
• Go for the whole nine yards – What this means is if you are traveling with the family, you might be better off buying family travel insurance instead of separate insurance policies. It also means that because traveling with children entails more risk than traveling alone, you may want to consider travel insurance that offers comprehensive coverage; that is, plane fares, luggage, and health and medical visits.
• Multi-trip travel insurance – If you make more than one trip every year, you might be better off purchasing an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy. This would save you the hassle of purchasing travel insurance several times during the year. Some travel insurance companies will usually sell you a 12-month package that is renewable yearly and this is a huge convenience if you travel a lot during any given 12-month period. The single biggest advantage of buying an annual policy is that you don’t need to worry about arranging for emergency medical coverage.
• Compare packages and prices – As for most major ticket items, it pays to shop around for insurance. If you know you will be travelling six months from now, don’t wait until the month before your travel date to do some bargain hunting. Start now so that you are not rushed about reading the fine print and you can make a more informed decision about the kind of travel insurance that is ideal for your situation.
Remember to do the cost analysis if you are ever tempted to skip travel insurance. Even if your ticket is discounted, say you paid $600.00 to go to the Caribbean. Travel insurance will cost about $85.00 to $100.00. If you are forced to cancel your trip, you lose $600.00 (restricted and discounted tickets are usually non-refundable or non-transferrable) versus the $100.00 you paid if you had purchased travel insurance. If you want to save money, put travel insurance on the top of your list.

The Internet has almost replaced the newspapers’ employment section especially when it comes to travel job search. However, scams are all over Internet In fact, job scams increase during tough economic times because so many people become desperate to find jobs and needless to say, we are in tough economic times.

Even with the implementation of security screenings in Internet employment boards, job scammers are able to find ingenious ways to post fraudulent claims. As a job hunter, you should be vigilant and always try to investigate thoroughly. The more people are becoming aware of these scams, the less motivation for scammers to continue doing these deceitful deeds.

Some travel job sites are legitimate but keep in mind that some of these sites usually have ridiculous marketing claims. Travel job sites can be somewhat devious in their promises.

If it is too good to be true, it could be a scam. It always pays to inquire and probe before making any decisions or investments. However, do not get too idealistic because travel job websites are businesses and just like any business, profit-making is the primary concern. Simply identify your job search goals, work for it but don’t get fooled.

Here are some tips to make your online job hunting scam-free.

Travel Job websites that ask for upfront payments are definite red flags.

Most legitimate employment agencies don’t charge unless they actually succeed in getting you a job.

However, some are legitimate; it is better to research first to make sure before sending payment or giving out your credit card number. You can check a company out with the Better Business Bureau or do an online search.

There are a lot of well-meaning citizens who post cautions on different companies as well as backgrounds of job providing websites. Forums can be a great help too. You can get a lot of useful information there. Previously victimized individuals usually express their gripes in forums.

Avoid giving personal information to sites if you are not certain of their authenticity.

To avoid identity theft, never give your personal information if you are not sure about the websites reputation.

Some scam sites don’t bother giving detailed information. They are usually sketchy but will still ask for personal information. If the description is vague and unclear, it is highly probable that it is a scam.

Free email accounts are signs of disreputable schemes.

Major companies have their own web addresses, and legitimate offers would want to use company emails. So if the ad says it is a major company, but the email or contact information is to a free email such as Yahoo or Gmail, then the ad may not be real.

If a company promises enormous amounts of wealth with little work, then it is probably a dishonest money-making ruse.

Just like I said earlier, if it is too good to be true, it is likely to be a con. Avoid the get-rich-quick mentality. It will only make you more susceptible to scams and cheats in the Internet

The current financial crisis has had a strange effect on the travel and tourism industry. The high cost of travel has stopped casual travelers and not so affluent individuals who would want to take trips and explore the world. Yet somehow, the travel and tourism industry is weathering the storm.

Tourism is major sector for any country and it is especially vulnerable to economic uncertainty and volatility for a simple reason. Most travel and tourism involves discretionary expense. During tough economic times people conserve their cash to cover the essentials of life like food, shelter, and family necessities. However, this does not mean that tourism stops.

People will always continue to travel; and the industry may slow down but it never ceases. People just need to find ways to travel differently from the way they do during times of economic buoyancy. Hospitality and tourism businesses have managed to adapt by modifying pricing and marketing approach; and they appear to be surviving the crisis.

Tourism, which has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years, looks set to continue growing as societies become more mobile and prosperous. This is the the current and projected trend. Travel and tourism is continuously growing and the terrible economic crisis has only managed to slow it down.

Once the public trust is earned again, and it is actually happening, tourism will be back stronger than ever. Travel and tourism is certainly a major part of the global economy because in this particular financial meltdown, with credit to the governments all over the world, authorities have acted swiftly and decisively to put the brakes on the panic which overtook the private sector.

Businesses have adapted well and they adjusted to service travelers on a tighter budget. The demand for the luxury end of the market has somewhat decreased while demand for either low cost or perceived good value products and services have grown. Hospitality, travel and tourism businesses need to promptly adapt to this trend if they still have not done so.

The businesses associated with the industry have proven its flexibility and its capacity to adapt. Slight changes may occur in staffing and hiring; good or bad, it will entirely depend on the locale and other contributing factors. The big picture is still favorable for job seekers. Travel jobs offered may not be as numerous as before but there are a lot still available nonetheless.

To sum up, the current meltdown of the global economy has affected all industries, including travel and tourism. But the swift and ongoing efforts of nations’ governments and the ability of businesses to adapt have stopped and controlled the financial bleeding. Travel job opportunities are still available and continue to grow. With the proven resilience of the industry, the rate of hospitality and tourism job position availability will pick up and recover.