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Cruises, Vacations
and Rental Cars.
Book your entire
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Now you can buy a
New or Used Car
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WOOD RIVER, Ill., July 11, 2007 – YTB International, Inc. (OTC BB: YTBL.PK), a provider of Internet-based travel
booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives in the United States, today announced that
the Company has been named as one of the country’s leading travel agencies in Travel Weekly’s 2007 Power List. As part of
the Power List, YTB was ranked 35th among all travel agencies and included in the top 11 leisure travel agencies.
The Power List is primarily determined by gross sales volume, as well as several other factors including travel-related
subsidiaries, percentage of sales from business and corporate structure. Other leading leisure travel agencies named in this
year’s Power List are Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and AAA.
“We are honored to be included in Travel Weekly’s annual list of leading travel agencies. This recognition further validates the
progress we have made over the last year as we continue to build YTB into a leading travel company,” commented J. Kim
Sorensen, President and CEO of YTB Travel Network. “We are committed to the leisure market and have been growing our
business at a phenomenal rate. As we look towards the future, we will continue to enhance the services and capabilities
offered to our expanding network of RTAs and customers.”
About YTB International
YTB International, Inc. provides Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent
representatives in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. It operates through three subsidiaries:
YourTravelBiz.com, Inc., YTB Travel Network, Inc., and REZconnect Technologies, Inc. YourTravelBiz.com division
focuses on marketing on-line travel agencies through a nationwide network of independent business people, known as
“Reps.” YTB Travel Network division establishes and maintains travel vendor relationships, books travel transactions of on-
line travel agents (RTAs, now numbering over 100,000), collects travel payments and licensing fees, and processes travel
commissions. Each RTA sells travel through a personalized Internet-based travel Website. The REZconnect Technologies
division builds online reservation systems for suppliers within the travel industry.
PR Newswire (11 July 2007, Wed 8:00am)
Source: YTB International, Inc
booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives in the United States, today announced that
the Company has been named as one of the country’s leading travel agencies in Travel Weekly’s 2007 Power List. As part of
the Power List, YTB was ranked 35th among all travel agencies and included in the top 11 leisure travel agencies.
The Power List is primarily determined by gross sales volume, as well as several other factors including travel-related
subsidiaries, percentage of sales from business and corporate structure. Other leading leisure travel agencies named in this
year’s Power List are Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and AAA.
“We are honored to be included in Travel Weekly’s annual list of leading travel agencies. This recognition further validates the
progress we have made over the last year as we continue to build YTB into a leading travel company,” commented J. Kim
Sorensen, President and CEO of YTB Travel Network. “We are committed to the leisure market and have been growing our
business at a phenomenal rate. As we look towards the future, we will continue to enhance the services and capabilities
offered to our expanding network of RTAs and customers.”
About YTB International
YTB International, Inc. provides Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent
representatives in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. It operates through three subsidiaries:
YourTravelBiz.com, Inc., YTB Travel Network, Inc., and REZconnect Technologies, Inc. YourTravelBiz.com division
focuses on marketing on-line travel agencies through a nationwide network of independent business people, known as
“Reps.” YTB Travel Network division establishes and maintains travel vendor relationships, books travel transactions of on-
line travel agents (RTAs, now numbering over 100,000), collects travel payments and licensing fees, and processes travel
commissions. Each RTA sells travel through a personalized Internet-based travel Website. The REZconnect Technologies
division builds online reservation systems for suppliers within the travel industry.
PR Newswire (11 July 2007, Wed 8:00am)
Source: YTB International, Inc
YTB INTERNATIONAL RECOGNIZED BY TRAVEL WEEKLY AS LEADING TRAVEL
AGENCY IN 2007 POWER LIST
AGENCY IN 2007 POWER LIST
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How to Avoid Hidden Hotel ChargesHow to Avoid Hidden Charges
Andrea Bennett examines the mysterious fees on your bill and whether it’s possible to avoid them.
By Andrea Bennett, Travel+Leisure
Shortly after its opening in 2006, I decided to visit the Lodge at Woodloch, a destination spa deep in the Poconos. Upon my arrival from New York, I
discovered the property had no cellular service, so I made several calls home from my room phone, expecting to fork over little more than a dollar. Imagine my
surprise when my hotel bill revealed a $7.38 charge for each time I picked up the receiver, despite having never actually reached anyone.
The mysterious “picking up the phone” fee is probably not the most surprising one I’ll ever encounter. Surcharges are a huge moneymaker: according to
PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. hotels brought in $1.6 billion with them last year, up from $550 million in 2003. And the company projects that number to be
more like $1.75 billion in 2008. As properties find creative ways to make you pay more, it’s important to be informed before planning your next hotel stay.
What to watch for
Taxes alone can add a hefty sum to your final bill, depending on which state you’re staying in. New York, for instance, levies up to 8.75 percent in sales tax,
plus a 5 percent hotel tax. Suddenly your $400 per night room is really $454. Catchall “resort fees,” covering guests’ use of facilities like the pool and fitness
center, are old standards. These days, however, itemized charges can be tacked on for extras like landscaping and housekeeping, holding your luggage, tipping
the bellman, and mini-bar restocking. (That’s right, your $6 soda now costs $8.50. Hope you’re thirsty.) Aside from its $25 resort fee, the Arizona Biltmore
Resort & Spa charges $10 for accepting FedEx and UPS deliveries for guests. The Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association now encourages its members to
impose an energy surcharge. And if you stay at a hotel in Ottawa, you’ll pay a 3 percent “destination marketing fee” to promote its tourism industry,
whether you like the city or not.
Calculate before you go
It’s possible to get a clearer picture of your final bill by doing a little pre-vacation math. Before booking, ask if there are additional fees that you should be
aware of, and how much the total cost will be, per night, with extras included. Travel-Hawaii.com, an online booking service, posts an overview of resort
surcharges at 16 island hotels, so you won’t be caught off-guard. Hotel chains like Hilton and Starwood have now committed to stating the total price at the
time you book. Online travel agencies like Travelocity and Orbitz often include the extras in their “total cost” for stays, which will be the same even if you
end up booking on the hotel’s website.
Negotiate in advance
Hotel staff are often reluctant to remove charges from your bill. If you’re not planning on using the resort facilities/business center/newspaper delivery,
request that they eliminate those expenses before you arrive. Check out early, or better yet, settle your bill the night before, so you have time to examine it
thoroughly. Can the desk clerk explain every charge? If he dismisses them as “automatic,” ask for clarification. And if he can’t tell you exactly what they
cover, you have legal grounds for dispute.
Content Source:
This article originally appeared in Travel+Leisure in June, 2008.
(msn.com, 24 June 2008)
Andrea Bennett examines the mysterious fees on your bill and whether it’s possible to avoid them.
By Andrea Bennett, Travel+Leisure
Shortly after its opening in 2006, I decided to visit the Lodge at Woodloch, a destination spa deep in the Poconos. Upon my arrival from New York, I
discovered the property had no cellular service, so I made several calls home from my room phone, expecting to fork over little more than a dollar. Imagine my
surprise when my hotel bill revealed a $7.38 charge for each time I picked up the receiver, despite having never actually reached anyone.
The mysterious “picking up the phone” fee is probably not the most surprising one I’ll ever encounter. Surcharges are a huge moneymaker: according to
PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. hotels brought in $1.6 billion with them last year, up from $550 million in 2003. And the company projects that number to be
more like $1.75 billion in 2008. As properties find creative ways to make you pay more, it’s important to be informed before planning your next hotel stay.
What to watch for
Taxes alone can add a hefty sum to your final bill, depending on which state you’re staying in. New York, for instance, levies up to 8.75 percent in sales tax,
plus a 5 percent hotel tax. Suddenly your $400 per night room is really $454. Catchall “resort fees,” covering guests’ use of facilities like the pool and fitness
center, are old standards. These days, however, itemized charges can be tacked on for extras like landscaping and housekeeping, holding your luggage, tipping
the bellman, and mini-bar restocking. (That’s right, your $6 soda now costs $8.50. Hope you’re thirsty.) Aside from its $25 resort fee, the Arizona Biltmore
Resort & Spa charges $10 for accepting FedEx and UPS deliveries for guests. The Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association now encourages its members to
impose an energy surcharge. And if you stay at a hotel in Ottawa, you’ll pay a 3 percent “destination marketing fee” to promote its tourism industry,
whether you like the city or not.
Calculate before you go
It’s possible to get a clearer picture of your final bill by doing a little pre-vacation math. Before booking, ask if there are additional fees that you should be
aware of, and how much the total cost will be, per night, with extras included. Travel-Hawaii.com, an online booking service, posts an overview of resort
surcharges at 16 island hotels, so you won’t be caught off-guard. Hotel chains like Hilton and Starwood have now committed to stating the total price at the
time you book. Online travel agencies like Travelocity and Orbitz often include the extras in their “total cost” for stays, which will be the same even if you
end up booking on the hotel’s website.
Negotiate in advance
Hotel staff are often reluctant to remove charges from your bill. If you’re not planning on using the resort facilities/business center/newspaper delivery,
request that they eliminate those expenses before you arrive. Check out early, or better yet, settle your bill the night before, so you have time to examine it
thoroughly. Can the desk clerk explain every charge? If he dismisses them as “automatic,” ask for clarification. And if he can’t tell you exactly what they
cover, you have legal grounds for dispute.
Content Source:
This article originally appeared in Travel+Leisure in June, 2008.
(msn.com, 24 June 2008)
