PlanNet Marketing Review: InteleTravel agent subscriptions
PlanNet Marketing operate in the travel MLM niche and are based out of Georgia in the US.
Identified as Founder and CEO of the company on the PlanNet Marketing website are Don Bradley and Andy Cauthen respectively.
Donald D. Bradley has over two decades of “in the trenches” experience in marketing, sales and product distribution.
He has achieved top ranking positions in the network marketing industry, being numbered among millionaire earners for the past 15 years, while helping others reach their financial goals.
Prior to launching PlanNet Marketing, Donald Bradley (right) was Vice President of Marketing and the purported top income-earner in Paycation.
Paycation also operates the travel niche and primarily pays affiliates to recruit new affiliates.
Paycation website Alexa traffic estimates for 2015 show a brief recruitment bubble followed by a steady decline:
Prior to Paycation Bradley was promoting Pro Travel Network, yet another travel niche business opportunity.
PlanNet Marketing CEO Andy Cauthen also has some experience with travel MLMs.
Cauthen (right) joined YTB International in November 2004 and by October 2006 had been appointed YTB’s President and COO.
Cauthen was again appointed President and CEO of YTB in May of 2012.
YTB International began operations as a pyramid scheme in 2001.
In 2008 the company was sued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.
An out-of-court settlement required changes to the company’s business model, and generated a decrease in membership attributed to bad publicity.
In late 2008, YTB laid off 17 employees, a move that was part of a reorganization. In 2008 the company’s revenues were $44.8 million.
YTB said its independent audit at the end of 2008 expressed “substantial doubt about our company’s ability to continue as a going concern”, sentiment the company itself later echoed.
In 2009 the company was operating at a loss of $1.9 million for the first three months of the year.
Revenue in that quarter dropped 49% to $21.8 million and then to $18 million in the second quarter.
The company’s paying members also declined substantially in number, from a high in April 2008 of 138,000 to 60,414 in mid-2009.
Andy Cauthen assumed his role as President and CEO at YTB International in May of 2012.
On February 1, 2012 founder J. Kim Sorenson died at the age of 62.
In March 2012 the YTB announced a plan to merge with LTS Nutraceutical, another MLM firm. In May the company began a major restructuring, and stated that the President and CEO, Robert Van Patton, had submitted his resignation.
In September YTB called off the merger, and announced that founder and chairman Scott Tomer was also resigning.
On March 1, 2013 YTB International filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal court in St. Louis.
Cauthen left YTB International in June of 2014.
Read on for a full review of the PlanNet Marketing MLM business opportunity.
The PlanNet Marketing Product Line
PlanNet Marketing retail travel services offered through the InteleTravel travel booking portal.
The Agent and their travel customers can book travel through the Agent’s very own personalized travel website.
The Agent will not only earn commission on travel bookings, they can also travel to amazing destinations, and get guaranteed best prices and VIP travel benefits.
InteleTravel’s website advertises an “agent” business opportunity, which appears to be open to anyone.
You can book travel for your clients as often or as little as you like! Some agents work every day, while others only book travel once or twice a year.
A full-time career opportunity or a side interest that pays. No quotas to meet. No minimum requirements to join.
Signing up as an InteleTravel agent costs $199 and then $39.95 a month.
The PlanNet Marketing Compensation Plan
The PlanNet Marketing compensation plan pays affiliates to recruit and maintain active InteleTravel affiliates.
Active InteleTravel affiliates are affiliates who continue to pay monthly InteleTravel agent subscription fees.
InteleTravel Agent Commissions
A PlanNet Marketing affiliate is paid $50 for each InteleTravel affiliate they sign up.
Signing up as an InteleTravel affiliate through PlanNet Marketing costs $179 and then $39.95 a month.
A 50% ($25) matching bonus is also paid out when personally recruited PlanNet Marketing affiliates sign up their own InteleTravel affiliates.
Residual Commissions
Residual commissions in PlanNet Marketing are paid out via a 3×9 matrix.
A 3×9 matrix places an affiliate at the top of the matrix, with three positions directly under them:
These initial three positions form the first level of the matrix, with the second level generated by splitting each of the three positions into another three positions each (9 positions).
Subsequent levels of the matrix are generated in the same manner, with a full nine-level matrix housing 29,523 positions.
Positions in the matrix are filled via the acquisition of InteleTravel affiliates, each paying $39.95 a month in fees.
These monthly fees are used to pay $4 a month per matrix position filled through PlanNet Marketing.
Gold Builder Bonus
The Gold Builder Bonus is paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
Gold Builder Bonus qualification requires the signing up and maintaining of nine fee-paying InteleTravel affiliates.
Once qualified, a Gold Builder receives a $10 commission per InteleTravel affiliate membership sold in their unilevel team.
The Gold Builder Bonus is paid out down each unilevel leg, up until another Gold Builder Bonus qualified affiliate is found in that leg.
If no Gold Builder qualified affiliate is found, the bonus continues to pay down the entire length of the leg as new InteleTravel affiliates are added to it.
Director Bonus
The Director Bonus rewards PlanNet Marketing affiliates for acquiring and maintaining specific InteleAgent affiliate numbers.
- One-Star Director (recruit and maintain 100 InteleTravel affiliates) – $500 a month
- Two-Star Director (recruit and maintain 300 InteleTravel affiliates) – $1000 a month
- Three-Star Director (recruit and maintain 500 InteleTravel affiliates) – $2000 a month
- Four-Star Director (recruit and maintain 1500 InteleTravel affiliates) – $5000 a month
- Five-Star Director (recruit and maintain 4000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $10,000 a month
- Six-Star Director (recruit and maintain 10,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $16,000 a month
- Seven-Star Director (recruit and maintain 25,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $30,000 a month
- Eight-Star Director (recruit and maintain 50,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $50,000 a month
- Nine-Star Director (recruit and maintain 100,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $100,000 a month
Note that an affiliate must have at least three unilevel legs to qualify, with no more than a third of the required active InteleTravel affiliates sourced from any one leg.
Rank Achievement Bonus
Upon qualifying at specific PlanNet Marketing ranks and/or income levels, the company rewards affiliates with the following:
- Five-Star Director = a “gold Rolex watch”
- earn $8333 a month = a Sapphire ring
- earn $20,833 a month = a Ruby ring
- earn $41,667 a month = a Diamond ring
- earn $83,333 a month = a Double Diamond ring
Joining PlanNet Marketing
Affiliate membership with PlanNet Marketing is $19.95 a month.
Conclusion
On its own there’s nothing wrong with InteleTravel’s agent offer.
You sign up, pay monthly fees and get paid on any travel booked through your agent portal.
What’s being paid for however, is crucial in analysis of PlanNet Marketing’s MLM opportunity.
An InteleTravel agent subscription provides access to discounts and a self-contained income opportunity. There’s no actual tangible product there.
That PlanNet Marketing have made InteleTravel subscriptions their product, is a problem. In MLM you need to be actually selling something, and discounts on travel themselves aren’t a product.
Booked travel is a product, but through InteleTravel that’s external to PlanNet Marketing’s MLM offering. Commissions paid by InteleTravel to their agents has nothing to do with PlanNet Marketing.
That aside, the other point of contention is whether or not the majority of InteleTravel agents signed through PlanNet Marketing are PlanNet Marketing affiliates.
A $20 discount on InteleTravel agent membership is available through PlanNet Marketing, so that’s an incentive for non-affiliates. But if the total number of agents signed through PlanNet Marketing are also PlanNet Marketing affiliates, that would be indicative of a closed-loop recruitment scheme.
Rather than the InteleTravel agent membership, PlanNet Marketing affiliates would instead be signing up for the income opportunity.
As a prospective PlanNet Marketing affiliate, evaluating whether this is the case is pretty straight-forward.
Simply ask your potential upline how many non-PlanNet Marketing affiliates they have in their downline paying for InteleTravel agent subscriptions, versus PlanNet Marketing affiliates doing the same.
If the overwhelming majority of active InteleTravel agents are also PlanNet Marketing affiliates, that indicates a lack of retail viability with InteleTravel’s agent subscriptions.
And you can bet that you too will then find yourself primarily recruiting PlanNet Marketing affiliates over the travel subscription.
I’m hesitant to suggest this is the case, however looking at the past companies Don Bradley and Andy Cauthen have been involved in, certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
Approach with caution.
Oz, your Cauthen short bio has a date error… I think the first 2014 is probably 2004?
As explained before, there is no profit to support a travel MLM from selling travel. Airline is doing 1-2%, hotels about 5%, cruises may hit about 10%, which means any commission to booking agency are minimal to a pittance, then the booking agency have to share with you…
From the original YTB press release by the OAG of California…
For comparison, most news websites said 2015 has the most travel volume since 2007, or at least, “travel intentions”. So we can assume similar type of revenue.
Given the history of the two, we can expect a YTB clone in operation. YTB ended up reducing its “setup” price to $99 in its final year and same monthly fee as the one here. And the travel industry had not change, and may have, in fact, been much tougher due to introduction of various online booking engines, as well as aggregators like kayak and hipmunk.
Even Google has joined the booking game, not to mention various hotel discounters like hotels.com
So joining a “travel MLM” is unlikely to yield ANY profit for the participants, when you count the monthly fees.
Roger that, thanks for the pickup.
Thanks for the article. A facebook friend is aiming to sell me on PlanNet Marketing/IntelTravel.
MLM all seem pretty much the same these days, they all promise financial freedom but then the disappointments come far to easily.
I am just about to invest in PlanNet. I am fearful that once I run out of friends and family to ask. Who else? Perfect Strangers?
I really want to try it. They are offering a money back offer if you don’t break even after a year. still have reservations though…
It seems your review was copied. Thanks for the information.. Will consider before investing..
Yeah, there’s a whole generation of slimy MLM marketers who think there’s nothing wrong promoting themselves with stolen content.
Such is life.
Actually Commissions on cruises run around 16% and up for luxury cruises. All inclusive resorts can go as high as 28% but usually around 22% Nothing from airlines that matters, very little from hotels. Disney is a flat 10% always.
My payment for selling a 7 day cruise for 2 was over $200, and it took me about 45 minutes to book. Yes there are about 80% of Intele Travel agents who do not sign up with PlanNet Marketing so, Yes, they are making a profit. They usually are not in it to make the big bucks but rather an added income and great travel benefits.
This is a solid company. Somebody is getting the commission from every travel piece sold, so why not me?
I signed up directly with InteleTravel nearly two years ago and pay a reasonable annual fee. I don’t have any agents under me, nor have I been asked to enlist more agents by the InteleTravel staff.
I have questioned the InteleTravel management extensively about whether or not I’ve signed up with an MLM and I’ve been assured in writing that InteleTravel has not nor will ever be an MLM.
Still, when I say I work with InteleTravel, other agents tell me differently. Who is correct?
PlanNet Marketing is the MLM opportunity, through which InteleTravel memberships are sold.
If you didn’t sign up through PlanNet Marketing then you’re not in an MLM opportunity.
I am being recruited for PlanNet and together with not registering with the Secretary of State of Georgia (not even as an LLC) even though they are “based in Atlanta”, not seeking BBB accreditation, and finally your review, I don’t need any more red flags to know this is not for me.
I have been an Independent Travel Agent with Inteletravel for only 3 months.
So far I have booked 5 trips, 2 being all-inclusive, one Disney, and a couple hotel stays. With that being said I have made enough to pay off my down payment, and cover my years payments, and then some.
I have never been hounded to join PlanNet Marketing, even though I think about it alot. I work my travel business as much or as little as I want, and it doesn’t seem I am working.
The reason I debate about the Marketing side, is to open up this opportunity for everyone else, because, I thank GOD he brought this chance into my life.
There are a lot of errors in this article. The individual who wrote has no experience with Inteletravel or PlanNet Marketing. I made a choice to join this business two years ago and have not doubted my decision once.
Both Donald Bradley and Andy Cauthen are men of Integrity. I have met both of them. We have partnered with the best and the original HomeBased Travel Agency, Inteletravel.
James Ferrarra is very open and honest. I have never met a President and Co-Founder who is more down to earth and approachable than he is.
There is plenty of money to be made by everyone. Just like anything else it requires work.
If you’re looking for a reason not to sign up keep reading articles like this instead of getting the information first hand. But if you love to travel and would like to earn extra income, you’re not going to find a better company.
Which is why you failed to point out even one?
You wanting to dickride Donald Bradley, Andy Cauthen and James Ferrarra has nothing to do with PlanNet Marketing’s business model and compensation plan, which is the basis of this review.
PlanNet and Inteletravel are both great opportunities. There are tons of great MLM opportunities out there.
One of the main issues that many don’t understand about the business is that you have to work hard. You have to talk to a lot, an I mean a lot of people and expect to have to do this as though it is your job and you do have someone watching over you.
The fact that you don’t makes it very easy to waste a lot of time all the while thinking you are working hard.
If you are not talking to a lot of people every day you are not working hard. At least not at the things you should be.
Also Commission is higher than stated in one of the comments and your share is 70-80% of that.
The teams you join also matter. You cannot sign up as an agent directly any longer it all goes through PlanNet, however, you have the option to be an agent only so that there is no mlm aspect included. You just book travel and earn commission on what you do.
p.s I think the error that last person was speaking of may be oudated info.
As for the product it is a service and the ability to become a travel agent, just like you have insurance and law services in mlm now. MLM is not just for vitamins anymore.
(Ozedit: offtopic derails removed)
INELETRAVEL IS FULL CRAP,THEY ARE RIP OFF.SADLY TO SAY THEY ARE MAKING TONS OF MONEY OFF EVERY $179.00 ENROLLMENT ALONG WITH THE MONTHLY FEES OF #39.99 AND PanNET MARKETING $19.99.
I AM GOING TO EXPOSE THE TRUTH ABOUT THEM TO EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELL PEOPLE NOT TO BOOK WITH THEM.THEY ARE RIPPING PEOPLE OFF.
I am a self branded travel agent with InteleTravel as my host. I DID sign up as a PlanNet Marketing rep just in case someone asked me and wanted to be a travel agent, I could help them get started.
My first year I made a measly $643 in commissions, however going into my second year I already have $5000 in commissions on the books.
I have 2 only Agents under me and 1 agent that just signed as a rep because she had someone who wanted to sign as an agent.
There are 17 agents in my team and that alone covers my monthly fees. My focus is solely on booking travel for myself and others as a side income. I didn’t go into it to live off of.
Let me guess, recruitment kicked off in the second year?