Paycation Review - The Next Travel Scam?

Name: Paycation

Owner: David Manning

Type of Business: MLM

Price: $79.95 to start and then $59.95/month

Overall Rating: 45/100

Gone are the days of Wake Up Now and here come the days of travel MLMs. In this review of Paycation, I want to give you a better understanding of what it is all about and why you should or shouldn’t invest your hard earned money.

Let me begin by saying that I am NOT a Paycation Affiliate and will NOT try to sway you one way or the other. This is my personal opinion – based on the FACTS of the company – for those doing their due diligence before investing into an opportunity.

What is Paycation?

Through extensive research, I have found that Paycation is one of the largest providers for travel services and education. Through their partnership with 12 year old company Xstream Travel, Paycation is able to offer helpful insight and knowledge on the travel industry.

Partnering with an experienced and established company, when launching in 2014, has helped jet pack Paycation past the other hundreds of MLM companies offering vacation clubs and travel discounts.

The Products

As of writing this post there are no physical products being offered, there are simply 3 different types of memberships:

Travel Club Member: This is the basic membership, cost to join is $40 and then $29.99 per month to stay ACTIVE and be able to earn commissions.
Referral Travel Consultant: This membership provides additional benefits, the cost is $99.95 and then $59.95 per month. It also qualifies you to earn coded & leadership bonuses.
Certified Travel Consultant: Highest package at $149 and then a $59.95 monthly fee which allows you to earn 75% commissions on all travel bookings through your portal.

Basically Paycation doesn’t really sell travel, they sell membership packages that gain you access to 3rd party companies, like Xstream, where people can book actual travel.

The Comp Plan

It actually took me a little bit to wrap my head around this compensation plan. It’s lengthy and kind of confusing to follow.

Usually, I turn away from companies that “seem like they are hiding something” through over explanation but, for the purpose of this review, I kept pursing more information and was finally able to make sense of it.

They operate on a 3×7 matrix. It’s okay, I had to call a representative (Paycation calls them “Certified Trip Specialist”) to explain what on earth that meant.

Basically, the representative is allowed to bring in a set number of referrals for each of the seven levels in the matrix.

As an example, the rep may only bring in three referrals for the first level, then nine referrals for the second level and so on.

Membership Fees

How do you become a rep, you may ask? Well, in order to join Paycation, you must first pay $79.95 upfront, then a monthly payment of $59.95 for the travel membership.

This is where I was really pulling away from Paycation. Whether or not you actually use the “Travel Membership” you still have to pay it because the person who referred you only get’s paid if you pay your membership fees. This is nothing but typical MLM.

I am okay with membership fees. I know that in a referral business, there must be some sort of membership fee but why do they reps needs a travel membership? If reps are selling these memberships to people that travel, why do the non-traveling reps have to pay for something they don’t use.

I guess only traveling people should become reps…

Honestly, I don’t know how this is any different than the “Email Processing” method of income. (Again, another review for another day.)

The representative that I spoke with was unable to clarify this for me. I understand needing to know your product but it’s like asking a window salesperson to pay for windows every month, even if they do not need new windows.

Personally, I am okay with membership fees but they should not be as high as the product being sold or being the actual product.

I did find the perfect example of having membership fees without having to purchase the product with a call DS Domination. But, that is a different review for a different time!

I digress. In addition to referring new reps, there are several other opportunities for bonuses.

All in all, the idea of the comp plan is enticing but if you actually break it down, it raises more questions than answers.

The Business Opportunity

Like all MLM opportunities, you make more money by referring other people to work the company. Now, there is a great income potential here but only if you are okay with these flaws (I address this in the next section of this article).

Obviously, the more you build you downline, the more residual income you get. After sponsoring 30-50 people per month for 6 months, then helping them do the same, you will have a six figure, residual income BUT is Paycation the company to do that with?

In my opinion, it is not.

If you are a Certified Travel Agent and want to book client’s travel plans through your discount portal (so that you may offer them a better deal, thus securing their business) then, Paycation could be an honest, possibly high, home based income.

As for the recruiting part of it and making a residual income from your downline, I think you would be need to be an expert recruiter to actually replace a full time, 9-5 job or do some affiliate marketing.

Again, I am not here to sway you one way or another. Just based on the facts, I feel Paycation could be incredible for one of their income methods. Other than that, I think you should keep looking.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

Can make you money
Fairly new

Cons:

Requires recruiting
Considered a pyramid style business
No actual product
Is not easy to do
Very pricey

Paycation at a Glance

Name: Paycation

Owner: David Manning

Website: www.paycation.com

Price: $79.95 to get started and then $59.95 every month after

Overall Rating: 45/100

I am not a big fan of MLM and it’s very hard for me to recommend any MLM even if I did join a company called Pro Travel Plus, which didn’t require any recruiting.

Even at that, it is still something that I don’t recommend, unless you really know how to get people to join you and your opportunity.

What I Really Think

I have had my share of MLMs and I have seen some success with it, but nothing to brag about. The truth is that MLM is not an easy job and you are still not your own boss.

This type of business is not for everyone, so please read the income disclaimer, before you do decide to join Paycation thinking your’e going to make money just by joining.

If you want to make money online without recruiting people, you should try programs like Wealthy Affiliate, which will show you a very unique way to make money online.

What do you think? I would love to hear more opinions on this company or even responses from those who’ve worked (or are working) as a Paycation Representative.

– John

A Work at Home Jobs