“You should be here!”
As someone is who probably going through the daily nine to five grind, seeing this banner paraded by people who are off vacationing in gorgeous locations will probably make you extremely jealous. Maybe jealous enough that you end up asking that person about their vacation, and you’re told about the opportunity of a lifetime: “make a living [while] living life!”
Then, you are told about the latest supposed travel craze: WorldVentures, a company that will let you earn money while going on amazing vacations.
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What Is WorldVentures? Is It A Scam?
According to their website, the WorldVentures biz “offers the world’s biggest, best and most awarded group vacation lifestyle membership, DreamTrips”. In addition to this, independent representatives can start a business “sharing their membership” and earn good money doing so.
How Does It Work?
Basically, WorldVentures Marketing, the official name for the direct-selling arm of Worldventures Holdings, is a multi-level marketing business scheme. Multi-level marketing businesses (MLM for short) lets you earn money in two ways: one, through selling products (in this case, vacation packages), and two, by recruiting members (“sharing your membership”).
For all intents and purposes, WorldVentures isn’t a scam. MLMs are legal business models in Australia, and some of them are quite well-known, such as USANA and Avon. However, with its current compensation plan, it veers dangerously close to pyramid scheme territory and many reviews outright call it a scam.
Can You Actually Earn Money From WorldVentures?
There is some earning potential to WorldVentures. But unfortunately, as with all MLMS, decent earnings are often limited to those at the top of the pyramid. A whopping 77.51 percent earned no income according to the WorldVentures income disclosure, and one of the many lawsuits filed against the company claims that 99.7 percent suffered an average of $USD1000 losses per year!
Despite the lawsuits and investigations, WorldVentures continues to claim legitimacy, claiming to face short-term challenges that caused delays in commission payouts. Commission payouts are supposed to be managed by members through an e-wallet, accessible via a back office login provided by WorldVentures when you sign up. However, there are still plenty of complaints that this is inaccessible, which pretty much means no payment. WorldVentures owes commissions to its members from all over the world, from South Africa to Singapore.
If you were charmed into buying a WorldVentures membership but want out, cancellation is possible by emailing or calling their customer service hotline. Some former members have complained about how difficult it was to get ahold of a customer service representative to attend to their concerns.
What Is DreamTrips?
DreamTrips is WorldVentures’ travel packages, sold to the travel club members at a discount. They have packages to destinations all over the world – Kenya, Mexico, and Thailand are just some of the exotic locations that they offer. Here are some of their available activities:
- Cultural Landmarks in Charming Chiang Mai. A half-day city tour around the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand by tuk-tuk, a traditional rickshaw. This DreamTrip includes hotel accommodations and some meals. A host, who is meant to guide you and ensure all goes well, is provided for groups of 10 or more. Airfare is not included, but airport transfers are.
- DreamDay: Afternoon Foodie Walking Tour of Old Nice. A four-hour food tour of France. This is a one-day event and is inclusive of the tour guide and the food samples.
- DreamBreak: Florianopolis, Brazil. A free-for-all family vacation in the coastal city of Florianopolis, Brazil. No host is provided so that you can decide what you want to do, whenever you want. Hotel accommodations included, but not airfare.
Are DreamTrips Worth The Membership?
To access DreamTrips, you need to be a member. You can only view the prices for the available packages once you sign up. Being a member entails sign-up fees, as with any MLM – this seems to be how they primarily make their money. WorldVentures also charges a monthly fee on top of the sign-up fee to keep your membership active and be able to receive commissions. MLMs typically have rather complicated compensation plans and WorldVentures is no different.
What Are VolunTours?
More and more people are travelling for a cause: instead of merely relaxing and sightseeing, tourists now volunteer their time at a community or organisation in their destination. Enter WorldVentures Foundation, which rides on this wave of voluntourism by providing VolunTours. These are trips that include events where tourists would contribute to things like building a bottle school in Guatemala, preparing for a summer camp in Mexico, or playing with orphans in South Korea.
Should You Sign Up For WorldVentures?
Signing up should be a well-informed decision. Remember that not many people find success in MLM, so don’t quit your day job if you want to give this biz a go. Consider also that many WorldVentures members do not make money at all, and even end up losing money.
Even if you do sign up for WorldVentures purely to take advantage of the travel deals and packages, note that you’d constantly have to be on vacation using these packages. An idyllic life, but not so practical. With the initial sign-up fee and the monthly membership fee, it stacks up to quite a bit and you’ll probably end up bleeding more money than you earn and save.
But if you are fully confident in your skills to sell DreamTrips and WorldVentures memberships, then go ahead! The MLM model remains popular and legal for a reason: it does allow for great earnings, but not necessarily for everyone. Some people have reported success with WorldVentures, even if though these stories are few and far between. Whether you choose to heed the warnings of disappointed former members or believe in the promises of the company is completely up to you, but do your best to remain fully informed.
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