[Travelandtourism] {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} Travel Agents and MLM
Cheryl Echevarria
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
Mon Feb 1 19:13:41 UTC 2016
Just an FYI, but Jana and I belong to Outsideagents.com; also known as
Cruise & Tours Unlimited. I got into the business, through member Maurice
Shackelford, Maurice if you are still listening out there, I will always be
grateful in him mentoring me, he was also our former Vice President of the
Travel & Tourism.
That original host agency, Montrose Travel, which they are a wonderful
company, but all their options were inaccessible for those that are totally
blind to do.
But when I heard out the one we are with now, the owners are trying their
best to work on these issues. I like the youtube trainings, the only thing
is when a supplier like a cruise ship, etc, is posting pictures of items,
etc or documents, I just ask for them in a word document.
But it is nice to hear from Jana's posting on this. We both are moderators
of our Special Needs Forum on their website, and we are not the only agents
who are disabled, who are with this company.
We all network together. Which is what we are supposed to do. Like if I
never been to Japan and someone else has, I can get the help I need from
that person, or they don't know about traveling with a client who uses a
guide dog, or needs braille or other options. We can help as well.
I like that we are active in these discussions. We also need to be active as
a division.
Thank you.
Cheryl Echevarria, President
National Federation of the Blind - Travel & Tourism Division
Vice President
National Federation of the Blind of New York State - Greater Long Island
Chapter
631-236-5138
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
"Live the Life You Want"
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
Cheryl Echevarria was awarded by Governor Cuomo in 2012, New York State
Disabled Entrepreneur or the year, and is the owner of Echevarria Travel
-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jana Jackson via Travelandtourism
Sent: Monday, February 1, 2016 2:03 PM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List' <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jana Jackson <jana at janajackson.com>
Subject: [Travelandtourism] {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} Travel Agents and MLM
Hi, Peter and everyone! Just to add to this, there are network marketing
companies that are legit travel agencies... They work similar to a host
agency in that they allow you to learn as you earn, so to speak. Some of
those are better than others. I worked with a couple of them, but I
couldn't really get anywhere because of their refusal to make their websites
more accessible for screen reader users. I think that's probably the reason
you don't see many blind people being successful with these companies.
Two years ago, I signed up with Outside Agents, which is a great host agency
that requires a tiny investment with optional add-ons for a monthly fee.
While their website does have some accessibility issues, I'm working closely
with one of the owners to correct them. He has been very gracious in trying
to accommodate and create work-arounds. For a while, they had a YouTube
channel as an alternative to their Flash-based training videos, which are
inaccessible with most screen readers. They're now trying to make those
Flash-based videos imbedded YouTube videos, so that we can use those
controls. I think they've had some problems with their server lately, but
they're really trying. My point is that you'd probably see more successful
blind people affiliated with host agencies that take the network marketing
approach if they were more inclined to make their Web presence a more
accessible experience. Cheers!
Jana
-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Donahue via Travelandtourism
Sent: Monday, February 1, 2016 11:22 AM
To: NFB Travel and Tourism Division List
Cc: Peter Donahue
Subject: [Travelandtourism] {Spam?} Travel Agents and MLM
Hello everyone,
One not be involved in MLM to be a foney travel agent. Let's get that
straight right now! There are some MLM operations that allow one to market
travel services in partnership with well-known travel services such as
Travelosicy and Expedia. The MLM person refers potential customers to the
partner store that handles all travel transactions.
These partners must be members of travel trade associations to verify their
authenticity. Some of these arrangements have been around for over
60 years and offer those who choose to participate a very lucritive business
opportunity.
One blind person I know of became extremely successful in network
marketing achieving a significant level in 1979 long before the technology
and other helpful resources available to network marketers were around.
Sadly his achievements have not been duplicated widely by the blind
community. It's time for that to change! This was brought home to us one
morning this month when my wife's paratransit ride failed to show up. She
was faced with losing a day's work and missing a doctor's appointment.
Thanks to our having created an additional income stream she was able to
take a cab to work and the rest of her day went off as planned! The NFB is
supposed to be about creating opportunities not destroying them.
We have also heard of foney travel agencies not connect with
network/mlm in any way that have taken their customers for a ride. I'm glad
I was able to bust that myth.
Peter Donahue
Cheryl Echevarria via Travelandtourism wrote:
> Justin:
>
> First of all, at a past NFB convention there was a resolution and it
> was passed reflecting these issues. Please remember that passing a
> resolution and passing laws, etc. Take time.
>
> Airlines think they are better than anyone else, being a travel
> professional, I see this all day long.
>
> So, unless they are federally mandated to do it they will not. The
> other issues are there are thousands of airlines that you may never
> have heard
of
> that fly all over the world, and these companies are not owned and
operated
> here in the USA, but they fly here in the USA to destinations all over
> the world. So it is a very tricky situations.
>
> The other obstacles is that are a lot of airlines now that do not
> belong
to
> IATA - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade
> association for the world's airlines, representing some 260 airlines
> or
83%
> of total air traffic. We support many areas of aviation activity and
> help formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.
>
> Airlines do not have to belong to them, it's good for them to belong.
> I belong to IATA because I have to, to book airlines and some hotels
> or certain tour operators, to proof that I am a real travel
> professional and not an MLM - Multi Level Marketing business. To many
> people out there are passing themselves off as travel professionals but
are not.
>
> Why am I posting this, because it is not as easy as you think to say
> to them, I know how you can fix it, but in actuality, again, if it is
> going
to
> cost them more money, or it could be a full moon out there, they won't
> do it.
>
> But as you know the NFB as a whole are working on the issues, I am
> sure
once
> the laws are passed to make their websites more accessible, then the
> next step would be the rest.
>
> Please remember, we want to hear these issues on our teleconference
meeting
> calls. We need to work together for ideas
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> Cheryl Echevarria, President
> National Federation of the Blind - Travel & Tourism Division Vice
> President National Federation of the Blind of New York State - Greater
> Long Island Chapter
> 631-236-5138
> cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
> "Live the Life You Want"
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create
> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life
> you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
> Cheryl Echevarria was awarded by Governor Cuomo in 2012, New York
> State Disabled Entrepreneur or the year, and is the owner of
> Echevarria Travel
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Justin Young via Travelandtourism
> Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 9:52 PM
> To: NFB Travel and Tourism Division List <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Justin Young <jty727 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] One thing that needs dealing with with
> the airlines
>
> Thank you for sharing this link. I haven't flown in at least 5 years,
> but
I
> don't understand why something as simple as rigging VoiceOver or
> another screen reader on these smart devices couldn't have been
> included prior to installation ensuring accessibility for every passenger.
>
> On 1/31/16, Lynn Zelvin via Travelandtourism
> <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>> I used to fly a lot and haven't much lately. So I don't know really
>> how this has progressed in the past few years but about five years
>> ago this was becoming the rule on Delta flights. Not only was all
>> in-flight entertainment switched to the inaccessible touch screens on
>> the seat backs, but so was the call button. This meant not only
>> didn't I have the in-flight entertainment I used to enjoy but I could
>> not get the attention of flight attendants without getting up and
>> going to the galley. If I remember correctly they were also
>> integrating
> payment for extras into the touch screens.
>> Lynn Zelvin
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jan 31, 2016, at 8:15 AM, cheryl echevarria via Travelandtourism
>>> <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bring it up on our next meeting this month. Has anyone else had
>>> these issues
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: Jordan Gallacher via Travelandtourism
>>> <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
>>> Date: 01/31/2016 2:17 AM (GMT-05:00)
>>> To: travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Jordan Gallacher <jordanandseptember at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [Travelandtourism] One thing that needs dealing with with
>>> the airlines
>>>
>>> Greeting from lovely Oregon,
>>>
>>> You might take an interest in this.
>>> http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/26/technology/jetblue-redesign/index.ht
>>> m l?sr=tw money013116jetblue-redesign0533AMStoryLink
>>> <http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/26/technology/jetblue-redesign/index.h
>>> t ml?sr=t
>>> wmoney013116jetblue-redesign0533AMStoryLink&linkId=20731489>
>>> &linkId=20731489
>>>
>>> We really need to get to work on getting the seatback entertainment
>>> systems accessible to us. I flew Delta for part of the trip, and
>>> they had the seatback entertainment system. It would have been
>>> great to be able to get at the same information everyone else could,
>>> especially all the juicy details of the flight.
>>>
>>> Jordan
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Travelandtourism:
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>>> a ndmaxx%40hotmail.com
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>>> Travelandtourism:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org/lynnze
>>> l
>>> vin%40gmail.com
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 4
>> 0gmail.com
>>
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