Have you been approached by someone telling you that you can join a private program that can pay you while you travel the world? Have they talked to you about how “you should be here” living the #dreamtripslife with them?
While it all sounds great in theory, it’s not all as easy as it may sound. Honestly, let me explain to you how exactly their program works – and then you can decide for yourself if you want to invest your time and money with them or if you prefer earning your money some other way.
Important DreamTrips updates:
Update: In May of 2017 a Pyramid Scheme lawsuit has been filed against WorldVentures (company that owns and operates DreamTrips) in U.S. The case is still ongoing in 2020.
2020: There are 170+ of complaints about WV, you can read them here.
Update June 2019: Taipei prosecutors charged the US owners of WorldVentures Taiwan (operators of Dreamtrips) on allegations of running a pyramid scheme.
I’ve Been Earning a Full Time Income Online Since 2007.
Here is my story.
What is Dreamtrips?
The person that approached you, probably talked to you about this exclusive “lifestyle” or “community” or travellers. They are probably very vague about it, but there is a promise of travels and vacations, for practically no money. Be careful – the person that approached you is probably a seller and only wants to make a commission off you. They are particularly active on Instagram, posting pictures of themselves #makingalivingliving as a #travelpreneur in exotic locations.
Dreamtrips works in a very simple way – first you have to become a member of their community to have access to amazing travel tours and discounts.
(the cheapest membership I found is an initial 250$, with a 50$/month fee. That doesn’t include any trips.).
Their products are the tours they offer. Here is an example:
It might look legitimate at a first glance – but as a person that has traveled a lot in the past, I urge you to consider the following things.
- The airplane or transportation ticket is not included in the price
- Will you be available exactly on these dates?
- The savings are negligible once you consider the fact you have to pay them a 250$ sign up fee and 50$/month even if you don’t go on any trips
- You can’t see what trips/prices are until AFTER you sign up with their program
The person that is trying to sell you this program will argue that you will never have to pay the actual price in dollars, because as a member or WorldVenture, you can earn “Dreamtrips Points” to exchange for these trips. (Guess why they want you to sign up so bad? They want those points themselves!)
And what they’re doing is what you’ll be doing – pitching a lifestyle and an amazing opportunity to people through social media.
What is WorldVenture?
Dreamtrips is only one of the products offered by the company called WorldVenture. Other products are called Dreamtrips life, VolunTours and Luxury Dreamtrips.
World Venture is a “direct sales” company – in other words an MLM (multi level marketing). There are basically two ways you can make money using their program.
- Sell people vacation products such as Dreamtrips, Dreamtrips life, VolunTours or Luxury Dreamtrips
- Recruit other people as WorldVenture sellers, and earn commissions off their sales.
Looking for a legit way to make money from home?
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Is WorldVenture a scam?
While I would not call WorldVenture and their products such as Dreamtrips a scam, I would not consider them a reliable way to make money online. Simply the high price of their membership you will have to pay every month are probably going to cost you more than you will ever earn. And their “exclusive” tours are simply not that great compared to non-exclusive travel tours, where you also have the complete freedom to shop around and compare prices with others.
While researching WorldVenture I stumbled upon a document from FTC (US Federal Trade Commission) where we clearly see that 99.97% of WorldVenture participants lost money in 2008. This means that out of 10,000 participants only 3 will actually make a profit. I honestly don’t understand why anyone would join an MLM with these odds.
Making Money Online
There are plenty of travel tours you can promote online that do not require any subscription fees to join. This concept is called Affiliate Marketing (something I have been doing for the past 10 years) and you can absolutely earn money in the travel industry by promoting all kinds of tours and tickets to people online. You simply have to promote a good tour, and you earn a commission if someone buys! All without the risk of being stuck paying some kind of monthly fee. If you want to try it out, and become a real digital nomad and internet entrepreneur – it will not cost you ANY money but only some knowledge and hard work. Most of “tour websites”, airlines and hotels have affiliate programs and they are free to join.
When I started learning about online business possibilities I stumbled upon a training platform in late 2007. I decided to try out their training and I loved it. I built my whole online business with them and I am still an active member to this day. Their community is simply awesome, their training is constantly updated and very easy to follow. The best part? It’s completely free. The Starter account doesn’t cost a dime and doesn’t even require you typing in your credit card number. So yes, there are legit and reputable platforms that will teach you how to actually build a real online business.
If you have any questions please do use the comment form below.
Alex
