For anyone who has planned their dream vacation, you probably know how stressful it can be and requires a lot of work deciding on the best travel package. But did you know you can also make money selling travel packages? You probably already did which is why you are searching Evolution Travel reviews to see if this is a legit way to make money. This Evolution Travel review will determine if you can really make money with this opportunity. Don’t dare join until you have read this review!
What is Evolution Travel?
EvolutionTravel.com is a travel MLM founded by David McCovy in 2015. They are known as a “cloud-based travel agency”. Their headquarters is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Evolution Travel Product Line
There isn't really a product line for Evolution Travel. They don't have any products themselves. All they're selling is travel discounts, coupons, and packages on things like:
- Flights
- Hotels
- Car rental
- Tickets to concerts, sporting events, theme parks, etc.
How Much Does It Cost To Be An Evolution Professional Travel Agent?
With Evolution Travel, you pay a one-time fee plus a monthly fee.
You pay $30 to join and become a Professional Travel Agent. You also need to pay a $69.95 monthly administration fee. Professional Travel Agents (PTAs) get the following:
- 90% commission on travel sales (PTAs get 80%, and their recruiter gets 10%)
- A customizable travel website
- Direct access to worldwide vendors
- Travel training
- Residual income
- A discount directory that includes 20-60% off of travel services and experiences
- Tax benefits
- Team building
Once you get your customizable website and training, you are in the travel business!
Evolution Travel Compensation Plan
Evolution Travel's compensation plan is quite detailed and complex, but here is a breakdown of each level and the commission associated with each level.
- Consultant/PTA, with the benefits listed above
- Executive Consultant, who has sold 3 PTA memberships: 13% residual commissions
- Bronze Consultant, who has sold 6 PTA memberships: 14% residual commissions
- Silver Consultant, who has sold 9 PTA memberships: 20% residual commissions
- Gold Consultant, who has sold 15 PTA memberships, and has 3 silver consultants in at least 3 legs of business: 12% residual commissions
- Platinum Consultant, who has at least 300 active PTA memberships, with no more than 1/3 of the total coming from any particular lineage: 30% residual commissions
- 1 Star Platinum Consultant, who has at least 500 active PTA memberships, with no more than 1/3 of the total coming from any particular lineage: 30% residual commissions
- 2 Star Platinum Consultant, who has at least 1,500 active PTA memberships, with no more than 1/3 of the total coming from any particular lineage: 30% residual commissions
- 3 Star Platinum Consultant, who has at least 3,000 active PTA memberships, with no more than 1/3 of the total coming from any particular lineage: 11% residual commissions
- And so on up to 8 Star Platinum Consultants, with 100,000 PTA memberships and a monthly bonus of $100,000.
Like with most MLMs, there are so many levels and different commission structures for each level, so if this makes your head spin, I don’t blame you! Fortunately, there are businesses with straightforward compensation such as Wealthy Affiliate. They can help you start an online business where you will be able to work with major companies like Amazon and eBay that pay you in a nice straightforward manner.
But if you're not looking for a business opportunity at the moment and just want to make some extra side income, you may want to try free sites like SurveyJunkie.com and Swagbucks.com.
How Much Money Can Evolution Travel Agents Make?
Unfortunately, Evolution Travel doesn't post an Income Disclosure Statement. This immediately set off alarms in my mind. Why aren't they being clear regarding how much you can earn as other MLMs do? How much you can earn is anyone's guess really.
What We Like About Evolution Travel
Let’s have a look at some of the things we like about this company.
Good Partnerships
Although Evolution Travel is relatively new and only founded in 2015, they have partnered with a very experienced travel company known as Archer Travel Group who were founded in 1952. So it’s a positive sign that they are partnered with one of the pioneers in the travel industry. The founder of Evolution Travel, Mr. McCovy also has quite a bit of experience under his belt by founding two other MLMs; namely Paycation (now known as TraVerus Global) and 5LINX.
Good BBB Rating
If you put a lot of faith into these ratings, you should be pleased to know that they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau at the time of writing this review.
Evolution Travel Complaints
Let’s get into some of the complaints we discovered about Evolution Travel and we will leave it up to you to decide if these are deal breakers.
Shady Past
Evolution Travel is almost exactly the same system, offer, and structure as Paycation, which collapsed in 2014, the year before Evolution Travel was born. A lot of people lost money on Paycation, paying their monthly fees without earning any commissions or rewards. David McCovy's involvement in both systems might not be a good sign for the future of Evolution Travel.
Time To Recruit!
The undisguised emphasis on recruitment, with just the barest nod to actual travel-related training or services, makes it appear as an MLM scheme. For those who knowingly want to join an MLM scheme, it's one thing, but for those who sincerely want a career in the travel industry, it must be a disappointment. The FTC has warned that companies that focus on recruiting mainly are likely to be pyramid schemes.
Recruiting people to earn money isn’t for everyone. So, If you're looking for a business opportunity that doesn't require you to recruit people, you can try sites like Wealthy Affiliate. If you're just looking to make some extra income, you can also try sites like SurveyJunkie.com or Swagbucks.com. There is no recruiting involved for those sites.
No Income Disclosure Statement
While the 80% commissions sound fantastic, remember that Evolution Travel is itself an affiliate and the sales arm of the Archer Travel Group. Commissions are based on the percentage of profit after Archer has paid Evolution, and those margins may be very thin. Because they don't disclose package prices or income statements, it's difficult to assess how much travel commissions might actually be.
It’s difficult to join anything when you have no clue of the earning potential. Fortunately, there are other alternatives out there like My Best Work At Home Recommendation where you know exactly what you will earn with a straightforward commission plan.
You can also earn a side income with straightforward payment terms with sites like SurveyJunkie.com and Swagbucks.com.
Is Evolution Travel Legit or a Scam?
Evolution Travel is bordering on being a pyramid scheme because their main focus seems to be on recruiting. So personally I would avoid it.
And for those who want a legitimate travel career, Evolution Travel is probably not the best option for you either. It doesn't seem to really help you build a career in the travel and hospitality industry, instead it will push you to focus on selling more memberships to more people in order to recover your investment.
If you're looking for a business opportunity that will enable you to make a full-time or part-time income online, you might want to try My Best Work At Home Recommendation. So, if you're interested in travel or any niche for that matter, they will teach you how to create an online business and its free to get started.
So, there you have my opinion on Evolution Travel. If you have any experience using Evolution Travel or want to share your thoughts, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Until next time,
Eddy with a Y
I have been with Evolution/Archer since March 2023, having just left a 60k+ a year paycheck due to burn out. I love travel and I really love all the support and training I’ve received. I am a people person and I enjoy helping others learn and grow. While I did decide to get into the “optional” side of it by building and mentoring a team, we are first and foremost, travel agents. One of my teammates that I mentor just booked a 4-stateroom cruise for a week on land and a week on cruise in Alaska. She is less than a month into being a travel agent and the booking totaled almost $22k! Her commission check will be about $3,130. As her mentor, I will be paid about $391. But it’s not the pay that keeps me going as a mentor, it’s about the people on my team that motivate me to connect and train them. And even when I earn the 10%, I am still booking travel as well! I love the perks, the structure and the comradery.
MLM? I don’t know. Scam? Definitely not!
I sat through 2 of these webinars delivered by 2 different agents and was very interested in what I saw. The deterrent was the monthly fee since my current part time income is so low and I need the money for food. I’m curious what kind of experience you’ve had earning money up to this point? Is it viable as a source of consistent income and is easy or difficult getting clients? I’m still considering signing up, but I’m on the fence until I know if I will be wasting my time or actually generating real income like I would at a regular job. I like the looks of the training and support they claim to give, but is it true and is the training detailed enough to hit the ground running?
I Love working for them. Although I don’t have a team yet I have had very good conversations. Yes there is 69.95 you can write it off at the end of the year. Keep in mind for E&O you would pay Alot more.If you get trainings on your own you have to pay, plus a website, marketing templates, Archer provides all this with that fee.Tons of support. If you stay consistent it is totally worth it 👌
I just jpined and have burned by MLMs in the past. But though we can recruit a team and get paid when they join we make nothing off anyo e they pick to build their own team and must mentor ours closely. I was with Wealthy Affiliate but dont have time to write continually to push Amazon products for pennies so webshall see how it goes!
I wish you success in whatever venture you decide on. Affiliate marketing isn’t about pushing amazon products. Amazon is one of many affiliate programs to promote. WA recommends it for beginners because they tend to accept everyone and easy to get into. But there are affiliate companies and niches that pay dollars and hundreds of it. So don’t limit yourself.
They told me it’s 69.95 since it’s the middle of summer. And that it’ll never be this low again. But now I’ve seen a bunch of people say that the 69.95 investment has been an option through many Zoom calls before. Don’t trust them.
The $69.95 is a promotional price offered by the company. The usual enrollment fee is $299.00. Evolution is choosing to continue to offer enrollment for the promotional price of $69.95 as a courtesy to anyone signing up. If they choose to continue to offer that price forever, that is their choice. That doesn’t make it a scam.
While it seems fishy with the recruitment part you don’t have to do that. It’s not a “full time job” more of a side thing to pick up extra money. I don’t recruit and have made decent commissions on just booking.
I am a full time entrepreneur and I’m also a beginner it’s the summer time I’m from Louisiana and people are ready to vacation due to the pandemic
I found a posting for a travel agent role on LinkedIn, since I’m looking for another remote job. What I’ve got now is nowhere near enough to pay the bills. I found this through a search on Archer Travel Group, probably an offshoot of Evolution. They sent me a prerecorded webinar on LinkedIn, and after reading this, I won’t be moving forward with them. I’m not gonna make a living doing my customers like this.
Sat through the hour and a half zoom call to only be told at the end how much it costs a month to continue working for them. I am extremely disappointed in them.
If you ever need help planning travel DONT use this agent. They are pleasant with receiving your money but give you complications out this world when we are greatly impacted and can’t travel!!! While Julie not to respond by email or phone is very unprofessional
I’m sorry you had that experience with one of the agents. There are competent agents willing to assist you with your needs.
for international agents ( outside the US ) is a total scam, I joined and it was the worst experience