I am new Level 1 associate with Coastal Synergy group. I've read a vast majority of the pros, cons, and reviews for both CSG and Coastal Vacations, and I have a reasonably solid understanding of the business system.

So my question is NOT about whether CSG is a good home-based business, but rather, is the vacation package itself a true value?

I've heard conflicting reports as to actual value of the trips, due to blackout dates, difficulty of activation, hidden surcharges, etc, etc.

Would someone who has actually used the vacations and membership cards please give me some insight. I do not want to start selling the product to people without having a bit more confidence and user-knowledge about what I'm selling. I am going on one of the cruises that came in my L1 package, which will provide me with some firsthand knowledge of the product, but there is simply no way I can familiarize myself with the entire package in a short period.

p.s. This is my first posting on this forum, so many of you might be wondering if this is going to end up being spam. I will prove over time that it's not, and I only joined this forum because it seems to have a nice mix of pro-Coastal and anti-Coastal sentiment, and I feel it's important to hear both sides of the coin. Thank you for reading and responding!

Here we go again.

Again? I can't find a thread in this forum that deals specifically with the PRODUCT and not the general "Is Coastal a scam?" question.

Since there are a few people in here who seem to have both positive and negative experience with CSG, I asked in hope of a real answer(s).

Yep, now where's that level 8 director extolling the virtues of this scheme ;)

Bocasean, don't worry, but every few months someone like yourself comes on and posts what seems to be an innocent question. Then out of the woodwork a "high" level director arrives and waxes lyrical about just how great this MLM scheme is and why everyone should sign up with them and be part of the team.

Now to answer you question, surely it would have made more sense to of done your research into the value, or otherwise, of the "product" BEFORE signing up.
Just a thought you know.

I actually did quite a bit of research before I joined, and I felt confident enough to join at a Level 1 and then actually do my own research.

What I mean is, the amount of information about the actual product is limited-at-best UNTIL you join the business. I could've asked this question before I joined, but to be honest, before I joined I didn't understand enough of the product to determine if what I was hearing was just hyperbole and hype, or actual testimonial.

So now that I have the product, I know enough about it to actually make distinctions between hype, blind "it's a scam!" bashing, and actual firsthand testimonials.

Know what I mean?

So I guess the direct answer to your question is this: I believe in the compensation plan and the system in place, but BEFORE I risk my integrity by selling the product to people, I want to know more about it.

I had enough disposable $$ at the time, but many people who buy into a business simply don't have that luxury. I want to provide honest answers for such people, and the only way to do that is to gain experience on my own.

Getting firsthand testimonials is going to have to serve as a supplement until I have used the membership discounts over and over again.

Bocasean,

Maria Porter, Level 3 director, has a website for testimonials. Also, do you have the 27 page pdf showing receipts from different vacations people took? My director recently stayed in a condo on Myrtle Beach and saved 50%. You should go on the BOD product calls to learn more.

Noreen

I applied to be a level 8 but they said they didn't like my hair, plus I steal office supplies

My only advice is to think about what you just said, you can't get information about the product your selling until you join? It just doesn't make sense.

I am not sure I have ever heard a complaint on the product most of the complaints were on the directors thierself.

I've seen both complaints and praise for the product, with the complaints usually centered around "hidden fees" and "difficulty in use."

What I had hoped to do was short-cut my own trial and error by actually getting feedback from people who used it. It seems that the difficulty in this is that the product is actually a collection of dozens of other products, so the value is cumulative and somewhat difficult to quantify in one setting.

What I've been doing in the past month is use the product(s) and actually see how it functions with my own eyes.

And I would LOVE a copy of that .pdf file, Noreen. Where is located in the back office?

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Bocasean

What I've been doing in the past month is use the product(s) and actually see how it functions with my own eyes.

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What are the 'products' actually?

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Originally Posted by brook929

My director recently stayed in a condo on Myrtle Beach and saved 50%.

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50% as compared to what?

Such claims often make me wonder. I'll use outlet stores as an example. I've seen outlet stores that claim savings of 50-75%. But that's over suggested retail. A while back I purchased some cargo pants at a Bass outlet. The pants were marked down to $25 from over $50. The problem is that I could have gotten similar pants at a local Target store for under $20. Yes the Outlet stores offer discounts on their high suggested prices. But few people pay those prices.

So saying they saved 50% on the condo begs the question of what price it was 50% less. Was it 50% off the published rate? What price would someone pay if they booked that same condo through Orbitz, Expedia or Priceline? Could someone get a similar or lower price without going through Coastal?

I'm not knocking Coastal. I'm just saying that statements about savings need to be qualified.

Quote:

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What are the 'products' actually?

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I'll show you once I finish my website, but in the meantime, I'll tell you:

The Level 1 package is broken into 4 parts: Business Aides, Destination Brochures, Unique Membership Cards, and Vacation Coupons.

There are 30 vacation coupons in the package. 2 of which are "activated" which essentially means that they are ready to use... a member would only have to reserve the booking to use the activated vacation. The other 28 coupons are not activated, so you would need to mail them in to receive an active vacation.

From what I can see, the reason for this is because the coupons last indefinitely until activated, but only for 1 year after activation. It might have something to do with the vendor's yearly financial expectations (i.e. They like to know how many reservations to expect within a fiscal year), and also because it wouldn't be fair to force people to take all 30 trips within a year's time. They can instead activate them at their leisure.

I've yet to find an actual "reason" for the activation process, so that's my most logical guess.

Aside from the vacations, the Business Aides are meant as a tangible, paper copy of what is also available on the CSG websites. The brochures are helpful for point-of-sale discussions, where customers can see that the membership is associated with quality places such as Disney, Kennedy Space Center, Carnival Cruise, etc.

Then there are the membership cards, which basically allow you to login to different vendor sites and reserve condos, cruises, etc for discounted rates. For example, I looked at a resort that's a couple miles from Disneyworld for my boy, and a week's stay was $300 with the membership, but over $1000 retail on the company's website.

The discount cards in the package are as follows: Condo, Cruise, Golf, Rental Car, Camping, Ski resorts, Hotels, and Travel Agent. There are other cards in the package, but I have not researched them yet, so I don't want to offer inaccurate info on them.

I also have not used the Hotel, Cruise, or Ski resort cards yet, but I am scheduling one of my 2 activated cruises for this winter. The Ski resort directory is released in the fall, so I'm anxious to try it out, too.

There are product tutorials in the back office that CSG provides to members, but I've found them to be mostly descriptions of WHAT the product does, rather than HOW to use it.

For my customers' sakes, I'd like to master how to use it and be able to answer any questions they have, but that's just me.

And ScottGem, to answer your question, I tend to believe that people probably CAN find the discounts in the travel package. They seem to come from vendors, and NOT from Coastal Vacations. Coastal Synergy Group and Coastal Vacations aren't travel companies, but rather a grouping of travel aficionados who are consistently adding new vendors to the membership.

What this means is that, unless the vendor has granted CSG exclusivity in distribution, the vendor's products are probably still available from other sources.

There are 3 reasons that I still, personally, believe that the Coastal model has intrinsic value:

1) People who join Coastal JUST for the vacations are less common than the people who want a functional work-from-home business, but even THOSE types of members will often find indirect, casual opportunities to tell people about the discounts and then be able to earn at least $1000 just for referring that person. It at least makes for a free vacation. International Level 2 memberships can profit $3000.

2) More importantly, all of the discounts are in 1 place and cover MANY different outlets. It's not just travel, but also activities that are related to travel. For example, the most powerful discount I've seen with the membership was for a beachfront condo in California. The pricing was only $47 per night, which is less than what you'd pay for a Red Roof in the ghetto, but you'd be getting your own apartment on the beach instead. Then, I found a golf course a few miles away in the membership directory offering half-off green fees. It's possible I could've found a comparable vacation elsewhere, but I didn't have to go hunting for it. It was all right there.

3) While you're pricing out the destinations, you'll find other resorts and destinations that you didn't even think about until you started pricing the first one. For example, 3 weeks ago, I was looking at Washington, D.C. and I happened across a white-water rafting camping trip in West Virginia by chance. I ended up taking that vacation with some of my friends, and it was a blasty blast for everyone involved. Without the membership, I never would've found or even thought about taking that trip.

Basically, in my opinion, the fact that the Coastal product is not just 1 vendor, but is instead many, the value is in putting all of the combined value in one convenient membership. When you add the fact that the business model has allowed many people to earn a solid living, it's a win-win. But I don't want this thread to go off topic... it's only about the travel package itself, and not the business.

And all apologies if that sounded biased, because I am biased :) But I do sincerely believe that there is value in the product the more I research it.

But I'd still like to hear from people who actually USE the product like I've started to. There is no way I'll be able to use every single vendor in a lifetime, let alone in the few weeks I've got to get my business started up.

Good or bad, I'd love to hear some anecdotes... hook a fella up!

Do you have to pay any money up front in order to sell these coupons and cards?

I haven't honestly done any research on the Retail opportunity. Apparently, people can become bonded Travel Agents and sell the individual vacations.

There is a fee to take the test or whatever, sort of like becoming a Personal Trainer or the like, and then you're considered an official Travel Agent, but I don't know much about it.

I know that for me, it's somewhere between $100 and $200 to become a travel agent, but I don't know if my Level 1 discount makes it cheaper for me or not.

With a Coastal membership, you cannot sell individual travel vouchers. You sell a membership and there are 3 levels of memberships as mentioned before. I have a few income streams in the travel business and there are some opportunities where you can sell travel vouchers and receive commission when travel is booked. Coastal is NOT like that and is not a travel agent, and you cannot receive an IATA card just by becoming a Coastal member. I will say that Coastal has about 60 different travel vendors they use to book vacations. The Board of Directors is constantly weeding out vendors that are not up to standard. For example, if there are many complaints, that vendor is dropped. It works like this: you take a travel voucher to, let's say, a condo in Mexcio. You send it in to NB Management which is the shipping center for Coastal. It must have a current Coastal Director's number on it, so if you were giving vacations away, it is important that you either activate the voucher for someone, or give them your Coastal #. They then send you a special glossy with the contact details of the travel agent. You then proceed to book your discounted travel with that agent. Of course, they are going to try to upsell you, book your airfare, etc. But it is your choice for the upgrades and extras. I find most people find one travel agent they like and request them when they activate their vouchers.

The reason the vacations have to be activated is because this is a lifetime deal and things do change over time. The membership packages are constantly upgraded as well. Typically at each national event, the BOD announces additions to the packages to make them even more attractive. The price, however, never changes. Also, if you are already in Coastal, you are entitled to these additions at no extra cost.

I have pdf's of the travel membership details (not including the latest additions) that I show to people interested in both the business and the membership as a retail product. It is 8 pages long and all text, no pictures. Pretty extensive.

For the pdf of the testimonials, go to the official coastal training website, click on Business and Product training, then you will see client testimonials.

Noreen

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Originally Posted by Bocasean

I haven't honestly done any research on the Retail opportunity. Apparently, people can become bonded Travel Agents and sell the individual vacations.

There is a fee to take the test or whatever, sort of like becoming a Personal Trainer or the like, and then you're considered an official Travel Agent, but I don't know much about it.

I know that for me, it's somewhere between $100 and $200 to become a travel agent, but I don't know if my Level 1 discount makes it cheaper for me or not.

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Coastal Vacations Call Center - Frequently Asked Questions

Coastal Vacation Experiences


These people say it cost $1995.

That's not the question you asked, Karma. You asked how much it would cost to sell the coupons and cards individually, which is the retail-level Travel Agent program. I'm not involved with it nor have I researched it aside from a passing glimpse of the brochure in my Level 1 package, which I confessed from the start.

To sell individual retail vacations, you would apply to become a bonded travel agent. If I wanted to become a bonded travel agent and sell individual vacations, I would have to apply and become certified, which costs between $100 and $200 for me.

But the fact that you already knew where to find the answers seems to support my initial suspicion that you were trying to bait me into something for whatever reason. I'm not certain of this, and I'm not disrespecting you if my assumption is wrong. But if I'm right, thanks for playing.

If you would like to become a Coastal Vacations Level 1 member, it will cost you $1295 for the lifetime membership. The $1995 is the membership and the cost of the call center if you choose to join costal as member and as a business opportunity. The $700 cost is a ONE time charge for the luxury of having our professional sales people take calls, send out memberships, take payment, and keep records of our leads that call in. I am part of the Call Center, but as a Coastal Director, my clients and business partners have the choice of using the call center or plugging in to the "officailly endorsed" training. Retail clients, of course, would not need to pay for the use of a call center, hence the $1295 membership price.

Again, so there is no misunderstanding, Coastal Directors cannot sell individual vouchers for travel. If you have come across this attached to the Coastal name, I would be highly suspicious. However, there are many options in the travel business, and selling individual vacations and booking vacations for commissions is an option, just not with Coastal.

Noreen

This is what I'm talking about, and it was intended to be an answer to NeedKarma's question about selling individual vacations.

CSG Independent Travel Agent Program

According to this website, it's $199... but I thought for sure that I'd seen it at some point for the $125-150 range, but I definitely could be mistaken.

Again, this thread is not meant to be about the business opportunity, as those threads litter this board. I wanted to hear some firsthand accounts of people actually using their package to travel. That's all.