Many of you may have heard (or even know of someone) who is a referring travel agent (RTA).  Unfortunately most of the companies that these folks work for are, in reality, a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, and the company's primary source of income is not from selling travel, but is generated by the members themselves.  Like many MLM's of the past, these companies have very sophistocated sales folks who are quick to sell to individuals telling them - "travel like a travel agent" - even though most of us pay the same prices as everyone else!  Here's an interesting article from the Tacoma, WA News Tribune: "Don’t pay for travel agent status to offset vacation costs"  Click: http://www.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/394889.html