VOO TRAVEL App: Crash Landing Instead of Soaring Success?

Last year, the heads of VOO Aviation GmbH promised nothing less than the blue sky with their planned flight booking app: the VOO Travel App, the self-proclaimed “Uber of the skies”, was announced to potential investors for weeks with a big drum roll – and what followed? The launch of the supposed high-flyer was repeatedly postponed for months with loud excuses. We reported on this in our article “MLM realoded”.

After countless “test phases”, “updates” and “final checks”, the app was finally ready for download on 29 January and is now being praised to the skies by the initiators in the associated Telegram group and almost daily video calls – but so far the supposed super app does not seem to offer any of the promised functions. And the strangest thing: many of the promises sound very much like clichés that we have heard too often before from well-known MLM and pyramid schemes.

VOO Travel App – a promising idea

“Choose who you are” – a clever marketing strategy

When it comes to target audience analysis, the operators seem to have done their homework very thoroughly, as the app is not only advertised as an indispensable travel companion for travelers, but also as a must-have for smart entrepreneurs and investors who are keen to invest. In the call, founder Gernot Winter quickly talks about “passive income”, “crew building”, “financial freedom” and other “key features” that set alarm bells ringing for MLM skeptics and Ponzi victims.

While the value proposition of “Traveling Steffi” (see top left for details) is still very down-to-earth, entrepreneurs like Ben (see top center for details) are more likely to reach for the stars – or into the void: “Build your crew through referrals and start your entrepreneurship, expand your network (…) Create a scalable and sustainable income from crew cashback and commissions.” This promise of cashback and commissions sounds very suspiciously like MLM and could just as easily come from one of the countless Ponzi or pyramid schemes that we keep reporting on in our articles.

The “investors” that Winter & Co. want to attract to their project obviously don’t necessarily have to be the big fish in big business, because supposedly everyone has the “opportunity to be involved right from the start with very small sums”, whether as a shareholder in a specially founded “VOO AG” based in Switzerland or a member of the “VOO One Genossenschaft” based in Graz.

Crew instead of community – new wording, old strategy?

According to Winter’s promise, all three target groups will benefit from the fact that they and their “crew” can “travel for free in future” thanks to referral cashback. But that’s not all – with active use, users can of course also experience a kind of holy trinity and slip into all roles at the same time. And in between, sensitized ears can always quietly and subtly hear the main demand: If you become a promoter and recommend the app to others, you will of course benefit even more.

If you listen closely to the call organizers, you get the impression that they are overly focused on recruiting “promoters” and emphasize a little too often how easy it is to improve your status, earn more miles, and finance almost every additional flight through cashback simply by making referrals. This pattern is quite common in well-known MLM scams. The pitch often goes, “Build your community—because the bigger your community, the more you benefit…” and so on. In the case of the VOO Travel App, however, users aren’t just supposed to build a community through referrals. They’re meant to build a crew—a term that sounds more elite, stylish, and, perhaps not entirely by accident, a bit more lofty.

“Booking failed” – the crash landing

Doch trotz all der schönen Worte und Versprechen scheint der Überflieger derweil offensichtlich wegen technischer Gebrechen nicht vom Fleck zu kommen: Nach nur zwei Tagen muss, nachdem ein aufmerksamer Nutzer ihn im Live-Call darauf hingewiesen hat, einer der Initiatoren vor laufender Webcam zugeben, dass da etwas noch nicht ganz rund läuft. Und einige Stunden später folgt im offiziellen Telegram-Kanal diese Nachricht:

“Dear VOO Travel Community,
During our tests, we discovered that some bookings experience data transfer issues, causing them to fail. To ensure a seamless experience for you, we’ve made the decision to temporarily disable the booking function.
Our team is working tirelessly to resolve this issue and reactivate the feature as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. We’ll update you as soon as bookings are back online!
Your VOO Travel Team”

Conclusion: Better not get on board!

It remains uncertain whether and when the VOO Travel App will actually offer the promised functions and the promised added value for users and investors. Stay tuned – we will too!
Our recommendation therefore remains: Be vigilant, question critically and seek sound advice from independent experts before making any investment decision.

NOTE
As always, those concerned are welcome to comment, or if anyone has more or different information on this, please feel free to share it with us. We are not interested in making false claims and our primary goal remains to provide complete documentation.

Source: Telegram Group VOO