In the mood to jet off to your top destinations and get paid for it? You’re not alone.
As we’re sure you might already know – the travel industry is one of the most lucrative affiliate categories to get into, and also one of the most rewarding and thrilling. If you’re looking to dip your toes into this niche, you’re in the right place.
As far as travel affiliate programs go, so long as you’re able to fulfill your end of the deal (such as being able to sell a package holiday or even get a certain amount of people to stay at a certain hotel) you’ll be in for a hefty paycheck!
So much so, even the smaller commission rates can make your pockets a few hundred dollars heavier.
Still, despite all of the incredible benefits that the travel affiliate niche can offer you, it’s still important to remember that it is also a highly competitive niche to get into, too.
Luckily enough, though, this is where we come in to lend you a helping hand. In this article, we are going to be talking you through some of the best travel affiliate programs, as well as tips and tricks to guarantee success.
Whenever you’re ready, just keep reading!
The Top Affiliate Programs For Travel Enthusiasts
- Best Commission Rates: Sandals Resorts
- Best Room To Earn More: World Nomads
- Best For Luxury: Boatbookings
- Best For US Market: Travelpayouts
- Best For Global Market: TripAdvisor Affiliate Program
- Best Cookies Duration: CJ
- Best For Airline: Skyscanner Affiliate Program
- Best Affordable: Kayak Affiliate Program
- Best For Hotels: Agoda Affiliate Program
- Best For Travel Tours: Viator Affiliate Program
- Best For Travel Bloggers: G Adventures
What Is Travel Affiliate Marketing?
Before we get into the reviews of the top travel affiliate programs currently available right now, we first think that it would be a good idea to explain what the travel niche actually is with regards to affiliate marketing.
Despite what you might think from first impressions, the travel niche is actually quite a large one – and it doesn’t just cover flights.
On the contrary, it is an incredibly extensive niche that includes everything from travel excursions, travel accessories, various types of accommodation, as well as vacation packages and much more.
If you’re interested in getting started in this affiliate marketing niche, you’ll be in good company.
To give you an idea of what your competition is going to be like, the majority of the people that dominate the travel affiliate marketing niche are influencers, travel bloggers and more.
Don’t let that put you off, though – because you don’t necessarily have thousands of followers to be successful in this niche.
Despite being highly competitive, this niche is also extremely vast and versatile – so there’s an affiliate program for everyone.
How To Discover The Top Travel Affiliate Programs
So, now that you have a much better understanding of what the travel affiliate industry consists of, you might now be wondering how you can go about finding the best affiliate travel programs and products – let alone how to choose the best for you.
Before we jump into the reviews, below, you will find a helpful breakdown of how you can go about doing just that:
Generally speaking, if you are interested in finding the best programs out there – the best way to do that is by referring to a reputable networking group or website (such as ourselves).
From there, you will then be able to check out a list of the top travel programs currently out there for you to try out, and the best part?
These programs are suitable for a range of different people, including those who are just getting started in the world of the affiliate travel industry.
Along with making sure that you are referring to the most reputable websites and merchants for resources, it’s also a good idea to make sure that you are asking yourself the following questions:
- Is there a good support system in place? If so, what ways are you going to be able to reach support staff in the event that you need them?
- What is the payment policy? How long will it take you to get paid for each commission/sale that you make?
- What merchants are interested in the affiliate program that you are considering?
By making sure that you are signing up to work with a respected and trusted affiliate marketing network, you will help to ensure that you will have a far more enjoyable and streamlined experience that will help to boost your chances of success within the program that you have selected.
To provide you with an example of what we mean by this, it is worth keeping in mind that the best programs should be able to (at the very least) provide you with various media including banners, as well as assistance with consumer research, tracking tools and much more.
Along with all of the above, if you are planning to get involved in the travel affiliate marketing niche – it is also important to make sure that you are passionate, enthusiastic and willing to put in the time and effort to make your blog a success.
When it comes to selling, you’ll need to be persuasive, articulate and passionate about what it is that you are trying to sell – and if you have these attributes, you’re going to be on the road to success in no time at all. This brings us to our next section!
The Customer Buying Cycle: What Is It?
If you’ve got big plans of quitting your day job and becoming a full time travel blogger, there’s something that you’re going to need to get your head around if you want to be successful – and that’s the customer buying cycle.
Sure, you can have all of the charisma and subtle persuasion that you like, but if you don’t have a clear understanding of the customer buying cycle, you’re more than likely going to find that you are unable to create consistent profit within the travel niche.
As we’re sure you’re already well aware, travel isn’t necessarily the cheapest thing that one can decide to do, so it’s only natural that potential customers are going to be a little more reluctant to part ways with their cash.
When shopping around for vacation packages or travel excursions, the last thing that buyers want to happen is to find themselves stuck spending more money than they intended to, or simply purchasing a holiday deal that they don’t like or feel that they are getting their money’s worth from.
For this reason, it’s important to note that, when taking the plunge into the travel niche – you’re going to need to make sure that you are consistently providing your potential customers with support every step of the way – otherwise they aren’t going to want to do business with you.
This is where the magic of the customer buying cycle comes into play!
Despite being decades old, this model is perfect for affiliate marketing (regardless of the niche) and has the potential to help you see consistent purchases – no matter whether you happen to be selling a vacation package or travel accessory.
To help you understand this model better, let’s take a look at the following breakdown for reference:
The Customer Buying Cycle Decoded
Just like with all other types of models, the customer buying cycle is split into various steps. Let’s take a look at each one below, so that you can see what each step looks like, as well as how you will be able to apply it to your travel program:
Attention
The first step of the customer buying cycle is Attention. First things first, the visitor to your website or blog will learn what the product you are selling is through an online advertisement.
Just like the name of this first step suggests, the advertisement of your product will catch the attention of the potential customer, and this will boost the chances of them clicking through to your website or blog – where they will be able to learn more and potentially make the purchase.
Interest
The second step of the customer buying cycle is Interest.
After the advertisement(s) has caught the attention of the potential customers, they will then be presented with a copy that will provide them with information of what the product is that is being advertised to them.
Perhaps the product being sold is an affordable family vacation package to a top destination, or perhaps the product that is being advertised is a new and innovative suitcase that promises to make travel more streamlined and enjoyable.
Whatever it is, during this step – the customer will have gained enough interest to want to learn more about the product from the advertisement that caught their attention, in order to decide whether or not they want to purchase it.
Desire
The third step of the customer buying cycle is desire. After the potential buyer to your page has shown enough interest in the product to learn more about it, they may then feel the desire to purchase the product for themselves.
While this isn’t always the case, if they have made it through the first two steps, the potential customer will typically feel compelled to purchase the product, or at the very least think about it.
That’s why, during this stage of the customer buying process, the potential customer will typically spend more time learning about the product, and this is typically done by reading longform content (such as a lengtheri product description) or even via various other forms of media such as imagery or even videos.
Action
The final step of the customer buying cycle is action. After the visitor to your page has spent time working their way through the above steps, they will then typically be called to make the purchase.
Typically, this will usually be done by following an affiliate link that you will have already provided on the page.
In order to boost your chances of success during this final and most important step, it is a good idea to make sure that your affiliate links/banners are as vibrant, eye-catching and as easily accessible as they possibly can be.
Otherwise, there is a strong chance that the visitor may get confused, bored or even have a change of heart and end up clicking off the page to look elsewhere.
Along with using this model for reference when laying out your website or blog, you should also make sure that you are making good use of SEO in order to boost your chances of creating more visitors to your page.
For the greatest conversion, you’re going to want to make sure that you are creating a marketing funnel of various keywords that will help to target the demographic of people that you are trying to reach.
Ideally, you’re going to want to make sure that you are using keywords that fall within the commercial intent category, as these will help to match your products to the people that are actually looking to purchase them.
Even though commercial intent keywords aren’t typically the keywords that are going to bring in lots of traffic and fast, it’s important to keep in mind that these are the types of keywords that are going to have the potential to be the most competitive, as they will be directly targeting potential buyers that are already in the action stage of the customer buying process.
On the other hand, it is also important to make sure that you are also including a variety of different commonly-searched keywords within the niche of the products that you are selling, as these will help to increase traffic to your website.
Still, despite the fact that these sorts of keywords are able to drive more traffic to your website as opposed to the commercial intent keywords, they won’t necessarily bring you in purchases.
Still, it is recommended that you sprinkle some throughout your website or blog’s copy to help get a consistent flow of traffic to your page.
Nevertheless, in order to build a content strategy, you’re first going to need to make sure that you have a great affiliate program or network to work with. This brings us to our next section! Let’s take a look below.
What’s The Difference Between Affiliate Network And Affiliate Program?
Regardless of whether you’ve been in the world of affiliate marketing for quite some time or not – we’re sure that you’ll agree with us when we say that when it comes to affiliate networks and affiliate programs, it can be easy to get the two mixed up.
Even though they are very similar, there are some differences between them, and if you’re looking to get into affiliate marketing in the travel niche, it’ll serve you well to make sure that you clearly understand the difference between the two.
To help you make sure that you have a clear understanding of what each of these two affiliate marketing terms refer to, below we are going to be breaking the two terms down:
- Affiliate Program: This is essentially a partnership between an affiliate and a merchant.
- Affiliate Network: An affiliate network is a platform that allows both merchants and affiliates to be able to coordinate their deals and offers. They are also typically full of helpful resources, tools and more.
The Top Travel Affiliate Networks
First up, we are going to be taking a closer look at the top travel affiliate networks available to you to try. These are general and are a great place to start if you are just getting started in the world of affiliate marketing.
Let’s take a look at some of the top affiliate networks below:
1. Travelpayouts
If you’ve already begun to do some affiliate marketing research, we’re sure that you’ll have already come across this network.
Travelpayouts is one of the most popular affiliate marketing networks in the travel niche, and works with a variety of different merchants within the travel industry, including Tripadvisor and Expedia!
For this reason, besides being one of the go-top affiliate networks to be used by travel influencers and bloggers all across the world, Travelpayouts is also a great place to start for anyone that is just beginning to dip their toes into the world of affiliate marketing.
Wondering what Travelpayouts offers? The options are endless.
Unlike other programs and networks that only specialize in certain products, Travelpayouts is extremely versatile in their offerings, and have a range of different travel products, packages and more for you to sell – including car rentals, vacation packages, travel activity excursions and much, much more.
Ever since Travelpayouts first launched, they have swiftly become one of the most well-respected and popular travel affiliate networks in the world, and they have currently paid out more than 20 million dollars – and that figure is ever growing!
Not only that, but along with offering an extensive inventory of various different packages and products to sell, Travelpayouts also offers you a variety of different tools free of charge. Including banners, media, widgets, WordPress plugins and much more.
Not only that, but Travelpayouts even offer support services that are available in more than 60 different languages!
Whether you’re just getting started in the world of affiliate marketing within the travel niche, or you’ve been doing it for years and want to extend your catalog of networks – Travelpayouts is definitely worth trying out.
- Payment Method: Paypal, Bank Transfer.
- Cookie Duration: 30 days
- Commision: Varies
2. Cj Affiliate Program
If Travelpayouts isn’t necessarily what you’re looking for, then another great travel network that you could check out is a network that is known as Cj Affiliate. Let’s take a closer look at why it’s so great below:
Rivaling Travelpayouts, Cj Affiliate is one of the most popular and celebrated marketing networks not only in the travel industry but in the world!
Known as being highly reputable and trustworthy, Cj affiliate, at the time of writing, currently hosts hundreds of different travel affiliate programs that range from Tripsadvisor all the way to Expedia. Impressive or what?
If you’re interested in trying out this affiliate networking for your travel blogging endeavors, then it is with keeping in mind that this network has currently paid out more than 1 billion dollars in commission each year to all of this affiliate markets – and that list includes everyone from travel bloggers, influencers, deal websites and those who are just getting started out.
To give you the complete peace of mind that you are going to be in good hands when signing up to this travel marketing network, all affiliates (regardless of their audience or time spent in the industry as an affiliate marketer) are each given total support by custom AAPIs, as well as analytics data that will help to bolster chances of success, while also streamlining the affiliate marketing process.
Along with all of this, we think that you’ll also be pleased to hear that you will have complete access to multiple different types of media including banners, images and more – as well as complete access to thousands of deals, products and offers in similar niches that are relevant to travel.
Regardless of whether you’re just getting started or not – you’ll love all that Cj Affiliate has to offer!
- Commission: Varies depending on the partners, as each sets their own commission rates.
- Cookie Duration: Cj Affiliate is cookieless.
- Payment Methods: Payoneer or Direct deposit.
- Travel Category: Booking.
3. TripAdvisor Affiliate Program
Last but certainly not least, the final network that we are going to be reviewing in our guide is the TripAdvisor Affiliate Program. Let’s take a closer look at it below:
You don’t need to be a travel enthusiast to have heard of TripAdvisor!
Boasting the title of being the world’s latest travel website, it only makes sense that TripAdisor should have its very own affiliate marketing program to go along with all of the various deals, packages and vacations that it offers its visitors!
If you like the sound of partnering up with TripAdvisor as one of their affiliate partners, yo will be able to promote their rooms and claim up to a 50% commissions (yes you read that correctly) for each purchase that you make of a room via their brokerage fee that TripAdvisor will get from all of their various hotel platforms that they actively work with.
Along with that, it is also worth noting that you will also have the ability of potentially gaining a flat commission based on the clicks from your affiliate links.
To provide you with an idea of what you might be able to make from flat commissions, when partnered with TripAdvisor, all publishers that send less than 1000 clicks per month typically tend to earn around 550 dollars per month.
Not bad, right? You might also be interested to learn that this program is also available on Cj Affiliate.
- Commission: You’ll get a 50% commission fee, as well as potentially being able to enjoy an additional flat commission.
- Cookie Duration: 14 days.
- Payment Methods: This depends on the partner being used.
The Top Airline Affiliate Programs
Now that we have talked you through some of the top general networks, we are now going to be taking a look at the best airline affiliate programs.
These are great for travel blogs and websites that are tailored towards certain locations. Below, let’s take a closer look at some of the top airline affiliate programs worth knowing about:
1. Skyscanner Affiliate Program
Kicking our list off, we have selected Skyscanner! Known as being one of the best global travel websites in the world, Skyscanner is a website that allows its users to be able to easily compare car rentals, flight prices, accommodations and much, much more.
And the best part? Bloggers and other affiliate marketers have the opportunity to collect a commission for each booking that is made through their own websites or blogs.
If you’re interested in partnering with Skyscanner, you will be able to make use of a range of different resources, including affiliate links that can be customized and various banners, widgets and other forms of content.
As far as what you can expect to make, Skyscanner offers varying commissions but a standard rate of 20% for each transaction made.
- Commission: Starts at 20%.
- Cookie Duration: 30 days
- Payment Methods: Paypal or bank transfer.
2. Kayak Affiliate Program
If Skyscanner isn’t a program that you feel is going to be a good fit for you, then Kayak’s affiliate program should certainly be on your radar. Let’s take a closer look at this program below:
Unlike the other providers you’ll find on this list, Kayak is a unique website that essentially acts as a travel search engine.
This engine, similar to Google’s search engine, has the ability to deliver a range of awesome travel deals, destinations, car rentals and more – depending on what it is that the visitor is looking for.
It’s a hugely popular online website that sees more than 200,000,000 searches each month, and the online service is even incredibly accessible and available in over 20 different languages at the time of writing this blog post.
The best part? If you decide to join this program, you’ll be able to get up to 50% of all booking revenue, as well as just under one dollar per ad click.
In addition to these great benefits, you will also be able to make use of a variety of free resources provided by Kayak for all their affiliate marketing partners, including banners and all the affiliate links you are going to need.
- Commission: Up to 50%, as well as $.95 per click.
- Cookie Duration: 30 minutes.
- Payment Method: Bank transfer, WebMoney or Paypal.
The Top Hotel Affiliate Programs
If you aren’t interested in getting involved in airline affiliate marketing, a great alternative that you can consider venturing into are hotel affiliate programs.
Along with the general affiliate networks we have already mentioned above, hotel affiliate programs are extremely popular and great for blogs as you will have the ability to choose between focusing on various locations or simply narrowing your content down to one, specific location. It’s entirely up to you!
Keep reading to check out some of the top hotel affiliate programs:
1. Agoda Affiliate Program
First up in this category we have selected the Agoda affiliate program, which is one of the most frequently used by travel bloggers and lifestyle influencers.
If you’re already in the travel niche, then we’re sure that you’ll have already heard of how great Agoda is for making travel more enjoyable and streamlined!
If you aren’t overly familiar with this online service, Agoda is essentially a vacation site that allows its visitors to be able to book accommodation at a great price.
They have a wide range of accommodation options to choose from, including everything from 5* hotels at the world’s top holiday destinations, luxury resorts packages, all the way to quiet, affordable villas.
If you’re interested in becoming a part of their referral program, you will have the ability to make money by gathering commissions from any bookings made via your affiliate links that you will be posting on your own website/blog.
Once you have been approved by Agoda to be a part of their referral program, you will be given free and complete access to their insider analytic data, as well as various banners, widgets and the affiliate links that you will need.
To give you an idea of how much money you might be able to make from partnering up with Agoda, their commissions rate vary from anywhere between 5% all the way up to 20%, and this is mainly dependent on how many bookings you are able to make a month.
For this reason, many affiliates find that it is best to combine this program with others in order to boost the chances of making a consistent income of money.
- Commission: 5-25%, depending on how many bookings you are able to make a month.
- Cookie Duration: 1 day.
- Payment Methods: Bank transfer or E-card.
The Top Travel Tours Affiliate Programs
The next category of pay per click affiliate marketing that we are going to be taking a closer look at within the travel niche are travel tours affiliate programs.
If you’re looking to make the big bucks, travel tour affiliate programs are one of the best ways to do it.
Unlike the other affiliate programs we have listed above, travel tour affiliate programs are known to be incredibly lucrative, and cover a range of different things including vacation excursions, tour bookings, activities and even accommodation for the duration.
Thanks to this, it means that these affiliate programs often consist of larger transactions, and that can bring in more of a profit for you. Let’s take a look at some of the best programs below:
1. Viator Affiliate Program
If you haven’t yet heard of Viator, where have you been? Offering one of the very best travel tours affiliate programs we’ve seen, Viator is essentially an online service that allows its visitors to be able to book a variety of different activities all across the globe.
These activities range from anything from jet-skiing, sightseeing tours, various different tourist attractions, scuba diving and much more, and the best part?
Viator offers visitors to their online service the ability to book these types of holiday activities all across the world! Whether they’re looking to go jet-skiing on the Mediterranean sea or they want to take a helicopter tour over the Hudson – Viator covers all bases.
If you’re interested in getting involved with their referral program, you’re going to first need to go through a vetting process to ensure that your website is a good fit for representing Viator.
Once approved, you will be given your very own self service dashboard that you will have full control over on your smartphone, tablet or computer.
In this dashboard you will be able to track how your ads are performing on your website, various different data reports as well as have the opportunity to record and track all of your payments – including when your next payment is going to be.
- Commission: 8%
- Cookie Duration: 30 days
- Payment Methods: PayPal or bank transfer
2. G Adventures Affiliate Program
Similar to Viator, G Adventures is another similar online service that also offers travel bloggers and website hosts the ability to earn money via their pay per click referral program.
Offering a similar service to that of Viator, G Adventures is an online website that allows their visitors to book various different travel activities, excursions and tours – the only difference is that the bookings made need to be in groups.
If you’re interested in signing up for the pay per click affiliate program that G Adventures currently offers, the best way that you will be able to do this is to direct traffic from your page to G Adventures in the hopes that they will book one of their 2 or 4 day packages.
As a side note, it is worth keeping in mind that the referral program itself is not actually managed by G Adventures.
Instead, it is run and controlled by a network that is known as Commission Network, which means that if you do decide to go ahead and partner up with G Adventures as a pay per click affiliate for them, you will be given a vast array of resources to work with from Commission Network, including reporting apps and more.
- Commission: 6% per booking
- Cookie Duration: One of the longest we’ve seen – 90 days
- Payment Methods: Checking, direct deposit or Payoneer
The Top Travel Insurance Affiliate Programs
Even though travel is fun and thrilling – in order to make sure that you can experience new destinations safely, travel insurance is extremely important to have.
Just like airlines, hotel bookings and adrenaline-fueled vacation excursions, you can also direct users to sign up for travel insurance through ads that you display on your page.
1. World Nomads
If you’re looking to get into this area of travel pay per click advertising, World Nomads is by far the best provider to go with.
If you weren’t already familiar with them, World Nomads is essentially a travel insurance website that is available for use in over 130 countries.
If you’re interested in trying out their referral program, you will have the ability to earn commission (10%, to be exact) for every sale that you are able to refer to World Nomads.
Keep in mind that if you do go ahead and sign up for this program, you will have complete access to an incredible support team that has bases in Brazil, UK and Australia to name a few.
- Commission: 10% for reach referral that is made
- Payment Methods: PayPal
- Cookie Duration: Around 60 days
The Top Luxury Travel Affiliate Programs
Despite being incredibly competitive, another highly lucrative way to make money via pay per click advertising is in luxury travel. Check out the top affiliate programs within this niche below:
1. Sandals Resorts
Kicking this list off, we have Sandals Resorts which is an online service that provides its visitors with the opportunity to book a variety of different 5* resorts while ensuring they get the very best value for their money.
If you’re interested in becoming an affiliate, you will be able to promote all of their deals at various different resorts all over the world via ads that will be placed on your website or blog.
From there, you will then have the opportunity to begin making a 4% commission for each sale you make, and given the fact that these are large transactions – you’ll be in for a great payout.
- Commission: 4%
- Cookie Duration: Around 60 days
- Payment Methods: Check, payoneer or direct deposit
2. Boatbookings
Similar to Sandals Resorts, Boatbookings is another luxury booking website, the only difference? Instead of resorts, visitors have the ability to book a variety of different luxury boats, including catamarans and, of course, yachts!
If you’re interested in becoming an affiliate for this online service, you can expect to receive a 20% brokerage fee that will be paid for by Boatbookings.
Plus, given the fact that these types of bookings are by no means cheap (some can be tens of thousands of dollars) this affiliate program has the potential to be extremely lucrative.
- Commission: 20% of the brokerage fee Boatbookings receives for each booking
- Cookie Duration: 30 days
- Payment Methods: Bank transfer is preferred
The Bottom Line
There we have it! You’ve made it to the end of the article.
Now that you have taken the time to read through all of the above, we are hoping that you have a much better understanding of what travel affiliate marketing is, as well as what the best travel programs are currently available.
All in all, when it comes to the travel niche (as well as what travel affiliate programs are going to be best for you) it’s ultimately going to come down to what program(s) are going along best with the content you currently create on your website or blog.
Along with this, you should also be sure to choose programs that you are genuinely interested in, as you’ll most likely need time and determination to whichever one that you choose from the roundup above.
Thank you for reading, and good luck with your chosen affiliate program! We hope that this blog post has been helpful to you.