Best Travel Affiliate Programs 2022
Travel is one of the largest industries in the world, and despite the setbacks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, travel is still one of the most popular topics on the internet – not to mention one of the most lucrative industries for marketing affiliates.
Becoming a travel affiliate is an excellent way to start funding your own travels, and the best affiliate programs are going to vary depending on a lot of factors.
It’s easy to get lost in the sheer number of travel affiliate programs available today, so that’s why we’ve come up with this handy guide on increasing your travel platform’s revenue with the best travel affiliate programs around.
Top 9 Best Travel Affiliate Programs
Here are 9 best travel affiliate programs available in 2021. Despite the decline in the travel industry due to the pandemic, there are still plenty of opportunities now for interested travelers to visit destinations all over the world. Promote travel on your platform and earn revenue at the same time with these top-performing affiliate programs:
HostelWorld
Commission Rate: 18-22% of HostelWorld’s share
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Hostels are a great way to save money and get a more authentic experience when you travel, and HostelWorld is one of the best places to look if you’re looking for affordable, high-quality accommodations anywhere in the world.
HostelWorld doesn’t own any of the accommodations it lists on its site, but it does make a commission on every booking. As a HostelWorld travel affiliate, you can earn anywhere between 18% and 22% of whatever HostelWorld makes, and with a cookie duration of 30 days, there’s plenty of time for your audience to browse all of the options available and still generate revenue for your platform when they finally make their booking.
GetYourGuide
Commission Rate: 8% per Sale
Cookie Duration: 31 Days
Based in Berlin, Germany, GetYourGuide is a premiere online travel agency that’s especially popular for anyone looking to visit countries and cities in the European continent. While they do offer travel bookings elsewhere, they dominate the European travel market with a wide selection of high-quality travel and tours offered in the most popular European travel destinations.
One of the best perks about GetYourGuide is how they collaborate with their affiliate partners. GetYourGuide regularly shares data and trends with affiliates to help them capitalize on what’s popular, as well as provides them with information regarding the tours with the best sales conversions.
Commission rate is at 8%, which can become very lucrative considering the prices of their travel and tours packages, and the 31 day cookie duration provides plenty of elbow room for getting those conversions.
Booking.com
Commission Rate: 25-35% of Booking.com’s share
Cookie Duration: No Cookies
Booking.com is easily the most popular online travel platform in the world, and consequently, their travel affiliate program is also one of the most popular, with the
Initially, Booking.com doesn’t look too attractive – no cookies and high cancellation rates means conversions are rarer to come by – but regardless of that, Booking.com still offers one of the most lucrative travel affiliate programs on the market. The reason behind this is simple: what they lack in quality of conversions, they make up for with sheer volume.
Booking.com is easy-to-use, immensely popular, and comprehensive with the travel bookings they offer. Booking.com is the best platform to affiliate with if your audience is looking at hotels and accommodations for their international trips.
The commission structure on Booking.com is pretty substantial, too, with affiliates earning between 25% and 35% of Booking’s cut on every sale, with volume incentives to help you earn even more if you can hit their monthly quotas.
Klook
Commission Rate: Up to 5%
Cookie Duration: 30 days
If you’re promoting travel and tours in Asia, Klook is one of the best online travel agencies to affiliate with. Based in Hong Kong, Klook offers travel and tours packages for some of the most popular travel destinations in Asia, including countries like Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, and more. That said, Klook also operates just about everywhere else in the world, from North America to Europe, but they perform best in Asian countries.
Although the Klook affiliate commission rate is lower compared to other platforms at up to 5%, there’s still plenty of commission to be earned since Klook’s offers are often complete travel packages. Cookie duration is an industry-standard 30 days.
Apart from travel and tour packages, affiliates can also earn a commission from all kinds of other sales made on the Klook platform, including WiFi rental, various transportation bookings, and SIM cards.
REI
Commission Rate: 5%
Cookie Duration: 15 Days
Of course, travel isn’t just about hotel rooms, resorts, and tours. If your audience is looking to take on all kinds of adventures in their travels, a great program to partner up with is REI. As an internationally-recognized outdoors brand, REI offers a fantastic selection of travel gear and equipment for the more adventurous tourist.
From camping and survival gear, to outdoor apparel and equipment, REI has everything your audience needs to take on all kinds of outdoor activities in their travels.
REI’s cookie duration is a little shorter at just 15 days, and the 5% commission may not look like much at first, but if you’re going to be promoting travel anyway, your audience can definitely benefit from equipment, apparel, and gear that they can take with them on their next adventure.
World Nomads
Commission Rate: 10% per policy
Cookie Duration: 60 Days
Any travel blog or content platform can benefit greatly from a travel insurance affiliate program, and one of the best providers in the business is World Nomad.
One of the best things about travel insurance affiliates is that you can pretty much promote them on any travel-oriented channel using all kinds of content. There’s always risks in any kind of travel, and World Nomad offers flexible trip insurance to give you extra security when you travel internationally.
If you’re a travel blogger, travel insurance can be included in all kinds of content, making it a great additional revenue stream for your platform. Plus, with their 60 day cookie and 10% commission rate, World Nomad can boost your affiliate revenue substantially with minimum extra effort.
Safety Wing
Commission Rate: 10%
Cookie Duration: 365 days
While World Nomad caters more on international travellers, ensuring trips with short-term policies, Safety Wing offers full-fledged health insurance for long-term travelers. If your target audience are lifelong travelers, digital nomads, and any other kind of person who travels regularly and all over the world, Safety Wing makes for a great travel insurance affiliate program.
With 10% commision on every insurance policy, Safety Wing affiliate revenue can be quite substantial. Plus, with their 365 day (a whole year!) cookie duration, you have a massive window of opportunity to turn your leads into commissionable conversions.
G Adventures
Commission Rate: 6% per sale
Cookie Duration: 90 days
Perfect for small-groups and big adventures, G Adventures is a great option for travel platforms that emphasize off-beat travel destinations for a more active travel experience.
G Adventures offers guided bookings to some of the most clandestine destinations in the world, so if your audience is all about those breathtaking peaks and unforgettable adventures, their affiliate program might be exactly what you need.
G Adventures can be a very lucrative affiliate program if you can promote it to the right audience. With a 6% commission rate and an average sale price of upwards of $2,500, there’s plenty of earning opportunities here. 90-day cookie duration also helps in keeping your conversation rate high and the revenue flowing.
RentalCars.com
Commission Rate: 6% per completed rental
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Owned by the same company that runs Booking.com, RentalCars is also one of the most popular online rental car agencies that caters to international travelers. Offering rental car services all around the globe, RentalCars.com is a great platform to affiliate with for all kinds of travel sites and blogs.
As long as your audience is the type that wants the convenience of driving when they travel – and that covers a majority of travelers, from tourists to families to businessmen and creatives – promoting RentalCars is a great way to boost revenue while providing your audience with a convenient way to see all the places they want to see on their travels.
RentalCars.com offers affiliates 6% commission on any completed car rental booking – that means your commission comes in after the customers return their rentals – and a standard 30-day cookie to help you make your conversion. RentalCars.com also offers a wide variety of tools to help its affiliates produce effective content with data insights, admin tools, and more.\
Tips for Promoting Travel Affiliate Products on Your Platform
Earning opportunities in the travel industry are about as infinitely varied as the motivations behind travel, so the best way to find your travel niche is to figure out what your audience wants.
Promote hotels and tours for luxury travelers, budget accommodations for college students looking to see the world on a budget, extreme adventures for thrill seekers – tailor your promotional material for your audience and you’ll see much more success with your affiliate programs.
