Travel stands out as one of the most profitable niches in the affiliate industry, as well as one of the most competitive. By the end of 2024, global travel revenue is expected to reach $916 billion.
Considering the competitiveness in the travel niche, you want to do your best to stay on top of the market and attract new clients to your brand. One of the most effective ways to gain new customers is through affiliate marketing, which is steadily gaining popularity among travel brands.
Are you looking for inspiration to build a travel affiliate program of your own? We gathered a list of the most popular and best travel affiliate programs in the industry that you can check out as successful examples of travel affiliate marketing efforts.
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What Is a Travel Affiliate Program?
An affiliate program is a partnership where affiliates (partnering companies or individuals, whether influencers or regular clients) gain incentives for helping to onboard new customers. Travel affiliate programs are just that; but made for travel-related companies and optimized to provide travel-related affiliate incentives.
For example, affiliates may receive special travel discounts, vouchers, free stays, or cash rewards.
Why Implement a Travel Affiliate Program?
There are multiple reasons why your travel brand can also benefit from implementing an affiliate program. Here are some of them:
- Lower Marketing Expenses: Outsourcing your marketing efforts to affiliate marketers is considerably cheaper than traditional marketing efforts.
- More Leads: An efficient affiliate network will be able to deliver a regular supply of new leads.
- Increased Revenue: More affiliates will bring new audiences, who will, in turn, bring new sources of revenue.
15 Best Travel Affiliate Programs
Here’s a list of some of the best affiliate programs in the travel industry.
1. Expedia
Commission rate: Up to 4%.
Referral window: 7 days
As one of the world’s biggest travel companies, Expedia boasts an extremely successful affiliate program that constantly brings in new affiliates despite offering them a modest commission of only up to 4% per booking made via the affiliate link.
The Expedia affiliate program mostly owes its success to its simplicity. Affiliates receive a Creator toolbox that lets them easily set up affiliate links, along with tools designed to track and analyze performance.
Recently, the Expedia Group united all of its brands (Hotels.com, Vrbo, etc.) under Expedia’s affiliate program, offering unified benefits and providing an even more affiliate-friendly experience.
2. Booking.com
Commission rate: 25-40%
Referral window: Session-based
Currently possessing the biggest affiliate platform in the travel industry, Booking.com owes its popularity among affiliate marketers to its high commission rates. They can go all the way up to 40% of the commission given to Booking.com per each hotel booking (sadly, flights or car rentals aren’t covered yet).
The exact affiliate commission is determined according to a tiered system, where affiliates with more referrals per month get paid more.
Booking.com affiliates also receive access to useful affiliate tools, such as a deals finder, a search box, and pre-made banners.
3. Kayak
Commission rate: Up to 50%
Referral window: 30 days
A travel search engine that lets you search for hotel bookings, flights, and car rentals from a single hub, the Kayak affiliate program also covers other services under the Kayak umbrella, such as HotelsCombined, Momondo, and Cheapflights.
What sets this program apart and makes it attractive is its commission rate, which goes up to 50%. The minimum payment threshold of $500 encourages affiliates to make a continuous effort to be able to withdraw payments.
4. Viator
Commission rate: 8%
Referral window: 30 days
Another huge name in the travel industry, Viator is a portal that lets you easily plan and book your travels in advance, create custom vacation packages, and book premade ones. It also boasts one of the largest affiliate networks in the travel services industry.
The 8% commission rate might not look that attractive to potential affiliates at first glance, but what the Viator affiliate program has going for it is its ability to do payouts through PayPal on a weekly basis, along with a collection of nifty tools for affiliates who decide to join.
5. Agoda
Commission rate: Up to 7%
Referral window: 1 day
Agoda is an online travel agency with a network of over two million lodgings worldwide that you can book. Rather than focusing on a specific niche, Agoda opts for a diverse audience—even translating its platform into over 38 world languages. This makes it even easier for partners in the Agoda affiliate program to reach new audiences.
The partner program’s commission rate goes between 4% and 7% depending on the number of bookings made per month through the partner’s affiliate links, encouraging affiliates to make more effort in promoting Agoda through their website.
6. Tripadvisor
Commission rate: 50-80%
Referral window: 14 days
While Tripadvisor is mainly known as a portal for hotel and restaurant reviews, it also functions as a platform where you can book vacation rentals, restaurants, or activities. The Tripadvisor affiliate program takes advantage of this, letting affiliates earn a part of the Tripadvisor commission by sharing the Tripadvisor link for hotel bookings.
The payments for this affiliate program are based on clicks rather than actual bookings, making it particularly easy for affiliate partners to earn money. The usual commission is a generous 50% but can go up to 80% during special incentive campaigns.
7. Hostelworld
Commission rate: Up to 40% of the deposit
Referral window: 30 days
As its name suggests, Hostelworld is a travel website offering hostel bookings in over 179 countries. Although its niche is budget traveling, the affiliate program lets affiliates earn comparable profits to what they’d earn through luxury travel affiliate programs.
Namely, affiliate commissions are calculated on a CPA basis based on the deposit left per booking, going up to 40%.
8. Travelpayouts
Commission rate: Varies
Referral window: Varies
This online platform is unique from most of the others on the list since it’s an online hub uniting 100+ travel industry affiliate programs, including most of the others on this list. It allows affiliates to keep most of the affiliate commissions from various individual programs while managing their income and analyzing their performance through a single platform.
Such an approach makes this program particularly attractive to travel bloggers, who are likely to seek affiliate deals with multiple partners in the affiliate industry at once.
9. G Adventures
Commission rate: 5% on confirmed sales
Referral window: 90 days
As the most popular website in the adventure travel niche, G Adventures caters to a fairly specific yet global audience. The profits are fairly high (with the average online order valued at $2,600), and G Adventures affiliate program partners can keep 5% of each confirmed sale made through the affiliate link.
However, the specific niche also means that any affiliate working with this program would have to develop marketing strategies to stay ahead of the curve and attract new customers.
10. GetYourGuide
Commission rate: Over 8%
Referral window: 31 days
GetYourGuide is a platform that lets clients easily book guided tours and other activities by connecting them with local guides.
Affiliates who are a part of the program receive a minimum commission rate of 8%, paid monthly. Still, the most attractive part of the offer is free travel, affiliate marketer training, and access to networking events, as well as a set of tools to make the job easier for affiliates.
11. World Nomads
Commission rate: $0.83 per order
Referral window: 60 days
A leading travel insurance site, World Nomads provides comprehensive insurance services for travelers, mostly focusing on the adventurer niche.
With a flat rate of $0.83 per order, regardless of its value, the World Nomads affiliate program may not look particularly attractive for new partners. Nevertheless, high interest in World Nomads’ services, combined with robust integration tools and a strong support team, makes the program one of the most successful ones in the travel insurance niche.
12. Skyscanner
Commission rate: Up to 20%
Referral window: 30 days
While Skyscanner started off as a platform for booking airline tickets, its service expanded to cover hotel booking and car rental services too. It has an affiliate program targeting high-ranking websites with up-to-date content and UX passing Skyscanner’s rigid requirements—the company cares about its reputation and wants its affiliates to be up to the task.
As a reward, affiliates receive a percentage of all commissions made through the affiliate link, which climbs along with the number of successful bookings made per month. The maximum commission percentage is 20%.
13. SafetyWing
Commission rate: 10%
Referral window: 365 days
SafetyWing is an insurance company geared toward travelers, digital nomads, and other individuals who need active insurance while outside of their home country. It also features an ambassador program offering a 10% monthly recurring commission on subscriptions for promoting SafetyWing’s services through an affiliate link or widget. Designed by our own CEO, the program currently generates $350k per month in sales.
Many of the program’s features are highly convenient for affiliates, warming up an already attractive deal even further: SafetyWing’s cookie window is a highly generous 365 days, and the minimum threshold for monthly payouts via PayPal is only $10.
14. JRPass
Commission rate: Up to 10%
Referral window: 28 days
Japan Rail Pass, or JRPass, is a company offering tickets for the Japanese railways specifically designed for international visitors. It also features an affiliate program that we helped work on to revitalize after a price hike that led to affiliate dropouts.
The successful revitalization showed the importance of open and transparent communication and affiliate nurturing for a truly accomplished affiliate program. Regular check-ins, cross-promotions, guest posts, and openness about the price increase and commission changes—while staying optimistic about prospects—were vital for boosting the program’s performance and improving conversion rates.
15. OneWayFly
Commission rate: 10%
Referral window: 30 days
OneWayFly is a portal for airline bookings and hotel reservations, specializing in one-way flights—which sets it apart from most similar services. In 2022, we launched its affiliate program by targeting social media communities, helping OneWayFly gain competitiveness against more established travel websites.
The program offers a flat 10% commission for all first bookings made by new customers. The payouts can be made at the beginning of each month via PayPal for accounts with a balance of at least $30.
Wrapping Up
If you’re aiming for success in a highly competitive industry such as travel, it’s essential to constantly stay on top of your game with all your business efforts, including marketing.
A successful affiliate network will help you increase your conversions, expand your reach, and boost your revenue. These successful examples may prove inspiring, but an even superior option is to directly consult with experts who had a hand in designing some of the best travel affiliate programs.
Write to us at Vivian Agency, or, better yet, book a video meeting so we can have a chat about your ideas and help you put them into reality right away!
