It is 2024, and it is easier than ever for you to make money while covering your expenses on your Epic Adventures.
In today’s article, I’ll show you the best travel affiliate programs and how you can get started if you want to pay your way while traveling the world so you don’t have to return home to a boring job in a cubicle.
I’ve got you covered, and I’m going to go over the best nine affiliate programs for travelers that have a low barrier to entry, allowing you to start selling your travel content.
Affiliate marketing is one of the earliest and easiest ways to monetize as a travel content creator for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it does not require a significant following to get started.
Furthermore, you’re already going to these places and talking about them, such as the luggage you use or the hotel you stay in, so it’s only natural for you to share a link or a coupon with your followers.
I wish I had known about affiliate marketing while my wife and I were traveling long-term in 2019, but I’m here now to ensure that you do, so you can start monetizing your content right away.
The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Best Travel Affiliate Programs
The products or services you choose to promote will obviously depend on where you travel, whether you’re a budget traveler or a luxury traveler, or simply your style of content, but I’m going to give you a wide variety to choose from.
Make sure to read all the way to the end because number eight is a hot tip and number nine is my personal favorite.
Just a quick side note before we get started: if you’re new to affiliate marketing, it’s important to note that some of these programs or companies allow you to apply directly through their website, while others require you to go through an affiliate Marketplace, such as Impact or Share a Sale.
1. Hotels
As we travel, we all need a somewhere to stay, and for many travelers, hotels will account for a major percentage of their travel budget, thus our winner affiliate program here is plainly booking. com. I choose booking for a few reasons:
1. The business is already widely recognized and has a good reputation, which means consumers trust it.
2. It can be found practically anywhere in the globe, and it is not limited to a specific region or country.
It’s not uncommon for people to spend $100 per night on hotels, so this can add up quickly because it’s an expense that most people will have to incur at some point in their travels.
3. The commission for booking is 4% of gross sales; however, the major disadvantage of booking is that there is no cookie or tracking setting, which means that you only get that commission or sale to count if they buy it while they are in the browser of whatever content you are sharing.
2. Rental cars
Depending on where you’re traveling, many places require rental cars. I know it’s difficult to be a tourist in North America without a rental car, and the same is true in parts of Europe and other parts of the world. Rental car fees can also add up and be a major factor in a trip’s budget.
As a result, your payout may also be significant for an expense that individuals currently require.
Rental cars are obviously ideal for customers who want a lot more flexibility in their day or who have a limited amount of time to explore an area and thus do not have the slower-paced luxury of perhaps long-term travel or waiting for public transportation, and, frankly, in some regions and countries, a rental car is downright necessary to get around.
Rentalcars. com is the winning affiliate program in this category since their compensation is 40% of the booking profit, identical to Booking. com.
It has a strong brand recognition and thus can help with conversion rates. However, the same disadvantage as booking. com is that there is no cookie or tracking.
You know it’s a zero-day tracking or cookie, which means it has to be an in-session purchase for you to receive the commission from the sale.
An excellent runner-up in this category would be to find cars where you can earn a commission not only on the selling profit but also on a proportion of the profit from the insurance element of the booking if the customer chooses to do so quickly pause.
3. Travel Tours
When it comes to travel tours, the affiliate program leading here is Vator, which, like the other companies, has a very strong brand recognition.
People are most likely already using it or have heard of it in some capacity, which greatly improves your conversion chances if you’re unfamiliar with vator.
It is a platform that allows customers to promote and book tour experiences in a variety of activities.
Commission on vator might range from 4 to 8%, depending on the activity and the company providing.
Vator is a global company, and getting your guide is especially popular in Europe, so you could also sign up for the best runner up in this category.
The good news is that vator has a cookie duration of 30 days, which means that if a customer clicks on your link and takes a few days to decide which excursion they want to go on and books within 30 days, you will still receive credit and commission for that sale.
4. RVs and campers
Although this is a minor category, it is extremely popular in some destinations, like New Zealand and Iceland.
It’s almost like hotels and Ral cars are bundled under one roof, which means your revenue potential increases because the cost of these is nearly doubled.
Outdoorsy is the winner of this affiliate program, and unlike the other companies mentioned in this article, your commission is a flat rate of $60, which is actually quite good because it doesn’t matter if someone books the camper for a 2-day excursion or a 28-day excursion; your commission rate is still $60.
Another benefit is that outdoorsy has a 30-day cookie duration, which means that if your customers need time to consider it before reading your post, clicking on your link, and then booking, you will still receive credit and income from the sale.
The disadvantage is that this is largely location and manner of travel dependent, but it could be ideal if this is your preferred mode of travel.
5. Airport lounges
Many people prefer to use credit cards when traveling, whether on a budget or for extended periods of time. However, the solution here is to gain access to all airport lounges, which might still fit into your travel stuff.
Priority Pass wins here because they offer a 10% affiliate commission, which is quite excellent, and the cookie duration is likewise 30 days, which is great news for us.
The only disadvantage is that, as of the writing of this article, it is largely US-based, and US clients must purchase in order for you to receive that commission, but perhaps they will expand in the future.
6. Airfare
Skyscanner is the victor here, and while I included it in the airline category, Skyscanner is essentially a meta search engine that matches all types of search results, such as hotels, excursions, rental cars, and so on. Commissions vary but average around 20%.
This is quite good, and the cookie duration is 30 days, which is really nice when it has a cookie period of roughly a month, and this is just another great global option because Skyscanner is available in most countries around the world.
7. Travel insurance
The clear winner in this category is World Nomad. Travel insurance is a fantastic choice for almost everyone, especially considering the cost.
It is rather inexpensive to have that peace of mind when traveling internationally away from your own health care system or emergency medical care system, and World Nomads is an excellent company for this. The commission for this is 10%, and the cookie lasts 60 days.
One thing I really like about World Nomads and the Travel Insurance affiliate program is that this would be a very simple one for you to integrate into any of your existing content because travel insurance makes sense if you’re traveling outside of your home country.
So chances are you already have existing content that you can wrap this one into right away if you want.
8. Simplified and combined affiliate platform
I’ll be completely honest: applying to all of these separate firms and then collecting your earnings from them may be a little confusing and daunting, especially if you’re doing a couple dozen.
It may rapidly get out of hand, so it’s wonderful when it’s simplified on one platform where you can apply once you have a single wallet from which you’re paid and a single platform from which to find any new affiliate programs that may be available.
A platform that is specific to the travel niche is called travel payouts; these are all travel-related brands, which is really nice.
There are other types of affiliate marketplaces out there, but they are not necessarily specific to travel, which is why I’m recommending you to try payouts, and again, this makes things so much easier because you only have one dashboard and one wallet from which to receive payments.
This could be a really great option for you if you just need to simplify your monetization process; currently, travel payouts has over 100 partners who participate, and they are growing every day, so this would be a great place to start if you just want to get started rather than going to each different website and applying with each company or program separately.
9. High ticket products
As a digital Nomad, all of the other programs I’ve provided so far are low cost, as are the majority of affiliate programs out there, but I’d like you to know that high ticket is an option for you and a method to simplify your online business if you want to be a digital Nomad.
Low ticket versus high ticket, and why I choose high ticket. To simplify things here in this article, for low ticket, the maximum compensation that you’re likely to receive from any single transaction is $60 from that outdoorsy affiliate network, which could be OK or excellent.
However, with high ticket items, you will receive a lot higher payout and may be able to travel longer in style, or just have it be your long-term career without having to constantly churn and burn content.
With high ticket products, you can expect payouts of $1,000 or more per transaction.
You may be wondering how high ticket products are even possible as a digital nomad; however, if you choose the right product, platform, and business model, you can achieve tremendous success with high ticket affiliate products as a full-time traveler.