Top Travel Affiliate Marketing Platforms
One way many travelers are able to afford their travels is to earn passive income through affiliate marketing.
Monetizing your travel content through affiliate marketing
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when you sign up to promote a particular brand and earn a commission on qualified purchases. Each affiliate program has it's own terms and conditions, so be sure that you read them before you begin and abide by them. They are not obligated to pay you if you promote them in a way that is not in their terms and conditions.
What to look for in a travel affiliate program?
- Reputation & Quality - is the brand you're looking to promote reputable and well-known
- Commission Rate - is the commission rate of the program worth the time and effort you will need to put into promoting the brand
- Cookie Period - how long after someone visits using your tracking link will their purchase qualify for commission
What is a travel affiliate marketing platform?
A travel affiliate marketing platform is a single tool or software you can sign up for that allows you to promote many different travel brands — all from one place. The platform's creator has partnered with many different travel affiliate programs, and when you join, you will have access to them, though some still require the partner approval.
Why sign up for a travel affiliate marketing platform?
While you can sign up for individual travel affiliate programs directly through each brand, using a travel affiliate marketing platform offers several key advantages — especially if you're serious about earning from travel content.
1. Access to Multiple Brands in One Place
Instead of juggling separate logins, dashboards, and terms for every program, a travel affiliate platform brings many travel brands together under one roof. This centralized access makes it easier to browse available partnerships, compare commission structures, and choose what works best for your audience.
2. Simplified Application Process
Some affiliate programs require individual approval — but many platforms streamline the application process. In some cases, your single platform profile may grant you instant access to multiple partners, saving time and reducing the hassle of applying to each brand separately.
3. Consolidated Reporting and Payouts
Managing affiliate income across different platforms can get messy. With a travel affiliate platform, you get unified reporting, so you can track clicks, conversions, and earnings from various programs in one dashboard. Even better, many platforms offer consolidated payouts, so you receive one payment instead of many small ones.
4. Time-Saving Tools and Resources
Many platforms offer built-in tools like deep link generators, widgets, banners, and reporting analytics that help you create better content faster. These resources are especially valuable for bloggers, content creators, or influencers looking to optimize their affiliate strategy.
5. Improved Opportunities and Network Growth
Affiliate platforms often highlight trending travel products or new partner opportunities, helping you discover brands you might not have found on your own. They may also offer promotional events or seasonal campaigns that boost your chances of earning higher commissions.
The Top Travel Affiliate Marketing Platforms
Travelpayouts
Within the travel industry, Travelpayouts is probably one of the most well-known travel affiliate programs. It’s an affiliate marketing platform specifically designed for the travel niche – connecting travelers to affiliate programs that are aligned with their goals and connecting companies that travelers love with people who are enthusiastic about promoting them.
Once you get approved to become an affiliate, you instantly gain access to tons of tools that will help you be successful.
There are many affiliate programs in Travelpayouts that have low barriers to entry. Many of them grant you instant access which means you’re automatically able to start promoting them. Some of those in particular will temporarily give you access to their program, but will disconnect after a few months if you are not actively earning commissions from them.
Brands I love and am able to promote through Travelpayouts include Get Your Guide, Booking.com, Airalo, and many more.
PLUS Refer and Earn through Travelpayouts
In addition to earning income from commissions, Travelpayouts has a generous referral program. Invite referrals and get rewarded 7% of their Travelpayouts earnings for the next 2 years!
Stay22
Stay22 is another affiliate marketing program in the travel niche, with a large emphasis on booking hotels and other types of stays. In addition, you can book travel activities and plenty other types of travel-related things.
Their tools allow you to generate interactive maps that you can embed on your website, that people can use to actively search across many of the popular booking sites all in one place.
See an example of an embedded map HERE.
PLUS Refer and Earn with Stay 22
When people you've referred get 100 confirmed bookings with Stay22, you get $500! They also get a $100 bonus!
AWIN
I recently learned about AWIN – which is a marketing affiliate program that is more general, but has a very large amount of brands to promote in the travel industry (and other industries).
Even within the travel niche, there are hundreds of programs to choose from.
I've signed up to promote brands like Adventure Cancun and LATAM Airlines, because they are both companies I've used and really like, and would be happy to promote in my Cancun and South America content, respectively.
These three affiliate marketing platforms are great options to help you start earning passive income from your travel content. Each makes it easier for you to get links added to your website and blog. Now what are you waiting for? Get signed up so you can start adding affiliate links to your travel content!
