How to Make Money as a World Traveler (5 Affiliate Programs)

Monetize your adventures with affiliate marketing! Partner with a program that fits your wanderlust lifestyle…

Do you dream of traveling the world and making money at the same time? Well, it's not as far-fetched as you might think. Thanks to affiliate marketing programs, travel enthusiasts can earn a steady income no matter where the adventure takes you!

Affiliate marketing involves partnering with companies to promote their products or services – which can be anything from your must-have travel gear, to your favorite hotel stays, or your top-pick travel arrangements. In exchange for your efforts, you receive a commission on any sales made through your unique affiliate link.

In this post, we'll explain how blogging is by far one of the best ways to promote affiliate products. Then we'll introduce 5 world-renowned travel companies with incredible affiliate programs you can apply to today!

Meet Your New Travel Companions: WordPress + Pretty Links

Blogging is an excellent way to promote affiliate products because it allows you to create high-quality content that attracts targeted traffic to your website. Moreso, a blog gives you your very own platform to share your expertise, insights, and recommendations with your audience.

Because this is our blog, we recommend the most popular blogging platform there is: WordPress. Not only does this content management system (CMS) power nearly half of the websites online today, but it's also perfectly compatible with our Pretty Links plugin.

With Pretty Links riding shotgun on your travel blog, you can personalize affiliate links to match your blog name. That way you don't lead readers astray with a strange and sketchy-looking link provided by the affiliate program you belong to.

Prettifying links isn't all Pretty Links can do. Included in our all-in-one link management solution is the ability to track your links, create dynamic redirects, autolink keywords, and so much more.

What to Consider Before Choosing a Travel Affiliate Program

Travel affiliate programs are a great way for bloggers, social media influencers, and website owners to monetize their passion by promoting travel-related products and services to their audience. But with so many programs available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one.

To make the best decision, it is important to consider several factors such as commission rates, product offerings, support, and reputation. However, the first and most important factor to consider is your audience.

That's because, to generate income, you'll need your followers to engage with your affiliate links and products. Therefore, it's important to evaluate what kind of travelers they are.

For example, you may provide content to students looking for budget-friendly travel tips. In this case, you should look for programs that focus on cheaper transportation instead of high-end luxury airlines.

If you're a family of travelers, it might be easier for you to promote family-friendly products and attractions – such as a Great Wolf Lodge hotel stay.

Ultimately, by choosing the right affiliate program, you can add value to your travel blog.

5 Affiliate Marketing Programs for Travel Bloggers

Now that you know what to look for in a travel affiliate program, it's time to find one for your blog! To help with your search, we've picked out 5 of the most popular options.

1. Expedia

Many travel bloggers choose to partner with Expedia, which is one of the most popular travel booking services. With the Expedia affiliate program, you can recommend hotels, vacation rentals, flights, cars, cruises, and activities:

Depending on which travel products you choose, you can make 2-6% in commissions. You'll also be able to access Expedia's product inventory, which includes over 35,000 activities, 500 airlines, and one million properties.

Plus, Expedia makes it easy to integrate affiliate links into your blog. With banners, widgets, and deep links, you'll have all the tools you need to become a travel affiliate.

However, keep in mind that you'll only have a seven-day referral period. This means that once a visitor clicks on your affiliate link, they'll need to make a purchase within seven days for you to receive credit.

2. Booking.com

If you want to earn a higher commission, consider joining the Booking.com affiliate program. As you direct users to make travel accommodations through Booking.com, you can make 25% in commissions from these sales:

With over 29 million bookable rooms, Booking.com can provide a variety of options for your followers to choose from. Since about 1.5 million rooms are reserved daily, you'll have a significant opportunity to earn commissions.

Additionally, as you encourage more bookings, you can increase your payout rate to 40%. This makes Booking.com one of the highest-paying travel affiliate programs out there.

On the other hand, its cookie duration is limited to one session. That means, if users click on your affiliate link and leave without immediately booking, you won't earn a commission.

3. Amazon Associates

As a travel blogger, you don't have to simply recommend platforms for booking flights and hotels. Since your audience likely also needs traveling items like luggage, you can sign up for Amazon Associates. This program will enable you to earn a profit when you promote necessary travel gear:

After you become an Amazon affiliate, you can share Amazon products and earn a commission from every sale. Usually, you can make a 4% payout, but this can vary for different product categories.

One main benefit of the Amazon Associates program is its product inventory. When going on flights, people may need new clothes, portable chargers, and any other helpful travel items. By sharing the right Amazon products, you can make traveling more convenient for your followers.

Unfortunately, your Amazon affiliate links will only have a 24-hour window. As such, if you decide to partner with Amazon, it's important to drive high-quality traffic for fast conversions.

4. Travelpayouts

While the other options on this list are individual affiliate programs, Travelpayouts is an affiliate network. This service combines over 100 travel affiliate programs that specialize in everything from hotel bookings and car rentals to flights and dining experiences:

Once you sign up for Travelpayouts, you can join any of its travel affiliate programs. With white label, widgets, a URL shortener, and an Application Programming Interface (API), you can easily add affiliate links to your website. As you encourage users to book travel services, you can track their clicks and sales in a performance dashboard.

Plus, you can earn up to 70% of the revenue you generate for the network. The more sales you make, the more you can increase your payout rate.

What's more, for most of the affiliate programs in Travelpayouts, the cookie lifetime lasts 30 days. This means that users can wait longer periods before purchasing, and you'd still earn a commission.

5. Viator

Often, traveling involves more than booking hotels and flights. When going on vacation, people likely want to have novel experiences. By partnering with Viator, you can recommend attractions, tours, and other amazing things to do:

As a Viator affiliate, you can choose from over 300,000 products to share on your travel blog. These experiences are spread across 2,500 destinations. Depending on what your audience enjoys, you can link to walking tours, cooking classes, helicopter rides, and more.

With Viator, you can create a customizable widget and add it to your website. Every time your widget generates a sale, you'll receive 8% in commissions.

Plus, this affiliate program offers a flexible 30-day cookie window. Other benefits include 24/7 customer service and multilingual support.

Conclusion

Whether you want to share travel items, hotel locations, or flight discounts, you can probably find a travel affiliate program to monetize your recommendations. As a travel blogger, this can enable you to share helpful tips while earning a passive income.

To recap, here are some of the best affiliate marketing programs for travel bloggers:

1. Expedia: A travel-booking affiliate program with a 6% commission rate.
2. Booking.com: A popular program that provides plenty of accommodation options.
3. Amazon Associates: With this affiliate program, you can recommend tons of smaller travel items.
4. Travelpayouts: An affiliate network with a variety of programs and a 70% commission rate.
5. Viator: An experience-based program you can use to share destination attractions.

Do you have any questions about finding the right travel affiliate program? Ask us in the comments section!

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