Start with these Best Affiliate Programs for Travel Bloggers
There’s multiple ways to make money from a travel blog, but which ones are worth spending time on? Here’s a guide to the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers.
While I’m not a new blogger, I’m a sporadic one, with multiple start and end blogs.
I’ve finally settled on this travel blog, BUT, it’s been almost a year with the same inactivity. My goal for 2023 is to start making money from this blog, which means treating it like a business and money-maker that it can be!
So I started reading travel blog income reports, a source of caffeinated inspiration.
From these reports, the second most profitable income stream was travel affiliate programs. The first one? Ad affiliate revenue.
This blog currently does not meet the requirements to apply for the more profitable ad affiliate programs like Mediavine (minimum 50,000 monthly pageviews).
While I work on increasing my pageviews, I want to start growing my income online as a travel blogger by making money with the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers.
What is a Travel Blog Affiliate Program?
A travel blog affiliate program is when you are paid for promoting a business’s product or service AND garner sales from that promotion.
How do you know how many sales you’ve made?
You’re given custom links that track any purchases made from other people clicking on that link. You can promote that link by adding it to a blog post, Youtube video, or social media posts.
The most common affiliate program you’ll see across all blog niches is the Amazon Affiliate Program.
A blogger would recommend a product on a blog post, for example, and add their custom link to the Amazon product page. If a reader clicks on that link and purchases from Amazon, the blogger is given a commission, or a percentage of that reader’s total purchase.
A travel blog affiliate network, on the other hand, is a network of affiliates that includes different brand affiliate programs that you can sign up for and manage under one website.
I’m part of the Travelpayouts affiliate network, which includes affiliate programs like Trip.com, Agoda, RentalCars.com and many others under the travel niche.
👩🏻💻 Create a free Travelpayouts account today and receive $25 towards your next payout 💵
Like all affiliate programs, signing up for Travelpayouts is completely free.
If you sign up using my referral code, you’ll receive $25 towards your next payout! (And yes, this does mean I get a commission if you use my code! And I’d be really grateful if you do!)
How Much Do Travel Bloggers Make with Affiliate Programs?
I’ve seen bloggers make $70 in their first year to $10,000 a month with affiliate programs. That’s why travel blog income reports are both humbling and inspiring.
Ultimately, how much travel bloggers make will depend on:
- The amount of website traffic their blog gets (the more eyeballs, the more potential clicks.)
- How strategic and effective their affiliate links are placed to get the reader to click.
- How active they’ll promote the affiliate in their posts and on other sites like Youtube or social media.
Here are example affiliate incomes from three travel bloggers, taken from their travel blogging income reports: After 8 months, Travel With A Plan made:
- Amazon Affiliates (affiliate sales): $144.54
- Booking.com (affiliate sales): $6.78
- CJ Affiliates (affiliate sales): $0.51
After a full year in travel blogging, Practical Wanderlust made:
- Affiliate Income (Excluding Amazon): $1,658.91
- Amazon Affiliate Income: $2,764.49
After years of blogging, Two Wandering Soles made 53,078.98 from just one quarter.
How to Start a Travel Affiliate Blog
1. Make a list of possible affiliate programs
What are some of the products and services you already use?
Sometimes the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers will come from the products you use most often.
Check to see if they have an affiliate program by looking up: “[product name] affiliate program.”
For example, I use Xero Shoes for travel. I looked up “Xero Shoes affiliate program” and it turns out they have one, with a 10% commission rate.
On the other hand, since you can find most products on Amazon, including Xero Shoes, you can also just use the Amazon affiliate link instead of applying separately with Xero Shoes. (That is, if you’re okay with promoting Amazon products.)
While Xero Shoes offers a higher commission rate than Amazon, your readers may be more likely to purchase from Amazon.
2. Sign up for the affiliate program
Before applying, read the terms and any requirements. Most programs require that you run a website, while some only accept applicants with a minimum number of website traffic and followers.
There are some affiliate programs, however, that do accept applicants without a website but want to promote elsewhere. If there are no requirements listed, it doesn’t hurt to apply.
If your application is rejected, try again when you have more site traffic and followers.
3. Add the affiliate links to blog posts and other sites
If you’re already a travel blogger and have some posts up, look for posts where you recommend or mention any products or services, such as:
- A hotel you stayed at
- Your favorite backpack you use
- A power bank you can’t travel without
- A travel book you read
- A travel-related course you took
In a travel packing post, you can mention products that you always use in your travels and would recommend. Look up the product on Amazon and copy the link in the SiteStripe bar
For example, in the blog post, I could add a link to the text mentioning the product: “I was gifted this solar-powered power bank from my brother, which would be great for camping and other outings.”
If someone clicks on that link and buys the product, or any product on Amazon within the next 24 hours, I get a percentage of that sale.
Note that not all affiliates have the same rules or cookie window, i.e., the time length someone has to buy after clicking your link. Some programs are one session, 24 hours, 7 days, or even up to 30 days.
Best Affiliate Programs for Travel Bloggers
Get approved almost immediately with these two programs
These are two of the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers.
Booking.com
- Affiliate program: www.booking.com/affiliate-program/v2/index.html
- Commission rate: 25%
Travelpayouts An affiliate network with brands such as Rentalcars.com, Klook, Trip.com, Ticketmaster
- Affiliate program (my referral link): www.travelpayouts.com/?marker=410619.travelpayoutsblog
- Commission rate: varies by brand
Here are three popular affiliate programs. They do require a longer review and approval process:
Squarespace
- Affiliate program: www.squarespace.com/affiliates
- Commission rate: up to $200
Bluehost
- Affiliate program: www.bluehost.com/affiliates
- Commission rate: $65 per signup
Skimlinks
- Skimlinks is another affiliate network, but for a wider range of brands and stores for all niches.
- Affiliate program: skimlinks.com
- Commission rate: varies by brand
Most Profitable Affiliate Programs for New Travel Bloggers
I skimmed through a few dozen travel blogging income reports (they’re a good source of inspiration for new bloggers as well), and the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers that kept showing up as the most profitable were:
I’m signed up for all three and will link back with results! For the last 3, you have to sign up on impact.com to apply.
My Plan for Making Money with Travel Affiliate Programs
If you need a small inspo-push to get started with the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers, here’s the process that I’m using:
Step 1: Make a list of products and services you regularly use/have used.
Step 2: Research to see if they have an affiliate program.
Step 3: Choose 5-10 brands you want to promote, and apply for the affiliate program.
Step 4: Make a list of all blog posts mentioning products and recommendations, then list the affiliates you can promote for each blog post.
Step 5: Brainstorm keywords for each approved affiliate program to come up with blog post ideas for different destinations. For example:
- Amazon: travel gear, travel gadgets, travel packing list
- WayAway: Cheap flights, costs by country
- Viator: top activities, group tours
- Agoda: inexpensive hotels, budget hostels
- Klook: SIM cards, travel tours
- Busbud: buses, transportation, directions
- Radical Storage: airport storage, layover storage
Plant the Money Seed and Just Get Started Today
A lesson I learned is that whatever blog traffic you have now, it doesn’t hurt to add affiliate links. In fact, it plants a money seed.
Your blog posts don’t have to be perfect or have high amounts of traffic.
Your website does not have to look at its best to start making money.
A reader may already be browsing one of your posts right now and reading your recommendations. And they might just click on an affiliate link to get you your first sale.
Hope this post for the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers was helpful! We got this!
👩🏻💻 Create a free Travelpayouts account today and receive $25 towards your next payout
