If you landed on this article, I think it’s safe to say that you are thinking of starting a blog or you have a blog already. And you want to start monetizing it AKA making some money by partnering with an affiliate.
But first, if you haven’t started a blog yet, then check out How To Start a Blog. In that article, I will take you step-by-step through the entire process. It’s quick and super easy to get started!
So, back to the nitty-gritty.
What is an Affiliate program?
What are affiliate programs and why do you NEED to sign up for them today? Well, affiliate programs are companies that will pay you a commission by promoting their products to your audience. It depends on the company for how much a commission they will offer to you but it can be pretty sweet to get hundreds, even thousands of dollars of earnings by promoting their products.
So you started a blog because it’s your passion, right? Either you love to write, or you just wanted to share your story? Due to this, companies know that if you are a good writer and you have a good following that you can reach more people, therefore you can tremendously help their company increase its sales. And guess what you will benefit too by making a commission.
You are valuable to affiliate partners because you are an influencer and you can reach more people. Bloggers and Social media influencers can have a big following because people are intrigued about what’s going on in their lives.
All you have to do to partner with them is sign up for a company’s program after your blog is up and running. Then you can promote the company through text links or pretty banners, etc.
This post contains affiliate links to the products that I use and recommend. If you click on any of the links and make a purchase, then I may earn a small commission. For more info, click my full disclosure.
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Making Money for Doing What You Love
As a blogger, I write about my experiences while traveling. Through those experiences, I can promote hotels of where to stay. Plus I can promote specific tours that I’ve taken, as well as promoting airline booking companies, etc. So you get the drift.
Like you, when I first started blogging, I was not thinking that it could be a source of passive income for me. I just wanted to share my travel experiences with more than just my family and friends.
Once I began blogging and learning more, I soon came to realize how bloggers and influencers were making an income.
For some bloggers, it’s a side hustle for them to have another stream of income coming in. For others, it has become their full-time job!! Yes, full-time blogger.
Some influencers are making 6-FIGURES from blogging! Say What Now?! Isn’t that crazy?!
Doesn’t that sound amazing?! And it was mostly due to affiliate marketing. Who would’ve thought?
Below, I have compiled a list of all of the affiliate programs that I use today.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the Best Affiliate Programs to use as a travel blogger.
Bluehost
First, let’s start with the blogging platform. Bluehost is an awesome affiliate program for bloggers in any niche to promote. Bluehost is a great web hosting platform to host your blog. If you don’t have a blog yet, then I recommend Bluehost. It is the best Blogging Platform out there today.
In fact, Bluehost is an amazing web hosting platform with over 2 million customers. They are fast, reliable, and are partnered with WordPress. Additionally, if you use Bluehost, you’ll get to choose a free domain name, get 24/7 customer support, and it’s easy to navigate. And it’s cheap starting at only $2.95/month. It’s the BEST yall. You don’t have to have tons of experience with computer programs because they make it easy for you to figure out step-by-step directions.
And the great thing is that as soon as you start your blog, you can sign up to become an affiliate immediately. You don’t have to be an experienced blogger to partner with Bluehost. It’ll be easy to promote Bluehost since you are already using the platform.
Once you’ve been accepted into the affiliate program, you will be given a personalized tracking code. Then just use that code on your website by integrating it with text links. They also provide you with beautiful banners that you can place throughout your articles. Another place to put a banner is in your sidebar, see mine on the right.
After that, you will get a commission starting at $65 when someone signs up to create a website through your trackable link. Let me tell you…it works! Over $5 Million was paid in commissions last year!!! So the proof is in the pudding.
Amazon Associates
Who doesn’t shop at Amazon? Amazon Associates is one of the largest affiliate programs globally. PERIOD. It is one of the most POPULAR marketing platforms to use. There are millions of products that are at your disposal to choose from. Since Amazon is a household name, you becoming an affiliate is a “no-brainer”. Amazon offers products for bloggers in any niche, especially travelers.
To become an associate you have to apply to the program first. Then you will need to have at least 3 purchases within 6 months to be fully accepted into the program. So just make sure that your website is up and running, build a little bit of an audience, then apply to the program.
How’s the money made?
The referral fee is commissioned to you when someone clicks on a link from your website to Amazon. The kicker is that the customer doesn’t have to purchase the product you recommended. If the customer clicks on the Amazon link from your website and purchases a different product within 24 hours, then the commission is yours!
Also, you can see all of your earnings, clicks, and stats on the Amazon Associates page. The commissions may vary depending on the product purchased. See the example chart below.
| Product Category | Fixed Commission Income Rates |
| Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Explore | 10.00% |
| Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos | 5.00% |
| Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive | 4.50% |
| Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Luxury Stores Fashion, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Devices, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, and Handbags & Accessories | 4.00% |
| Toys, Furniture, Home, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden, Pets Products, Headphones, Beauty, Musical Instruments, Business & Industrial Supplies, Outdoors, Tools, Sports, Baby Products, Amazon Coins | 3.00% |
| PC, PC Components, DVD & Blu-Ray | 2.50% |
| Televisions, Digital Video Games | 2.00% |
| Amazon Fresh, Physical Video Games & Video Game Consoles, Grocery, Health & Personal Care | 1.00% |
| Gift Cards; Wireless Service Plans; Alcoholic Beverages; Digital Kindle Products purchased as a subscription; Food prepared and delivered from a restaurant; Amazon Appstore, Prime Now, or Amazon Pay Places | 0.00% |
| All Other Categories | 4.00% |
Lastly, Amazon’s Associate’s dashboard is easy to navigate and link to products. I really like using the SiteStripe toolbar, which is at the top of every Amazon page and helps you build your links as you go. You’ll just click on a product you want to integrate into your website, hit SiteStripe at the top, and copy the link. And presto, you’re Done!
Viator
Viator is an “industry-leading travel affiliate program”. They are one of the leading travel companies that offer city tours, attractions, and booking things to do. Safe Travels founder says he “makes money while he sleeps” because of his partnership with them.
Viator accepts small to large travel blogs as affiliates. So, even from the beginning of your blog journey, you can sign up for the affiliate program and start making money.
As an affiliate, you will make a commission starting at 8% on all tours and attractions that are sold through your special link within a 30-day cookie window.
Additionally, to start making money you can choose from affiliate tracking text links and widgets provided to incorporate into your website efficiently.
On top of that, Viator operates worldwide with 2,500 product destinations and over 395,000 experiences. You don’t have to be an affiliate just in the U.S. they offer payouts in 17 different currencies. Another awesome thing is they have 24/7 multilingual support. And they have translated most of their products into 28 different languages, making it easy to incorporate into your site for your target audience of multi-languages.
I personally use Viator when I’m traveling. Sometimes if I’m taking a weekend trip like to Bath, it helps to get a tour guide to show me all the best attractions so I don’t waste any precious time.
Download the Free Bonus Affiliate List Here & Get access to the other 3 awesome Travel Affiliate Programs
Commission Junction
A leading platform connecting the world’s largest brands with influencers. Commission Junction (CJ) has one of the easiest platforms to navigate. Signing up to become an affiliate with them is simple. It takes a little work setting up your tax and payment info. But they have a plethora of tutorials, articles, and guides to help you use their platform and scale your website.
With CJ, they give its affiliates 88% more revenue than the competitors. They have over $1.8B in annual affiliate commissions alone!!
This is a great affiliate platform to join to find some of the BEST companies to partner with. For instance, there are hotels, tour companies, travel gear companies, airlines, and rental cars, etc. However, there are other top brands on CJ other than travel. So this affiliate program is incredible for any niche’.
Once you get used to it, researching through the site is a breeze. You can search companies, through its categories i.e. (travel), and then just click apply to the program, and you are done.
Furthermore, I’ve had brands reach out to me and offer me a partnership to work with them on this platform. So they will seek you out through CJ as well. You’ll have a mailbox within the platform where the merchants can reach you.
They offer payouts in several different currencies, without you having to open an international bank account. Lastly, you will get paid through CJ, no matter what company you applied to. That makes this affiliate program seamless.
GetYourGuide
Next up is, GetYourGuide. They are another tours and activities company that is a perfect affiliate partner for travel bloggers. Why? Because you are writing about your travel experiences, it’ll be easy to integrate attractions in your articles. So why not earn some extra money while you share your travel experiences?
Plus, the GetYourGuide affiliate dashboard is easy to navigate. The partner dashboard is user-friendly and they track your stats showing you how many visitors clicked on your links.
Another great thing is incorporating widgets on your page. So your audience can see a picture of 3 activities for that specific city, making it more appealing to them.
So what makes GYG so awesome?
They have over 60,000 tours and activities to offer its customers. GYG is a trusted brand, and they vet all of the tour companies to ensure they are top-notch before working with them. They have competitive commissions for their affiliates. That’s “20% higher starting commission rates and up to 75% higher conversion rates”.
Case in point, a very successful travel blogging family from Earth Trekkers says “Our audience and our articles get a lot of value out of the GetYourGuide service. And the money we make from offering tours with GetYourGuide allows us to further diversify our revenue streams”.
Big Bus Tours
Big Bus Tours is the largest sightseeing operator in the world with their double-decker buses. They offer tours in 18 cities across 3 continents with 7 different languages. Big Bus tours give customers an incredible option of touring the city and its best attractions in the comfort of the bus.
Using Big Bus Tours is a great way to monetize your blog. They offer a 10% commission rate, with a 28-day cookie length. They have 200 affiliates currently promoting its tours daily, including me.
I’ve been on several Big Bus Tours like in London and Paris. I highly recommend becoming a partner with them. And just take a ride yourself so that you can share your amazing experience with your audience.
They also have affiliate programs for the US or the UK available to join. Plus, they have over 200 top brands that have joined their affiliate programs such as Hilton, TimeOut London, and Atlantis Guides, etc.
When I first partnered with Big Bus, one of its members contacted me via email, welcomed me to the team, and offered me a promo boost. He was very nice and professional and appreciated my partnership. They have a pristine affiliate marketing support team. That’s another fabulous concept that makes their affiliate program awesome because they regularly offer promotion boosts, incentives for their affiliates to make more money.
Download the Free Bonus Affiliate List Here & Get access to the other 3 awesome Travel Affiliate Programs
Hotels.com
When people are traveling they need a place to stay, right? That’s why Hotels.com is a great place for them to start searching for budget-friendly hotels, luxury hotels, and B&B’s. Its site is localized across 85 websites globally being multilingual with over 35 languages and several currencies available.
With Hotels.com you’ll have access to tracking links for your website, banners, deep linking, etc. The platform is simple to navigate through Commission Junction. The tracking link that you use will bring your audience to its website and once they book accommodation and complete their stay, then you’ll get your commission.
Hotels.com has competitive commission rates of 3-6% for each booking that’s completed. They are regularly offering promotions, sales, and deals to promote for your customers. They give you so many options and ways to boost your commission with their exclusive offers.
For instance, they will send you a weekly newsletter of their latest and greatest offers. Hotels.com will include text links, HTML codes, banners in the email so all you have to do is click on it and transfer it to your website. It’s that easy and you won’t have to log in to the affiliate portal all the time.
Expedia
Expedia is the world’s leading full-service travel agency and web search tool. They have over a million properties across the globe available for booking. Expedia is another household name that people know and recognize. Expedia is a trusting provider that offers deals, and specials to its customers. So partnering with Expedia is a great way to monetize your blog.
Becoming an affiliate is simple. You can sign up directly through their site, or with Commission Junction. Expedia is an all-around travel site. You can make a commission by promoting flights, hotels, rentals, cars, and activities on your website. The commission rates vary depending on the service that’s promoted and completed. The commission rates range from 3.5% up to 7%.
Additionally, Expedia rewards its affiliates on performance, meaning you can earn more money the more you sell. With its 30-day cookie in place, that gives you more time to make a commission.
Other tools available to promote on your website are the customizable hotel and package deals widgets, Bookmarklet tool, and cross-sell overlay (allowing you to sell rental cars, hotels, and flights). The ways to earn and promote Expedia.com are endless.
Download the Free Bonus Affiliate List Here & Get access to the other 3 awesome Travel Affiliate Programs
Travel Insurance Master
In this climate, having travel insurance is very important. That’s where Travel Insurance Master, comes into play. They work with over “9 of the world’s leading travel insurance providers”. Like IMG and Travel Guard in order to provide customers with the best travel insurance plans.
By recommending travel insurance to your audience, it will be a great way to promote it on your travel blog. Travel insurance will give your customers protection and put them at ease when making their travel plans. They’ll know that no matter what happens with the current COVID situation, or ever-changing travel advisories around the world, they will be covered for those unexpected hiccups.
The affiliate program is free to join and they will provide you with a special affiliate link and you can start making money. They offer a 15%, yes 15% commission rate for any qualified sale that’s completed in the state you are licensed. If not you’ll receive a flat rate referral fee. The price of the fee will vary depending on the price of insurance the customer accepts. The referral fees are paid out on a tiered payment structure. For instance, you’ll get $5.00 for a sale up to $149.99, or $55 for a sale of $550.
With their flexible payouts, you can decide to receive your money by PayPal, mail, or direct deposit. Also, they offer reports in real-time on your commissions and payouts.
So what are you waiting for, go ahead and sign up with Travel Insurance Master today!
Booking.com
Booking is one of the largest travel search engines in the world. Its mission is “to empower people to experience the world”. The mission alone makes it the perfect website to promote to your audience. They have over 29 million bookable rooms for customers to choose from.
On Booking.com the more bookings with your affiliate link, the more you can earn. Currently, there are over 12,500 affiliates that are a part of the program. The website is highly optimized making it easy for conversing increases. Plus, their site is operating in 43 different languages with options to change to different currencies.
One of the cons is that they don’t use cookie tracking, only “in-session” transactions are commissionable. However, they offer a fixed 4% commission rate for completed bookings.
When I first joined booking.com, they sent me an incredible step-by-step welcome package. That’s the first welcome package that I’ve received. The packet gives you detailed info on how to make your brand more scalable. They want you to succeed, so they provide you with all the tools you need to scale your business as an affiliate partner.
To join all you have to do is fill out a form for instant access. You can sign up directly on their website, or through the Commission Junction affiliate platform.
Affiliates List Download + 3 Freebies
Download this quick list of affiliates to start making money now!
That’s all I have. Don’t forget to download this free printable plus get 3 more affiliate tips included in the download. That’s right 13 affiliates to help you make money blogging.
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