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List of the best hotel affiliate programs in 2020

2020-02-06
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Accommodation is an undeniable part of every trip whether it’s a family getaway, business trip or solo trip. You can target a wide audience and achieve a high conversion rate by joining one of the best hotel affiliate programs. We’ve prepared a list of best hotel offers for 2020 which include Booking.com, Hotels.com, Agoda, Marriott and more.

How to choose the best hotel affiliate program

In fear of seeming boring, we have to say there is no one hotel affiliate program that will suit all webmasters. Even the most well-known affiliate programs, such as Booking.com or Agoda, are not obviously the best options for making money. The way to select the best hotel affiliate program is to learn about all the available options and then try some of them in practice.

Best hotel affiliate programs for 2020

The following list of hotel affiliate programs presents a detailed description, the affiliate reward,  tools and the pros and cons of each offer. Hotel affiliate marketing is a growing niche, and the revenue in this segment is expected to grow in the years to come, as you can see in the picture below:

Travelpayouts

Travelpayouts is not the affiliate program, it’s an all-in-one solution. It’s the biggest travel affiliate network with multiple brands in the travel industry, including affiliate hotel booking giants as Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com and Hotellook.com. With Travelpayouts, you’ll be able to provide your readers with various hotel offers and target a wide audience.

The affiliate reward depends on the program you’ve joined. Below you’ll find the overview: [table].

Promotion links, banners and widgets are available for the offers. Some of the tools are unique.

Pros:

  • Unique affiliate network in the travel market
  • Strong brands
  • Dedicated support service
  • High commision rates
  • Full set of tools to create your own search features and engines

Cons:

  • Some in-house affiliate programs offer higher rates

Booking.com

Booking.com is one of the world’s leading hotel booking platforms that provides tourists with the widest selections of hotels, hostels and private accommodations. A blogger can make money on either bringing in bookings or referring properties to the platform through their website. The affiliate gets from 25% up to 40% of the commission on bookings. For instance, for a $150 order, you can get $7.50 to $15 reward, depending on the total number of bookings made through your link. The company provides the following tools:

  • Search box
  • Links
  • Banners
  • Co-brand
  • Widgets

Pros:

  • Strong, trustworthy brand
  • Wide range of hotels and other dwellings
  • Dashboard to track your campaigns
  • A multi-language platform

Cons:

  • Minimum earnings of $100 is required before the payouts will be initiated
  • Many cancellations take place because of the platform’s loyalty cancellation policy
  • Short cookie period (If the potential customer clicked on your link but didn’t make a reservation within that period, you won’t get the commission)
  • Far-in-advance reservations make the payment procedure very long

Agoda

Agoda helps tourists find cheapest prices for booking hotels. It’s a rapidly growing platform covering Europe, USA, Asia, and the Middle East. Agoda accumulates offers from over 900,000 hotels. The affiliate’s revenue starts from 4% and grows according to the number of monthly bookings. The maximum reward is 7% per booking if you manage to initiate 1,000 reservations a month, while 40 bookings per month will bring you a 5% commission. The set of tools to attract relevant visitors includes:

  • Customizable ads
  • Multi-lingual data feeds
  • Search boxes
  • Widgets
  • Text links
  • Image links
  • Banners
  • Coupons

Before joining the program, evaluate its advantages and disadvantages.

Pros:

  • Higher rewards while moving up the ladder
  • Simple tracking program to monitor traffic and to view the details of each payout
  • A wide array of allowed types of traffic

Cons:

  • Payout is sent only after the guest checks out of the hotel
  • Payments are only available via bank transfer
  • The cookie life is one day
  • The minimum payout is $200

Hotels.com

Hotels.com is a strong brand and one of the leading hotel service providers around the globe. It offers hotel complexes and “all-inclusive” resorts, as well as small apartments and lodges. It features the branded reward program that allows guests a free night’s stay in the hotel for every 10-day reservation.

Affiliates can reach a 6.4% commission for $12,000 worth bookings monthly. Here are the tools you can use to promote the offer:

  • Deals widgets
  • Search banners
  • Data feeds
  • Deep-link generator

Pros:

  • A strong brand with competitive rates for all destinations and budgets
  • 30-day cookie lifetime
  • Joining the program is easy

Cons:

  • The platform is available for affiliates via third-party services only
  • Lower revenue if the user takes part in the Welcome Rewards program or use a promotional code for booking

Hostelworld

Hostelworld offers clients accommodations on a budget in hostels, hotels, apartments and campsites around the world (in 180 countries, to be exact). The platform supports group reservations up to 80 visitors a once. The Hostelworld affiliate program features the cost-per-sale payment model. The payouts depend on whether you sign up directly on the website or through affiliate networks. You can use the following tools for promotion:

  • Banners
  • Direct track links
  • Booking engine
  • Search widgets

Pros:

  • 19 language options
  • 30-days cookie period
  • You’ll be approved even if not having a website and any source of traffic is acceptable

Cons:

  • Payment is available only via bank transfer
  • $200 threshold

Trip Advisor

Tripadvisor helps tourists find the best deals for various travel destinations around the globe. The affiliate hotel search engine provides visitors with information about hotels, flights, restaurants, museums and the whole range of other activities. It also opens access to other travel websites.

The affiliate can count on 50%–80% of the platform income from bookings. The average revenue is from $0.15 up to $0.75 per click-out. Tools for effective promotion include:

  • Deep links
  • Text links
  • Banners
  • Content widgets
  • Logos
  • Buttons
  • Badges
  • Interactive search boxes

Pros:

  • Real-time reporting is available around the clock
  • Quarterly incentive programs offered for extra revenue
  • PPC (pay-per-click) model makes earning money easier
  • Over 500,000 city and hotel pages to reference

Cons:

  • Program is only available via affiliate networks

Best hotel chain affiliate programs

Some affiliate programs include one hotel chain only, such as Marriott or Hilton. These are huge hotel networks offering stays in many destinations. Some of them focus on the luxury segment while others are built for budget family holidays. Let’s review the most lucrative hotel chain affiliate programs.

Marriott

The Marriott affiliate program allows you to monetize your blog via promoting their hotel stays and vacation packages. All of its properties are available in West Europe and North America. Vacation rentals will get you a 3% commission on each package purchase while the completed hotel stay will bring 4% to 6% commission. The set of tools contains:

  • Banners ads
  • Search widgets
  • Text links
  • Product catalogs
  • Compelling offers
  • Affiliate newsletter

Pros:

  • A strong brand with 3,900 hotels in 72 countries
  • Competitive commission rate comparatively with other similar programs
  • Regular promotional offers
  • Premium vacation packages bring bigger commission

Cons:

  • Only bank transfer is available
  • Strict requirement for the website’s design and content
  • Seven-day referral period

Red Roof

Red Roof is another great booking service in the hotel industry. It focuses on economic accommodations, but features high standards of lodging. That’s why the brand is growing fast. Nowadays, Red Roof owns 400 hotels around the world. Affiliates receive a 3% commission on each completed stay. Useful tools to enhance promotion:

  • Text links
  • Product links
  • Banners
  • Logos
  • Coupons and discounts for visitors
  • Newsletters with special promotions

Pros:

  • 30-day cookie lifetime
  • Customizable links
  • Detailed reports
  • Budget hotels are easier to sell

Cons:

  • The website has to be in English
  • No commissions on group bookings from 10 up to 12 rooms

Which hotel affiliate program to choose in 2020

Of course, the first thing you have to do is check the offer terms, including payouts, their threshold and payment methods as well as tools for the offer promotion. But, more importantly, choose the service that meets the needs of your audience. It would help to get higher conversion rates and boost your income.

If you’re a beginner and your blog can’t boast great traffic, it would be wiser to choose advertisers who pay commissions for clicks rather than for completed reservations for now. It won’t bring in a fortune, but it sometimes helps to make some money faster to get your business off the ground first. Another thing to pay attention to is the brand’s awareness and trust. You will have more audience loyalty with more trustworthy companies.

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