TravelPayouts Review: Legit or Scam Travel Affiliate Network

Introduction #

The travel and hospitality industry is an evergreen industry. It took a hit due to Covid but now it is getting back to normal again. With this growth, the potential for affiliate marketers for growing their earnings is also increasing. But there is a catch here, if you are an affiliate marketer, you have to go to every single booking platform to join their program, create affiliate links and check commissions. 

That’s the least productive task you can do as an affiliate marketer.

There is one platform that can solve this for you – TravelPayouts. 

In this article, we are going to discuss what TravelPayouts is, how to earn from it, its commission rates, unique features and so much more. So, let’s start with what TravelPayouts is.

What is TravelPayouts? #

TravelPayouts is an affiliate network exclusively built for travel affiliates. With 100+ top brands including bookings.com, trivago, Marriott and more, TravelPayouts stands in the affiliate marketing industry for bringing all travel brands in one place. 

It offers a unique way to affiliate marketers to quickly get approvals and track everything in one place without worrying about losing their commissions. Its number speaks for the platform trustworthiness and credibility in the affiliate space.

TravelPayouts in numbers #

– Years in business: 13 years, since 2011

– Number of Travel brands available: 100+

– Estimated revenue: $15.3 Million per year

– Total affiliate commissions paid to date: $63 Million+ ($17M+ in 2023 alone)

– Number of partners signing up on the platform: 480,000+

– Monthly site traffic: 667,000 visits

Note: Some of these metrics are contradicting each other, like the annual revenue and last year payouts. Last year the payout amount was more than the revenue. Its because the revenue data is only available on Growjo, i checked entrackr and other sites, but couldn’t find any revenue details

Who can be the affiliate on TravelPayouts? #

On TravelPayouts, a wide range of individuals and organizations can become affiliates, including:

• Travel Bloggers
• Website Owners
• Travel Agencies
• Social Media Influencers
• Content Creators
• App Developers
• Online Communities

What is the commission rate on TravelPayouts? #

Commission rates on TravelPayouts vary based on different niches. Here are some details to give you an idea of how much you can earn from different niches:

• Flights: 1.2% to 7% 
• Hotels: 1% to 40%
• Car Rentals: 5% to 10%
• Tours and Activities: 3% to 12%
• Package tours: 3.5% to 7%
• Travel Insurance: upto 20%
• Cruises: upto 5%

There are programs that pay flat commission rates as well. So, you can earn a fix commission on sales or clicks, no matter what the sale amount is.

Note that these commission rates vary during different seasons and times of the year. It is always good to keep an eye on high commission programs.

👉 Ways to earn on TravelPayouts #

➢ Cost Per Click #

You can earn from the traffic that you drive to the platform, you can earn as much as 50% commission on clicks from brands like Trivago, TripAdvisor and more.

➢ Cost Per Sale #

In this model, you can earn commissions from each sale that your users make. For example if some platform offers an 8% reward rate and your user makes a sale of $100, you earn a commission of $8. 

➢ Fixed or Flat Commission Rates #

There are platforms that offer flat reward rates on TravelPayouts. No matter what your sale amount is, you will earn the fix commission for it.

👉 Affiliate Categories #

Travelpayouts is a travel affiliate network that offers access to over 100 travel-related partners across various categories. Some of the categories and partners include:

• Accommodations: Partners like Booking.com and Expedia provide a wide range of lodging options.
• Airport Services: Services such as Priority Pass and Radical Storage enhance the airport experience.
• Bike Rentals: BikesBooking offers convenient rental options for cyclists.
• Bus Transportation: Busbud provides access to bus travel routes.
• Car Rentals: EconomyBookings offers rental car options for travellers.
• Cruises: CruiseCritic is a go-to source for cruise vacation planning.
• Flights: WayAway and Trip.com offer flight booking options.
• Insurance: Etka and VisitorsCoverage provide travel insurance options.
• Loyalty Points: Hilton Honors offers loyalty rewards for hotel stays.
• Package Tours: LoveHolidays provides curated travel packages.
• SIM Cards: DrimSim offers international SIM card solutions.
• Tours: Viator and Tripadvisor offer a variety of tour options.
• Trains: Rail Europe provides train travel options across Europe.

This diverse range of partners makes Travelpayouts an attractive platform for affiliates in the travel industry.

👉 Unique Features of TravelPayouts #

➢ Instant approval for key travel brands #

One of the issue that most affiliates face is getting approval from big brands. TravelPayouts solved this problem with its quick approval process. Though some brands still need approval, you can get approved instantly from many brands and start promoting their travel programs and booking services.

➢ Deep links for specific pages #

Let’s say you are promoting a specific tour package to Costa Rica or a hotel in Dubai. What you can do is, just go to the booking page, and paste that link in TravelPayouts to create a deep link. These options are very helpful for content creators. If you have created a reel for a unique hotel, you can create a deep link. It gives your users a convenience to find the hotel directly and also help you earn commissions. 

➢ LinkSwitcher Feature #

🙄 Imagine this: you already have a blog website, and you have already published 100s of blogs. You didn’t know about travel affiliate marketing back then, but now you do, and you want to monetize all your links to earn commissions from them. This is where LinkSwitcher can help you. LinkSwitcher can automatically link all your links with partner platform affiliate links, so you can earn commissions from them whenever someone clicks on them.

➢ Cookie lifetime #

Cookie lifetime is very important especially is you are a travel affiliate. Lets be practical here, travel plans are not instant decisions. We usually take some time to discuss it with our friends, family and colleagues. It’s not like shopping online, where you see a product and instantly make a purchase. And since it takes time to make a travel plan, it is important to take note of cookie lifetime. 

TravelPayouts offers cookie lifetime ranging from 7 days to 90 days(in some cases even more. For example, a taxi booking service will have a 7 day cookie duration and a tour package website will have a 90 days cookie duration. It is designed in such a way that you get maximum earnings from TravelPayouts.

➢ No minimum traffic requirement #

If you are just starting your travel content creator journey, this is best for you. You can monetize your traffic from day one. TravelPayouts doesn’t have any traffic requirements. So, whether you are a newbie or an expert, you can use TravelPayouts for monetizing your traffic and earn commission from every bookings you bring to the platform.

➢ Low minimum payout threshold #

You can withdraw as low as $10 on TravelPayouts. This low payout threshold helps even the beginners to withdraw smaller amounts and use it in their efforts to grow their affiliate marketing business. Here are the details of minimum payout options for different payment methods.

For more details on how to setup payments, visit this page.

➢ Availability of affiliate tools #

No Code Affiliate tools like widgets, forms and product widgets come quite handy when you don’t want your traffic to bounce to the platform. TravelPayouts offer number of tools for each platform. You can add a simple script to your website and it will start showing up. Take Tiqets for example:

They have widgets like the City’s top products, product widgets and availability widgets. Such widgets help you save your time by showing trending products and the availability of tickets, they get updated automatically based on popularity, so your visitors can make a decision. 

➢ WordPress Plugin #

If your site is built on WordPress, TravelPayouts WordPress Plugin is going to make your work easier. You can easily add widgets and tables with flight and hotel information and search forms without worrying about the technical aspect of it. 

Its working process is very simple, you can install the plugin, add widgets, tables and other tools to your site, so whenever a visitor makes a transaction using these tools, you earn commission from it. Its a great way to engage your visitors while keeping them on your site and earn commissions.

➢ A ton of affiliate resources and TravelPayouts academy #

TravelPayouts offers a number of affiliate resources like tools and ad banners for every platform. This saves your time and you can directly use those banners to promote your ad campaigns. Also they have their own academy where they offer courses to teach affiliates to maximize earnings. They even organize TravelPayouts events to help creators grow their business.

One more interesting thing that TravelPayouts have is bonuses. As you can see above, there are some tools and platforms available for you to buy at a discounted rate. There are many options available for tools for content creation, blogging, link cloaking, ad tracking and more. These tools can help content creators with their content creation and also save some bucks.

➢ Referral program #

TravelPayouts referral program offers a flat 7% commission from referral earnings for 2 years. So someone you refer makes $100K in 2 years, you get flat $7K for just referring them to the platform. It is a great option to diversify your earnings.

➢ White Label option #

TravelPayouts also offers a white label option for those affiliates who don’t want TravelPayouts branding. It means you can create your own branded travel search engine and booking platform. If you want to run a booking site for flight, hotel, car rentals and other travel services, this is a great option for you, as TravelPayouts maintain everything. You don’t have to worry about tech stuff, you can focus on marketing to earn commissions.

Here is one example site of how WhiteLabel TravelPayouts site look like: https://whitelabel.travelpayouts.com/

Pros and Cons of TravelPayouts #

Pros 

• Transparent reward rates
• Easy to achieve withdrawal threshold
• Helpful support
• No minimum traffic requirements
• Diverse programs for promoting various travel niches
• Single wallet for withdrawal
• Free access to learning resources including webinars, courses and more

Cons

• No earnings from in-app purchases
• Low actual payouts when compared to potential earnings(BucketListBri)

How to become an affiliate on TravelPayouts? #

1. Go to the TravelPayouts website and click on Get Started. You will see the sign up form, add details and continue.

2. Now, you will see a 3 step process to start your journey.

3. The first is Create Project.

You will be asked a few details about your website when you create a new project. You will be asked the following details.

• Describe your website or channel.
• How do you How do you plan to promote brands? ( Content creation, booking travel for clients, etc.)
• Where do you plan to promote brands? (Website, Social Media, Video Creation, etc.)
• Give a name to your project.

4. The Second is Explore brands.

You can see a range of brands. Select one or multiple based on your niche.

For example, we will choose Booking.com. You will see the details about the platform and tools available for a specific brand. Bookings.com has a search form available that can be added to your site or supported platforms.

If the program matches your requirements, click on “Connect to Program.”

Connect it with the project of your choice; as you can see, I have a demo project. I am connecting with it. Here, if a brands need approval, you will have to request to connect, and if a brand doesn’t require any approval, you can directly connect with the platform. 

Check below for QeeQ.com; it doesn’t need any approval, so you can connect instantly.

3. The third and final step is to use the brand’s tool; it is not mandatory. Once you complete the second step, you will be able to see your earnings on the dashboard itself.

Now, you can start promoting the travel program and earn commissions. You can copy your affiliate links by clicking on the connected platforms.

Is TravelPayouts a legit or Scam Platform? #

Yes, TravelPayouts is a legit business. With 11 years in business and having paid over $63 million to its 400K partners, there is no doubt that TravelPayouts is a legit business and not a scam.

Success stories of TravelPayouts shows how affiliates and booking platforms are benefiting from TravelPayouts Affiliate Network. These stories are proof to its legitimacy in the affiliate travel industry. 

Conclusion #

TravelPayouts stands out as a trusted network in the travel affiliate industry. It simplifies the affiliate marketing process for affiliates with its quick approval and variety of tools for affiliates. With over 100 key brands under its roof, it is a perfect platform for anyone who wants to start affiliate marketing in the travel niche.

Planning to build an affiliate platform like TravelPayouts? #

We at EnactSoft are experts in building websites like TravelPayouts. With 11 years of experience in the industry, we can help you deploy affiliate platforms in less than a month.

And our expert team can help you avoid mistakes that every new affiliate platform make to propel your growth.

Connect with our team today and let us turn your vision into reality.

Travelpayouts Review: The Truth About This Travel Network