This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through my referral link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools that I personally use and genuinely like.
When I first started my travel blog almost 10 years ago, I thought display ads would eventually become my main source of income. While ads are certainly part of how I monetise my website today, I eventually realised that affiliate marketing has much bigger earning potential, especially in the travel niche.
Over the past year, I’ve experimented with quite a few affiliate programmes. Some worked well, others barely generated any income, and a few just weren’t worth the effort of managing them.
Out of everything I’ve tried, Travelpayouts has become my favourite affiliate network and my biggest source of affiliate income. I think it is one of the absolute best resources for travel bloggers!
I have been using Travelpayouts for a bit more than 1.5 years now, and I wish I had discovered it sooner. But in this article I’m only looking at my results from the last six months to give you a realistic picture of what the platform has generated recently.
If you’re a travel blogger, content creator, or anyone with a travel website, I’ll show you exactly why I use Travelpayouts, how much I’ve earned, what Travelpayouts Drive does, and why I think it’s one of the easiest ways to start making passive income from travel content.
My Travelpayouts Results (Last 6 Months)
Rather than making unrealistic income claims, I wanted to share my actual results.
During the last six months alone, Travelpayouts has generated:
- $930.80 in confirmed commissions
- 206 confirmed bookings
- 31,455 affiliate clicks
In addition to that, I currently have:
- $741.05 in pending commissions
- 89 pending bookings
It’s important to note that pending commissions haven’t been confirmed yet (e.g., the hotel stay hasn’t happened yet), so I don’t count them as earnings until they’re approved. However, they do give you an idea of the additional income that’s likely to come in over the next few months.
These figures also don’t represent everything I’ve earned through Travelpayouts since joining in December 2024; they are just my results from the most recent six-month period.
What I find particularly encouraging isn’t just the income itself, but the consistency. Every month, Travelpayouts generates new bookings from articles I published weeks or even months ago. That’s one of the reasons I love affiliate marketing so much. It allows your content to continue earning long after you’ve hit publish.
Of course, it’s not completely passive. You still need to create helpful content that people actually find through Google or Pinterest. But once your articles start ranking and attracting readers, affiliate income can continue coming in without you actively promoting every single link.
My Highest-Earning Travelpayouts Programmes
One of the biggest advantages of Travelpayouts is that it gives you access to a bunch of travel brands through a single account. Naturally, not every programme performs equally well, but these have been my biggest earners over the last six months:
| Programme | Confirmed Earnings |
|---|---|
| Klook | $365.74 |
| Hostelworld | $200.07 |
| GetYourGuide | $171.12 |
| Trip.com | $78.05 |
| Booking.com | $62.75 |
Looking at these numbers, it makes perfect sense why they’re performing well for my audience.
Most of my readers are independent travellers looking for accommodation, tours, transport, and practical travel information. These are exactly the types of services they’re already searching for while planning their trips, so recommending them naturally within my travel guides feels helpful rather than salesy.
Instead of trying to sell products, I’m simply helping readers book the things they’re already looking for. And you can do the same with Travelpayouts!
Why I Switched to Travelpayouts
When I first started affiliate marketing, I signed up for programmes individually.
That quickly became a bit of a nightmare.
Every company had its own dashboard, its own payout threshold, different reporting, different payment schedules and payout thresholds, and different rules. Before long, I had dozens of logins and found myself spending far too much time just managing affiliate accounts instead of creating content.
That’s when I discovered Travelpayouts.
Instead of joining every travel affiliate programme separately, I could access hundreds of travel brands from one platform and manage everything within a single dashboard.
For me, that completely changed the way I approach affiliate marketing.
Today, I spend far less time worrying about admin and much more time writing new travel content, which is ultimately what generates the income in the first place.
Get Up to $100 When You Join Travelpayouts
If you’re thinking about joining Travelpayouts yourself, you can currently receive up to $100 in bonus rewards by signing up through my referral link.
Here’s how it works:
- 🎉 Get $25 when you sign up through my link and activate Travelpayouts Drive
- 💰 Earn another $25 after you’ve generated your first $100 in affiliate commissions
- 🚀 Receive an additional $50 once you’ve reached $1,000 in commissions
If you’re serious about growing a travel blog, it’s a really nice bonus for something you were hopefully planning to do anyway.
In the next section, I’ll explain exactly what Travelpayouts is, how it works, and why I prefer using an affiliate network instead of signing up for individual affiliate programmes.
What Is Travelpayouts?
If you’re new to affiliate marketing, let’s start with the basics.
Travelpayouts is an affiliate network designed specifically for the travel industry. It connects travel bloggers, content creators, and website owners with dozens of travel brands, allowing you to earn a commission whenever someone books through one of your affiliate links.
Instead of applying to all of these affiliate programmes individually, you can access them all through a single account.
For me, that’s probably the biggest advantage.
As a travel blogger, I regularly recommend hotels, hostels, tours, transport, travel insurance, eSIMs and other travel products throughout my blog posts. Before using Travelpayouts, I would have needed to create separate affiliate accounts for every single company I wanted to work with.
That quickly becomes difficult to manage.
With Travelpayouts, I can easily log into just one dashboard, create affiliate links for all different kinds of travel brands, and track all my earnings in one place.
It saves an incredible amount of time.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
If you’ve ever wondered how travel bloggers make money, affiliate marketing is one of the most common answers.
Here’s how it works:
- You recommend a product or service that you genuinely use or believe will help your readers.
- You include a unique affiliate link within your content.
- If someone clicks that link and makes a booking or purchase, you earn a commission.
- The customer doesn’t pay anything extra.
It’s really as simple as that.
For example, if I write a guide reviewing an organised day trip from Uzbekistan to the seven lakes in Tajikistan, I will include a link to the exact tour I booked. If a reader books that exact tour after clicking my link, I receive a commission. The commission share itself differs per brand.
The same applies when I recommend a hostel through Hostelworld, an eSIM from Airalo, or train tickets through Trip.com.
One thing I always tell new bloggers is that affiliate marketing only works well if you’re genuinely helping your readers. Randomly adding links everywhere won’t suddenly generate income.
So for example, reviewing a specific tour is always a good idea, as visitors landing on these posts are usually already quite far down the booking funnel and much more likely to convert.
That’s why affiliate marketing feels like such a good fit for travel blogging.
Why I Prefer Travelpayouts Over Joining Affiliate Programmes Individually
Technically, you could sign up for every affiliate programme yourself.
But after trying that approach, I honestly wouldn’t recommend it.
Imagine managing separate accounts for:
- Booking.com
- Hostelworld
- GetYourGuide
- Klook
- Trip.com
- Omio
- Airalo
- Discover Cars
- NordVPN
…and that’s only a small selection.
Every programme has:
- A different dashboard
- Different payout thresholds
- Different reporting
- Different payment schedules
- Different approval processes
- Different ways of creating affiliate links
It becomes surprisingly time-consuming.
Travelpayouts solves that problem by bringing everything together in one place. It’s also much easier to get accepted into a programme.
Instead of logging into ten different platforms, I can manage everything from a single dashboard.
For me, the biggest advantages are:
Everything is in One Dashboard
All my clicks, bookings and commissions are tracked in one place, making it much easier to see what’s working.
Faster Payouts
Because many affiliate programmes are managed through one platform, it’s often easier to reach payout thresholds than if your earnings were spread across lots of different accounts. The payout threshold for Travelpayouts is $50, and you’ll get paid once a month around the middle of the month. If you don’t reach the threshold, it will just carry over to the following month.
Less Admin
This is probably my favourite benefit.
Running a travel blog already involves writing articles, editing photos, managing SEO, Pinterest, social media and emails.
The less time I spend logging into different affiliate platforms, the more time I have to create content.
Access to 90+Travel Brands
Whenever I’m writing a new article, I rarely have to wonder whether there’s an affiliate programme available.
Whether I’m recommending accommodation, tours, transport, or travel services, there’s usually already a partner inside Travelpayouts.
Which Travel Brands Can You Promote?
One of the reasons I like Travelpayouts so much is the huge variety of travel-related affiliate programmes available.
Some of the categories include:
🏨 Accommodation
- Booking.com
- Hostelworld
- Expedia
- Trip.com
🎟️ Tours & Activities
- GetYourGuide
- Klook
- Viator
- TripAdvisor Experiences
🚆 Transport
- Omio
- 12Go
- Trip.com
📱 Travel eSIMs
- Airalo
- Saily
🚗 Car Hire
- Discover Cars
🛡️ Travel Insurance
- Various travel insurance providers
🔒 Travel Tools
- NordVPN
- Other travel-related digital services
And there is more! But these are the ones I promote the most, as these are platforms I use myself throughout my travels. Because all of these programmes are available through one platform, it’s incredibly easy to find relevant affiliate links no matter what destination I’m writing about.
What Is Travelpayouts Drive?
If I had to pick one feature that makes Travelpayouts stand out from other affiliate networks, it would be Travelpayouts Drive.
Drive is an AI-powered tool that’s designed to help you monetise your website more effectively. And, perhaps even more importantly, save you a lot of time. You really don’t need to do anything other than enable it.
Instead of manually going through every article on your website looking for places to add affiliate links, Drive analyses your content and does much of the heavy lifting for you.
For me, that’s one of the biggest advantages.
As my blog has grown, I just don’t have time to revisit hundreds of articles every time I join a new affiliate programme or want to improve my existing affiliate links. Drive helps automate many of those tasks, meaning I can spend more time creating new content rather than constantly updating old posts.
AI Content Analysis
One of the first things Drive does is analyse the content on your website.
Rather than simply looking for keywords, it tries to understand what each article is about and then suggests relevant travel offers that your readers might actually be interested in. Of course, you can still add your specific links directly, but having Drive work on top of that is quite nice as well.
For example, if you have a blog post about the best things to do in Seoul, Drive can recognise that the article is about travel in South Korea and recommend affiliate offers that fit naturally with that content, such as tours, accommodation or transport.
I really like this because it helps uncover opportunities I might otherwise miss and, with very little extra effort, creates more ways to monetise my content.
Automatically Converts Existing Links
Another feature I use is automatic link conversion.
Let’s say you’ve already linked to a hotel booking website somewhere on your blog.
Instead of manually replacing every single link with an affiliate link, Drive can automatically convert eligible links into affiliate links for you.
This is especially useful if you’ve been blogging for years and already have hundreds of articles.
Rather than spending days updating old content, Drive can help monetise links that are already there.
Adds Relevant Affiliate Links Automatically
Drive can also identify opportunities where you’re mentioning a travel brand without linking to it.
If you’ve written about a booking platform, transport provider or travel service, Drive can automatically add an affiliate link where it makes sense.
Again, this isn’t about filling your articles with links everywhere.
The goal is to make sure you’re not accidentally missing easy monetisation opportunities in content you’ve already written.
Of course, it’s nice to have full control and add all the links yourself, but it’s great to have that as an extra safety net.
Smart Recommendation Blocks
This is probably my favourite feature.
Drive can automatically add beautifully designed recommendation blocks to your articles that fit well into your overall article.
Instead of readers only seeing a simple text link, they get a much more visual recommendation section showing relevant accommodation or travel services.
Personally, I think these look much more professional than manually adding lots of individual affiliate links throughout an article. They’re also much quicker to implement.
Rather than creating comparison tables or recommendation boxes from scratch every time I publish a new destination guide, Drive can generate them automatically.
Personalised Offers for Your Readers
One feature that I think is particularly clever is that Drive doesn’t necessarily show every visitor exactly the same recommendations.
Instead, it can display offers based on the visitor’s interests and browsing behaviour, making the recommendations feel much more relevant.
For example, someone reading one of your accommodation guides may see different recommendations than someone browsing a guide about day trips or activities.
That means readers are more likely to see offers they’re genuinely interested in, rather than generic advertisements. Which of course helps convert them.
Saves Me Hours Every Month
If I had to sum up why I like Drive in one sentence, it would simply be this:
It saves me time.
Running a travel blog isn’t just about writing articles.
There’s keyword research, editing photos, Pinterest, SEO, updating old content, replying to emails, social media, and everything else that comes with running a website. I have been doing this now for almost 10 years, and I do not even want to know how much time I have put into this website over the years. But using Travelpayouts has been a game-changer!
Anything that reduces manual work is a huge win.
Instead of constantly checking whether every article has the right affiliate links or recommendation sections, I can let Drive handle much of that automatically while I focus on creating more content.
For me, that’s probably its biggest benefit, and I can focus on other aspects of my blog.
Should You Enable Drive?
Absolutely!
In fact, I’d recommend enabling it as soon as you create your Travelpayouts account.
Even if you decide to manually add most of your affiliate links, Drive still provides valuable insights into your content and helps highlight opportunities you may have missed.
It’s also required if you want to claim the first $25 bonus available through my referral link.
If you’re planning to use Travelpayouts anyway, there’s really no downside to switching it on and seeing how it performs for your website. You can always turn it off again, or customise which features you are interested in and which ones aren’t.
How to Get Started with Travelpayouts
If you’re ready to start earning affiliate income from your travel content, getting started with Travelpayouts is surprisingly straightforward.
Here’s exactly how I would do it if I were starting from scratch today.
Step 1: Create Your Free Account
First, create a free Travelpayouts account.
It’s completely free, and you don’t need an established travel blog with thousands of visitors to join. As long as you have a website, you are good to go!
And it only takes a few minutes to complete the setup.
Step 2: Connect Your Website
After creating your account, you’ll be asked to add your website. It is very easy! You just get a script and add that to the Header of your website. I use a plugin for that, such as ‘Insert Headers and Footers‘.
This allows Travelpayouts to analyse your content and recommend relevant affiliate programmes and monetisation opportunities.
Once your website has been approved, you’ll have access to the full marketplace of travel affiliate programmes.
If you’re only just launching your blog, don’t worry if you don’t have hundreds of articles yet. You can always add more content over time.
Step 3: Enable Travelpayouts Drive
This is the one step I wouldn’t skip.
Travelpayouts Drive is included for free and is one of the platform’s most useful features.
Once enabled, it can:
- Analyse your content
- Suggest affiliate opportunities
- Automatically convert eligible links
- Add recommendation blocks
- Help optimise your existing articles
It also means you’re eligible for the first $25 bonus available through my referral link. It’s a very quick way to already earn your first $25 with Travelpayouts.
Personally, I’d switch it on from day one and let it start analysing your content while you continue writing new articles.
Step 4: Join Affiliate Programmes
Next, head to the Travelpayouts marketplace.
Here you’ll find 90+ travel brands covering everything from accommodation and tours to eSIMs, transport and travel insurance.
You don’t have to join every programme.
Instead, think about the products you already recommend naturally.
For example:
- If you write hostel guides, join Hostelworld.
- If you write city itineraries, GetYourGuide and Klook are great choices.
- If you recommend hotels, apply for Booking.com and Trip.com.
- If you create transport guides, look at Omio or 12Go.
- If you often recommend staying connected while travelling, Airalo or Saily make a lot of sense.
Starting with just a handful of relevant programmes is usually much easier than trying to join everything at once. You can always join more of them later on.
Step 5: Start Adding Affiliate Links
Once you’ve been approved for a programme, you can start creating affiliate links.
The easiest way is to replace the normal links you’re already using with affiliate links.
For example, instead of linking directly to a hotel on Booking.com, use your Travelpayouts affiliate link.
The same goes for:
- tours
- attractions
- train tickets
- eSIMs
- hostels
- car hire
- travel insurance
Rather than filling every paragraph with links, I include them where someone is already looking for a recommendation or is likely to make a booking. And I only ever recommend places and activities I have visited or experienced myself.
Step 6: Let Your Content Do the Work
This is where affiliate marketing starts to become rewarding.
Once your articles are ranking on Google or getting traffic from Pinterest, readers will continue clicking your affiliate links and ideally start booking. Even while you’re working on new content.
That’s exactly why I love affiliate marketing so much.
Unlike sponsored posts, which usually provide a one-off payment, a well-written travel guide can continue generating commissions month after month.
Of course, it isn’t completely passive. You still need to publish helpful content, keep your articles updated, and continue growing your traffic. And update your content now and then.
But once you’ve done the work upfront, your content has the potential to keep earning long into the future. So the earlier you get started with that, the better!
How to Get the Full $100 Bonus
If you sign up through my referral link, you can currently earn up to $100 in additional bonus rewards.
You can of course also sign up without it, and you still can make money with Travelpayouts, but you won’t get the additional $100 bonus!
Here’s how it works:
🎉 Bonus 1: $25
Sign up through my referral link and activate Travelpayouts Drive. That’s all!
💰 Bonus 2: $25
Earn your first $100 in confirmed affiliate commissions.
🚀 Bonus 3: $50
Reach $1,000 in confirmed commissions.
That’s an extra $100 on top of the commissions you would already be earning anyway.
If you’re planning to use Travelpayouts regardless, it’s an easy bonus to claim.
👉 Create your free Travelpayouts account
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Travelpayouts free to join?
Yes! Creating a Travelpayouts account is completely free. There are no monthly fees or upfront costs, so you only start earning once readers make bookings through your affiliate links.
Is Travelpayouts legitimate?
Absolutely. Travelpayouts has been around for years and partners with so many of well-known travel brands, including Booking.com, Hostelworld, Klook, GetYourGuide, Trip.com and many others.
I’ve personally been using Travelpayouts since December 2024, and it has become my highest-performing affiliate network. i really regret not learning about it sooner!
Do I need a travel blog to use Travelpayouts?
Not necessarily.
While it’s an excellent platform for travel bloggers, it can also be used by YouTubers, social media creators, travel websites and anyone creating travel-related content online.
That said, having your own website gives you the best opportunity to generate consistent, long-term affiliate income. You will need to have a website in order to use drive for example.
Each programme has its own set-up rules where you can promote the links, so best to always double-check the rules for each of them. E.g., some programmes you can use for social media, others not. For some, you are even allowed to make personal bookings, but for most of them that is not the case.
How long does it take to earn money with Travelpayouts?
That depends entirely on how much traffic your content receives and how well your affiliate links match what your audience is looking for.
My very first commission was only around $6, but as my blog traffic grew and I published more helpful travel guides, my affiliate income gradually increased as well.
Affiliate marketing isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, but it can become a fantastic source of passive income over time.
Is Travelpayouts Drive worth enabling?
Yes, no doubt!
It’s one of the main reasons I enjoy using Travelpayouts.
Drive helps automate many of the tasks that would otherwise take hours to do manually, including analysing your content, suggesting affiliate opportunities, and adding recommendation blocks. My revenue has gone up since I enabled Travelpayouts Drive!
If you’re signing up through my referral link, you’ll also need to activate Drive to qualify for the first $25 bonus.
Would I Recommend Travelpayouts?
Without hesitation, yes.
I’ve tried several affiliate platforms over the years, but Travelpayouts has become the one I use most.
What I appreciate isn’t just the commissions; it’s how much time it saves.
Instead of managing countless affiliate accounts, I can access all the travel brands I need from a single dashboard, track my performance in one place, and use Drive to automate much of the repetitive work. Before, I was part of the Hostelworld affiliate programme, the Get Your Guide affiliate programme, etc., but it took a lot of time to log in to each programme individually.
If you’re serious about growing a travel blog or creating travel content, I genuinely think it’s one of the best affiliate networks available.
If you’d like to give it a try, you can sign up using my referral link below. You’ll also be eligible for up to $100 in bonus rewards as you reach different earning milestones.
👉 Sign up for Travelpayouts here
Please let me know if you have any questions about Travelpayouts!
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