*I’m compensated by Travelpayouts for writing this article, BUT I’m sharing my honest opinion and my own experience with the platform.
If you’re a travel blogger looking to join affiliate programs, you might have already heard of Travelpayouts.
Here I’ll share my personal experience with them, so you can decide if you want to join too (Make sure to read until the end to find out how you can get up to $100 upon registration)!
What I Like About Travelpayouts
Gathers Multiple Programs Under One Platform
Instead of joining countless affiliate programs individually, with Travelpayouts you have all of them in one platform.
Although I currently still work directly with some affiliate programs (like Booking and Get Your Guide, which are also included in TP), it’s extremely helpful to use the rest in one place (including Viator, Airalo, DiscoverCars, and many others). Sign up and see exactly which programs you can work with!
Not only is it more convenient to work with one platform, but in terms of payments, you don’t need to reach the minimum amount for each affiliate program individually – each booking, no matter the brand, adds up and is part of your payout sum.
Good to know: Travelpayouts actually has a Switch Links tool, so if you do want to switch your direct affiliate links to TP links, it does that for you instead of you replacing each link manually.
Easy to Create Links
Some affiliate programs can complicate things and make creating links a tedious task, but it’s super easy to do that with Travelpayouts.
You simply paste the link to the page you’re promoting (a hotel, a tour, a public transport booking page, etc.), add a SubID if you want (to track the right blog post), and then get a short link, a full link, and even a QR code.
That’s it.
Drive
I’m fairly new to Drive, but so far I love it. It’s one script that can do multiple things – track data, so you have better analytics, show previews as a reader scrolls to a TP link (like a little preview of a tour, for example), recommend relevant offers, add links to relevant keywords, and more.
I was a little hesitant to use it at first, because I didn’t want it to slow down my site, and I didn’t want to hurt user experience with previews and new tabs opening. If not done right, it can be spammy and simply annoying.
But so far, it all seems to be working smoothly – doesn’t affect speed and session time, isn’t too intrusive to compromise user experience, and does increase bookings – although I’m currently only using the Smart Previews and Targeted Offers features.
Other than analytics, you can choose which ones to turn on and off.
Giveaways, Contests, and Anything in Between
Of course they’re all done to encourage you to join Travelpayouts or use tools like Drive, but I definitely like all the special contests and offers that, at the end of the day, allow you to win prizes, from cameras to extra 500$-3000$ to your TP credit.
What I’m Only Starting With
Referral Program
I’m really just starting to share my own link, but the referral program seems like a win-win.
Whether you’re joining through a referral program link (this is mine) or inviting other travel creators with your link, both are rewarded for each earning milestone of the person who joined.
Read more about it here to see exactly how you can earn as a referred user (up to $100) or by inviting others (up to $600 per referral), and join with my referral program link!
One Thing I’m Missing
Overall, the Travelpayouts analytics are pretty great, but one thing that would help me is having the travel date and not just the booking date.
You can usually see it in hotel bookings when you get into the details of a specific booking, but for tours, train tickets, and other services, you cannot.
It’s no secret that understanding seasonality is huge for travel content creators, so I wish I could filter and sort to see when my readers are traveling, how far in advance they’re booking hotels & activities (amongst other things), and what exactly they’re booking for those months.
The Verdict
Should you sign up to Travelpayouts? I’m saying YES.
All in all, it’s a fantastic plarform to work with, whether you’re just starting out with affiliate programs or looking to switch and try something new.
I invite you to join with my referral program link!
*Your emil address will not be published. By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website