TripAdvisor and its subsidiaries make up the largest travel community in the world. It serves as a go-to place for hotel, restaurant, and destination recommendations for millions of people.
The travel giant also serves as a platform for affiliate travel bloggers to create content and earn extra cash. In this blog, we provide a TripAdvisor affiliate program review, including basic information and the pros and cons of the program.
With over 20 years of experience, TripAdvisor has built trusted tourism and international travel website. The company has more than 455 million unique monthly visitors and 600 million reviews on all travel listings. In addition, the TripAdvisor affiliate program allows publishers to earn money by creating content about hotels and experiences.
Here’s how the TripAdvisor affiliate program works:
Publishers will earn a 50% commission from every successful transaction they make through their TripAdvisor affiliate link.
TripAdvisor deals with almost every aspect of traveling and publishes a wide variety of content on more than 49 separate websites, including Cruise Critic, FlipKey.com, and Niumba.com. That said, affiliates can promote content on the following topics:
We should point out that even though you’re free to focus on any of these topics, TripAdvisor pays affiliates only for hotel bookings.
TripAdvisor pays its affiliates commission based on clicks. For every click or transaction that is made through your unique affiliate link, you will be given a percentage. Upon joining the affiliate program, the commission rate will be 50% of the amount TripAdvisor makes from every hotel booking, but as the conversion rate increases, the commission may reach 80%. For comparison, take a look at the following table of some travel affiliate programs and their commission rates.
| Affiliate Program | Commissions | Cookie Duration |
| World Nomads | 10% | 60 days |
| booking.com | 4% | Session-based |
| Expedia | 2-6% | 7 days |
| Agoda | up to 7% | 30 days |
| Viator | 8% | 30 days |
| Kayak | 50% | 30 days |
| TripAdvisor | from 50% | 14 days |
| Amazon Associates | 4% on Apparel | 24 hours |
| hotels.com | 4% | 7 days |
| G Adventures | 6% | 60 days |
From this data, we can see that TripAdvisor has the highest commission rates among other prominent competitors in the travel industry.
Additionally, affiliates usually earn between $0.15 and $0.75 per click-out. The program also pays a 3% commission of the hotel booking value for every successful instant booking. For instance, if a customer referred by the publisher pays $1,000 for a hotel on TripAdvisor’s website, the publisher will receive $30 up to 30 days after the customer’s check-in.
TripAdvisor pays the affiliate commission 30 days after the booking is made. The good news is that TripAdvisor’s tracking cookies don’t expire until after 14 days. This means, even if a customer doesn’t make a purchase immediately after clicking the affiliate link but comes back and books within 14 days, you will still get paid.
Anyone interested in travel blogging is free to join the program. However, the TripAdvisor website states that some entities or individuals are ineligible to join. Businesses and individuals who direct competitors to TripAdvisor are typically not allowed to join the program. You may receive a fine if you enroll as an ineligible affiliate, such as:
If you want to enroll in the program, your content should be related to traveling. You should also comply with the program’s terms and conditions, which include publishing original and relevant content.
| Pros | Cons |
| Well-known and trusted brand by users. | The travel industry is highly competitive. |
| Relatively high commission rates (from 50%). | Relatively low commissions for instant bookings (3%). |
| Commissions counter per click. | Difficult to get approved without prior experience in the field. |
| 14-day cookie duration. | Payments are made 30 days after the booking is confirmed. |
| Opportunity to link to more than 500,000 cities worldwide. | Enrollment is made only through partnered affiliate networks. |
| Possibility to join from anywhere in the world. | |
| Deep linking system giving access to many ads for promotion. |
You need to sign up with one of two affiliate networks: AWIN or CJ. Signing up for both of these networks is free, and both offer the same program terms. These network partners are the ones who provide you with link generators, manage user tracking, and pay the commissions.
Once you have an account on one of these networks, search for TripAdvisor and apply through the network.
Upon approval, you will receive clickable links you can use on your site to direct traffic to TripAdvisor.
TripAdvisor comes with many benefits for travelers, including:
Despite the massive stardom of TripAdvisor, the travel website comes with a few downsides, including:
TripAdvisor’s platform provides a vast network of travel material that affiliates can promote. That is why you need to publish creative and appealing content to capture the attention of travel enthusiasts. Here are some tips you can use to increase your number of click-outs and conversions:
TripAdvisor is a platform that deals with a wide variety of travel content. Given the website’s popularity, enrolling in the program has its perks, such as an opportunity to cater to a large number of people, relatively high commission rates, and long-lasting cookies. TripAdvisor also has an easy sign-up process, so go ahead and register now and start crafting your content.
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