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If you are a travel blogger and you are in search of an affiliate network to help you monetize through your website, you came to the right place, today we will tell you everything you need to know about Booking and their affiliate program.
Nowadays many travel bloggers often get travel sponsorships that include free all-expenses-covered travel packages, but not everyone is so lucky at the beginning of their blogging career.
Travel blogging is a popular and profitable niche that can generate large amounts of income using various monetization methods. Booking’s affiliate system is one of the best affiliate programs you can join if you have a YouTube channel or a travel-focused Blog, as with it you are going to be able to earn money by recommending accommodations.
What is Booking.com?
It is the most popular hotel booking portal among users worldwide. Guests like it because they can search for many hotels in one location, read reviews, see photos, and can often book a room with free cancellation. Hotels prefer Booking because they can reach more potential guests by being part of a popular online travel search engine.
Booking.com was started in the Netherlands and is still headquartered in Amsterdam. Although it is part of the Priceline family it is known internationally in over 180 countries. It is undoubtedly the most popular among users in Europe.
How does the Booking affiliate program work?
There are several ways to be part of the affiliate network of this platform, you can register directly with Booking.com or you can register through one of the affiliate networks. Booking works with CJ and Awin.
Booking.com offers links, banners and widgets to its affiliate partners. You can install them on your blog and when a visitor clicks on the link and makes a booking, you will earn a commission.
The commission offered by Booking.com is 25%, if the visitor simply performs a search, you may not get any commission. The commission is only effective when you make a complete reservation of the accommodation.
What kind of products does Booking.com offer?
Booking.com offers a wide variety of products, from flights to accommodations and all types of ground transportation. Here are the highlights of their offerings.
Accommodations
Booking.com offers hundreds of thousands of hotel reservations worldwide at very affordable prices. They also offer many other types of accommodations, including house rentals, apartment rentals, etc.
Flights
Eliminate the hassle of searching multiple flight sites and combine them into one. Booking.com’s flight search will combine airline flights to make it a seamless purchase at an affordable price.
Car Rental
Compares all the car rental sites and gives you the best options. This is a partner company with rentalcars.com that Booking.com offers.
Airport Taxis
We all know that arriving at a new airport can be a little scary at first and having a car waiting to take you to your hotel is the perfect solution. Booking.com offers airport cab schedules so that you have a car ready waiting for the guest. This not only works for cabs, but also for cars and executive transportation services.
How much is the Booking commission?
This ranges between 15% and 20% of the price of the stay. For example, if a visitor to your blog clicks on your affiliate link, then books a room for €100, then stays and pays: the booking will get €15 and you will get 25% which would be €3.75.
We can break it down and explain it to you as follows, if the booking commission is 15% and you get 25% of that, the commission on the total booking is 3.75%. And if the booking commission is 20% and you get 25% of that amount, your commission on the total booking is 5%.
Once you reach the minimum earnings of €100, you can cash out by bank transfer or by an online wallet system.
Tools that make everything easier
Booking offers its affiliates the possibility to add links, search boxes and banner ads for use in blogs.
When using them be sure to add tracking codes, also known as keywords or tags, to know which links are most effective.
Links, search boxes and banners can go to a specific landing page for a city, region or hotel, you can even set the language and currency.
Experiment on your blog with these tools that Booking provides to see which ones are most effective for you. A travel blog is all about being creative, so be sure to try different options to see what your readers respond to.
Advantages of Booking.com’s affiliate program
The commission rates are quite generous and if your readers book expensive accommodations, you will get good commissions.
It offers a wide variety of hotels and accommodations to promote.
There is a wide selection of customizable banners, links and widgets that you can add to your blog.
It is a well-known company, especially in Europe.
The affiliate interface is user friendly and easy to understand.
The website is available in many languages and you can link to the local version.
Cons of the Booking.com program
Due to its flexible cancellation policy, potential guests may make many cancellations.
Some readers may not be familiar with Booking.com and may not trust the site.
There is a minimum payment limit of €100 and it may take some time to arrive. This means that cash flow is quite slow.
The cookie period is limited, so if the reader does not make a booking directly after clicking on your link, you will not receive the commission.
In conclusion, Booking is an excellent choice as a travel-focused affiliate program. It is free and easy to sign up, has no start-up fees or costs, and the system is extremely easy to use.
