The best travel affiliate programs for most publishers in 2026 are Viator for tours and activities (8% per completed booking, 30-day cookie, no audience minimum), Expedia Group's Travel Creator Program for hotels and stays (up to 4% across Expedia, Vrbo and Hotels.com), and DiscoverCars for car rental (a share of rental profit with a 365-day cookie). Booking.com, Skyscanner and KAYAK are worth adding when you need search boxes, flight inventory or an API, but they publish fewer terms up front.
That's the short answer. The longer one depends on what your readers actually book, because travel commissions are small percentages of large baskets, and the cancellation rate quietly decides what you get paid.
Live table: open travel affiliate programs
These rows come straight from the PartnersWatch travel directory. Rates are what each brand states on its own partner page. Check the program page before you build a site around a number.
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayak | Affiliate, Integrator / MSP | Earnings from clicks, bookings and ad revenue (rates not stated) | Revenue share |
| Viator | Affiliate | 8% commission on every completed booking | Revenue share |
| DiscoverCars.com | Affiliate | 70% of DiscoverCars' car-rental profit + 30% of Full Coverage revenue (~$20 average per booking) | Revenue share |
| Hostelworld | Affiliate | Percentage of the booking deposit earned by Hostelworld (CPA), paid once the stay completes | Revenue share |
| Skyscanner | Affiliate | On request | — |
| Trip.com | Affiliate | Up to 7% commission | Revenue share |
| Expedia Group | Affiliate | Up to 4% on eligible completed bookings | Revenue share |
| Booking.com | Affiliate | On request | — |
The programs I'd shortlist first:
| Program | Partner types | Terms | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viator | Affiliate | 8% commission on every completed booking | Revenue share |
| Expedia Group | Affiliate | Up to 4% on eligible completed bookings | Revenue share |
| Trip.com | Affiliate | Up to 7% commission | Revenue share |
| DiscoverCars.com | Affiliate | 70% of DiscoverCars' car-rental profit + 30% of Full Coverage revenue (~$20 average per booking) | Revenue share |
| Hostelworld | Affiliate | Percentage of the booking deposit earned by Hostelworld (CPA), paid once the stay completes | Revenue share |
| Booking.com | Affiliate | On request | — |
| Skyscanner | Affiliate | On request | — |
| Kayak | Affiliate, Integrator / MSP | Earnings from clicks, bookings and ad revenue (rates not stated) | Revenue share |
How travel affiliate money actually works
Travel is different from software. You don't get recurring revenue. Each booking is a one-off, and the payout is a slice of either the booking value or the margin the brand earns on it.
Three things matter more than the headline rate:
- Completed versus booked. Most travel programs pay on completed stays, tours or rentals. A booking made in March for a trip in August pays you in August, if the traveller doesn't cancel. Viator, for example, pays on completed bookings. Hostelworld confirms commission once the guest checks out.
- Percentage of what. "8% of the booking" and "a percentage of the deposit we earn" sound similar. They are not. Hostelworld's commission is a cut of the deposit it collects, not of the whole room price. DiscoverCars pays 70% of its own profit on the rental, not 70% of what the customer spends.
- Cookie length versus planning time. People research trips for weeks. A 30-day window covers most tour bookings, which tend to happen close to travel. It's thin for a honeymoon someone plans six months out. That's why DiscoverCars' 365-day cookie stands out.
Viator partner program: the default for tours and activities
If you write destination content, "things to do in Lisbon" style pages, the Viator affiliate program is the obvious first application. It's what most people mean when they search for the Viator partner program or Viator partner programme.
What Viator states on its own partner page:
- 8% commission on every completed booking.
- 30-day cookie.
- No traffic or follower minimums. A brand new blog can join.
- Weekly payouts via PayPal.
- 300,000+ experiences in 2,500 destinations, plus a Viator Shop for social creators and embeddable widgets.
Why it works: tours are booked late and booked on impulse. Someone reading your Rome itinerary three days before their flight is a perfect Viator customer. The basket is smaller than a hotel stay, but conversion is often better because the reader is already committed to the trip.
Where it falls down: 8% of a $60 walking tour is under $5. You need volume, or you need to steer toward higher-ticket experiences such as multi-day trips, private guides and day cruises. Write for those.
Viator vs other travel affiliate programs
People often ask whether Viator beats Booking.com or Expedia. They don't really compete; they cover different parts of the trip. Here's how I'd think about it.
Viator vs Expedia Group. Expedia's Travel Creator Program pays up to 4% on eligible completed bookings, and one account covers Expedia, Vrbo and Hotels.com. The rate is half of Viator's, but hotel baskets are much bigger. A $900 week at a rental is worth more to you at 4% than a $60 tour at 8%. Use Viator for activity pages and Expedia for "where to stay" pages. Expedia also offers deep links, banners, widgets and APIs, which helps if you build tools rather than articles.
Viator vs Booking.com. The Booking.com affiliate partner program covers 28 million+ accommodation listings plus transport and attractions, and the site runs in 40+ languages. Registration goes through Booking.com's official affiliate networks rather than Booking.com directly, and the program page doesn't publish a fixed rate. If your audience is international and books accommodation, it belongs in your stack. Just know you're signing up with a network, and the terms come from there.
Viator vs Trip.com. Trip.com advertises up to 7% on hotel, flight and other travel inventory. "Up to" carries a lot of weight in that sentence. It's a strong option if your readers are in Asia, where Trip.com's inventory is deepest.
Viator vs Hostelworld. The Hostelworld affiliate programme is for one audience: budget and backpacker travellers. It pays a percentage of the deposit Hostelworld earns, last click within 30 days of the first click, across 36,000+ properties. Small payouts, but if your readers are 22 and doing Southeast Asia on a shoestring, nothing converts better.
Viator vs DiscoverCars. DiscoverCars pays 70% of its car-rental profit plus 30% of Full Coverage revenue, and quotes roughly $20 per booking on average. The 365-day cookie is the longest in this list by a wide margin. Road-trip content and island guides (Iceland, Crete, Hawaii) are where this earns.
My honest take: don't pick one. A good destination page has a hotel link, a tour link and, where it makes sense, a car link. Each program does one job.
Flight search: Skyscanner and KAYAK
Flights pay badly for affiliates almost everywhere, because airline margins are thin. The two names that keep coming up are search engines rather than sellers.
The Skyscanner affiliate programme pays commission on traffic you send to its travel search. It also runs a separate Creator Programme, and partners can use the Skyscanner Travel API and travel insight reports. Skyscanner doesn't publish a rate on its program page, so ask before you commit.
The KAYAK Affiliate Network lets publishers and apps earn from clicks, bookings and ad revenue across flights, hotels, cars and packages. You apply with a form describing your business. The interesting part is the build options: deeplinks, a search box, a whitelabel product and an API, with free sandbox API access on request. KAYAK doesn't state its rates on the page either.
Travel affiliate APIs: when you're building a product, not a blog
If you searched "travel affiliate API", you're probably building a comparison tool, a trip planner or an app. The programs above that state API access on their own pages:
- KAYAK: API plus a free sandbox on request, and a whitelabel option.
- Skyscanner: Travel API access for partners.
- Expedia Group: deep links, banners, widgets and APIs from one account.
Two pieces of advice from watching people build these. First, ask about rate limits and caching rules before you write code, because they decide whether your product is viable, not the commission. Second, ask whether API traffic is paid the same as link traffic. Sometimes it isn't.
What I'd join first, by site type
- Destination blog or city guide: Viator, then Expedia or Booking.com for stays.
- Budget or backpacker audience: Hostelworld and Viator.
- Road trips, islands, national parks: DiscoverCars, with Viator for activities.
- Asia-focused content: Trip.com alongside Viator.
- Travel tool or app: KAYAK or Skyscanner for their APIs, Expedia for its widgets.
- Hotel or franchise investor rather than publisher: this is a different game entirely. See the franchisee listings, which include travel brands such as IHG and SIXT.
Mistakes that cost travel affiliates money
Ignoring cancellations. Your dashboard will show bookings long before they turn into payable commission. Build your forecast on completed bookings only.
Linking to the homepage. Every program in this list offers deep links or widgets. A link to the exact tour or hotel converts several times better than a link to a search page.
Treating seasonality as failure. Travel income is lumpy. Summer bookings get made in spring and paid in summer. Don't kill a program because March looked weak.
Hiding the relationship. Disclose that you earn a commission, near the link, in plain words. It's the law in most markets and every program here expects it. Readers trust travel recommendations more when you tell them how you're paid, not less.
How we list these programs
PartnersWatch lists open partner programs from each brand's own public partner page, with the date we last checked it. We're not affiliated with these brands, and any brand can claim, correct or remove its listing. Terms change without notice, so confirm the current rate on the program page before you rely on it. See how the directory works.
For programs that pay every month instead of once, read our guide to recurring commission affiliate programs. If you're new to this, start with how to join a partner program.
FAQ
What is the Viator partner program?
It's Viator's affiliate program for publishers and creators who promote tours and activities. Viator states 8% commission on every completed booking, a 30-day cookie, no traffic or follower minimums, and weekly PayPal payouts. You can apply on the Viator listing.
How much does the Viator affiliate program pay?
Viator lists 8% of each completed booking. Commission is paid on completed experiences, so cancelled tours don't pay out.
Which travel affiliate program pays the most?
It depends on the basket. Viator has the highest flat percentage in this list at 8%, Trip.com advertises up to 7% and Expedia Group up to 4%, but hotel and rental bookings are larger, so a lower rate can earn more per sale. DiscoverCars quotes about $20 per car-rental booking on average.
Is the Booking.com affiliate program still open?
Yes. Booking.com runs its affiliate program through its official affiliate networks, so you register with one of those rather than directly on Booking.com. It doesn't publish a fixed commission on its program page.
Does Skyscanner have an affiliate program?
Yes. Skyscanner pays commission on traffic sent to its travel search, runs a separate Creator Programme, and offers partners its Travel API and travel insight reports. The rate isn't published on its program page.
Which travel affiliate programs offer an API?
KAYAK offers an API with free sandbox access on request plus a whitelabel product, Skyscanner offers its Travel API, and Expedia Group's Travel Creator Program includes APIs alongside links and widgets.
Can I join travel affiliate programs with a small blog?
Many accept small sites. Viator states no traffic or follower minimums, and Expedia's Travel Creator Program is free to join. Some, like KAYAK, review an application describing your business first.