Hello there Sea Changers. Welcome back to my series of program lists to assist those of you looking to fund your sea change with affiliate marketing. Today we will journey into the travel niche with my 10 flight affiliate programs to jump on in 2021. Travel is a large niche so I have broken it down in this instance to concentrate solely on flight related programs. And considering that terms such as ‘book flights online’ attract 1000’s of online searches per month, I have decided to deal with these affiliate programs separately.
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Keeping that in mind, as I run through them I am conscious that as this is potentially such a large niche, that the number of affiliate programs to choose from may be just as large. So how have I picked my best 10? Well… I really just wanted to give you a good cross section of what is out there so I did some searching around and checked a few out and chose them by looking at:
- What they offer
- Commission rates
- Payment terms
- Cookie duration
- Application processes
- Affiliate/Marketing materials provided
Before we start however, let’s have a look at what I mean by the term ‘flights’ and how it can be incorporated within an affiliate marketing website…
What do we mean by Flights?
Basically, I have looked into this sub-niche based on the subject of flight bookings etc. On face value, this is a niche that appears fairly straight forward – however, there are actually a few different flight booking types that can certainly be used to fully expand any specific niche within this subject or any other general travel related site. For this post I have tried to cover a good cross section across some of the sub niches such as:
- Budget flights
- Luxury flights
- Last minute flights
- Flights by class
- Lounges
And of course anything else that you may incorporate when you think of booking flights online.
Oh, and if you are looking for something different within this niche, check out my hotel and travel accessory program lists.
What can affiliate marketers promote?
There are essentially no real barriers to what affiliate marketers can promote when it comes to flying and the internet. There are however some things to be aware of as you run your eye over affiliate program possibilities that may suit your site. These are:
- Know your audience, some purchasers are looking for specifics (such as flight times, inclusions, in-flight entertainment and number of stopovers etc.) whilst others are hoping to just get from A to B on a budget. Choose your affiliate sites accordingly.
- Purchasers of high end/expensive flights (private, business, first class etc.) will not take risks if they don’t trust you or your affiliate site. Make sure the programs you choose are reputable and have good recourse options if the purchaser is not happy.
- Those looking for wedding packages etc. will need to know that they are going to get everything as promised so as not to jeopardize their big day (or worse, not turn up at all).
- Those traveling with children will generally want them to be safe and entertained.
That said, stats show that people will spend money on travel online if it can make their lives easier so as long as you are solving problems, then you are on the right track. And to give you a boost, let’s have a look at 10 programs that I have found below:
1. Kayak
Let’s start with one of the many comparison sites that are available online these days in Kayak. Kayak compares airline sites around the world to find the best flight options based on the criteria entered by the user. These criteria generally include:
- Departure location
- Destination
- Date range
- Class
These sites work by comparing the cost options from a large array of airline and booking sites (as per above graphic) and displaying a number of options from each of the sites.
Users can then choose their option and book directly from the relevant original booking site.
They are access all well-known airlines and travel sites and offer email options to be kept up to date with cost fluctuations and deals. And, for those of you in a non-flight specific travel niche, or looking for travel affiliate programs in general, kayak can also assist with all of your hotel, flight and hotel package, car rental, tours and airport transfer needs. They also promote the fact that they manage 2,000,000,000+ annual searches across our portfolio of brands making this a great site to promote for any travel oriented affiliate marketer.
Commission Rate: 50%
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 30 Minutes
Application required?: Yes – Basic personal and website information required. You will also be required to outline traffic and promotion plans.
Marketing material provided: Text links, API and deeplinks, search box widgets, banners and White Label
Join the Kayak affiliate program here
2. iwantthatflight.com
iwantthatflight.com is an Australian travel site which compares 100s of airlines to show who is offering the best deals on airfares. They scour a range of airline and travel agency sites and, like Kayak, display the findings allowing the user to book their flight directly from the relevant vendor.
The thing to keep in mind here for affiliate marketers is that Australia is a long way from everywhere so flight costs are generally higher than other markets. For that reason, we tend to do a bit of research to keep our costs down making sites like this one very popular indeed. Again, for those in the more general markets, this site also offers hotel and rental car booking options.
Commission Rate: Variable – up to 70%
Payment Terms: 14 Days
Cookie Duration: Not stated
Application required?: Yes – Basic personal and website information required
Marketing material provided: Customisable Widgets and Affiliate Links
Join the inwantthatflight.com affiliate program here
3. Travofy
Travofy is a large online ‘hybrid’ travel agency that specialises in international flights run by American, Canadian and Indian airlines. The site compares costs over a number of airlines and presents them in similar fashion to the other listed above however bookings are managed via Travofy and not directly within the airlines themselves.
And again, for the more generalised or destination niches, Travofy offer access to a large range of hotels, vacation packages and rental cars. They also offer a subscription service where airline routes can be entered to monitor when prices drop or deals are on – this may prove lucrative to affiliate marketers with a 90-day cookie in place.
Commission Rate: up to $20 per booking
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 90 Day
Application required?: Yes, Travofy’s affiliate program is managed by Share-A-Sale. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Travofy affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.
Marketing material provided: Text links and banners, coupon deals
Join the Travofy affiliate program here
4. cheapOair
If your site is anything to do with budget travel, then cheapOair would be a handy addition. They compare prices across over 600 airlines and offer a price match guarantee making this a great site for the cheap travel market.
As usual there is also access to hotels, cruises, rental cars, insurance and vacation packages as well as member only discounts and flight status monitors. The site also includes a decent travel blog and destination guides giving affiliate marketers greater access to information, ideas and review data for all manner of flight and travel posts.
Commission Rate: Commissions are paid on number of flight bookings referred:
- 1 – 200 – USD$8
- 201 – 500 – USD$9
- 500+ – USD$10
Note: Hotel and other offerings pay commissions in same manner with differing amounts – check website for these rates. Commissions are paid on all bookings in transaction i.e flight + hotel + car etc.
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 90 day
Application required?: Yes, cheapOair’s affiliate program is managed by Rakuten or CJ Affiliate. You will be required to apply for an account then for the cheapOair affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.
Marketing material provided: Ad banners, text links, affiliate promotion newsletter
Join the cheapOair affiliate program here
5. Dollar flight club
Dollar Flight Club is a discount airline site with a twist. Rather than book your flight immediately, you register to the site and enter your departure airport/s. You can then view their discounted offers and/or receive emails with current specials and services. The trick here for affiliates is to convince your readers to joint the premium membership offers. This gives them access to extra offerings and the ability to set more than one departure airport.
This site is a great one for anybody in the frequent leisure, family or budget niches where travel dates are not the main deciding factor in flight choice. And the best thing here is that commissions are recurring meaning that if a referral signs up, you get a commission, then if they re-sign the next year, you get another commissions and so on.
Commission Rates: 50% ($35) for premium membership sign ups – recurring every year at renewal
Payment Terms: Monthly.
Cookie Duration: 90 days
Application required?: Yes – basic personal and website information required.
Marketing material provided: Text links, widgets, banners
Join the Dollar Flight Club affiliate program here
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6. Villiers
Now we venture into the other spectrum of air travel with Villiers. Villiers is all about the private jet. Bookings are undertaken in the same manner as a commercial airline (airports, date, time etc.) and they provide access to over 9,000 aircraft in 40,000 locations.
There is not enough here to sustain an affiliate marketing site on its own however it is a must have addition to any luxury, business or special event travel site as a complimentary high ticket opportunity. A 365-day cookie also means that if you can build a solid relationship with your frequent luxury travelers, then you can earn commissions from them time and again.
Commission Rate: 30% of profit share
Payment Terms: 14 days after flight lands
Cookie Duration: 365 days
Application required?: Yes, personal and website information required.
Marketing material provided: Text links
Join the Villiers affiliate program here
7. Jetupfront
Another site in the luxury niche is Jetupfront. Jeteupfront specialises in discounted flights in Premium, Business and First Class on many flights worldwide. Whilst flights are not as prevalent as normal flight sites – they often offer unsold seats – there is a good opportunity here for affiliate marketers to earn some extra income.
Again, there is not enough on offer to sustain a travel related affiliate site on its own however it is a good addition to any holiday, special occasion (weddings for example) or travel type niche that you may be working with. On the downside however, their commissions are not as high as what you might expect from a higher priced item such as these tickets.
Commission Rate: $18 – $21 per booking
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: Not Stated
Application required?: Yes – Jetupfront’s affiliate program is managed by Rakuten. You will be required to apply for an account and then for the Jetupfront affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.
Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links
Join the Jetupfront affiliate program here
8. Airline Programs
Now many individual airlines offer their own affiliate programs so instead of listing them all individually, I have decided to just incorporate them all into the one section here. Some of the more prevalent ones include:
These can be very lucrative if you are promoting a particular destination or reviewing the airlines themselves on your site. Most offer hotel, car and insurance options as well. The list above is of a few so if you are interested in another airline, simply go your search engine and type “‘airline name affiliate” as per the example below:
Commission Rate: 2 – 5%
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 30 – 60 days
Application required?: Yes – dependent upon the airline and their affiliate partners
Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links
9. Priority Pass
This next one is technically not about the flight itself but close enough that I thought I would add it here. Priority Pass is a membership based program that give traveler access to one, or many, of their 1300+ airport lounges worldwide. Memberships are based on how often your readers are traveling and obviously, the airports they would be boarding/landing in.
This is the perfect addition to luxury and/or business travel sites but could be used in a number of others, including budget travel options. The selling point here for affiliates is not the cost of the membership (which is not too bad), but the money saved at the airport as lounge access includes:
- Food and drinks
- WIFI
- Business facilities
- Showers
Commission Rate: $14 per membership sold
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Application required?: Yes, Priority Pass’ affiliate program is managed by Share-A-Sale. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Priority Pass affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.
Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links
Join the Priority Pass affiliate program here
10. travelpayouts.com
Now technically, travelpayouts.com is not a flight booking site as such. However should you wish to set up your site up with a range from a few different brands or companies at once then you can do so here. Travelpayouts.com is an affiliate marketing platform that provides access to a good range of flight and travel related affiliate programs all in one place including:
- Booking.com
- Hotellook
- Jetradar
This site is probably large enough to fill a basic travel niche site on its own but also to provides access to some of the bigger players without having to join each program individually via their own platforms. Travelpayouts.com also appears to offer better commission rates and cookie duration than if you had applied directly via the main company page.
Commission Rate: 1.5 – 6%
Payment Terms: Monthly
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Application required?: Yes – Basic personal and website information required. you may also need to apply for individual programs within the site itself.
Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links, Data Feeds
Join the travelpayouts.com affiliate program here
Amazon Associates
Now, the sites I have covered above are obviously to do with fights and bookings. Should you wish to add another dimension to your site then you might want to add some links to flight related accessories via Amazon. Amazon provides access to a good range of travel products and has a fairly good affiliate program as well. So if you wish, join the Amazon Associates program, locate the relevant products/pieces within Amazon itself and you can post links on your own site as per below:
Amazon’s commission rates are not too bad and some prefer this avenue due to the sheer amount of traffic and trustworthiness that comes with a company site of this size. Unfortunately as far as I can see, they do not offer flight bookings apart from links to a large array of airline booking apps.
How to find your own affiliate programs
As stated earlier, by outlining the sites above I have really just tried to give you a good cross section of the types of programs that are out there by listing the really good ones in each ‘category’. That does not mean that you cannot find affiliate programs that better suit what it is that you are trying to do within this space – especially as I could never even begin to cover every plane related requirement or sub niche in the one post. Luckily for us, there is a simple way to find these programs online.
All you need to do is enter “affiliate: niche type” into your search engine (substituting ‘niche type‘ for whatever product it is that you are choosing to sell).
There are flight related affiliate programs for everything else that we have listed at the top of this page as well – you will just need to have a look around until you find one or two that suit your site. Once you have completed your searches, you can look through and find programs that:
- Relate to your niche/problems that you are solving.
- Have quality products – your brand can be severely damaged if you promote poor quality products.
- Have solid payment and customer service arrangement.
- Pay decent commissions.
- Have good testimonials covering commission payouts and quality of product.
In most cases, you will need to apply for the program before you are allowed to promote their products – don’t take this step lightly or you will be rejected. Affiliate programs will generally want to know:
- Your website name.
- Traffic levels.
- Why you want to join – (so I can make money by selling your airline seat is unfortunately not generally a good enough answer).
- How you plan to promote their products.
Conclusion
So… There are 10 of the best flight affiliate programs to jump on in 2021. I hope it has been helpful for you as you commence your own travel based affiliate marketing business and as usual, please do not hesitate to comment below if you have any questions, need some advice or have any experiences to share. Oh, and especially comment if you have any experience with these, or any other programs as well.
Until next time
Have fun
Paul
Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price.
Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own travel based website?
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