The guide that the affiliate marketing platforms don’t want written: the actual commission rates (not the “up to X%” that the headline promotes but the rate you actually earn on a typical booking), the cookie windows that determine whether you receive the commission when the reader books 2 weeks after clicking your link, the content restrictions that prevent you from writing honestly about a competitor of the affiliate programme you’ve joined, and the programmes that the UK travel creator community actually uses versus the ones with the best marketing.
Reading time: 9 minutes | Last updated: 2026
Affiliate marketing is the most scalable income stream for a travel blog because the earning happens while the creator sleeps — the reader who clicks the Booking.com link in the Lisbon guide at 11pm on a Tuesday and books a hotel completes the earning action without any further input from the creator. The commission arrives automatically.
The programmes below are the ones that the BGGD editorial model uses and recommends — evaluated on the actual commission rate, the cookie window, the content restrictions, and the payment reliability.
The Programmes
1. Booking.com Partner Programme
Commission: 25-40% of Booking.com’s commission (not the booking value — Booking.com takes approximately 15-25% commission from the property, then pays the affiliate 25-40% of that commission. On a £100/night hotel: Booking.com receives £15-25, the affiliate receives £3.75-10).
Cookie window: 30 days. The reader who clicks the Booking.com link and books within 30 days earns the commission for the creator.
The honest rate calculation: The effective affiliate commission on a typical hotel booking is approximately 3-6% of the booking value. The headline “25-40%” applies to Booking.com’s revenue, not the booking total.
Content restrictions: Booking.com’s affiliate terms prohibit the comparison of Booking.com negatively to competitors in any content that contains an affiliate link. In practice: the creator who writes “Booking.com vs Airbnb” with an honest comparison and a Booking.com affiliate link risks the account termination.
Payment: Bank transfer, monthly, minimum €100 threshold.
BGGD assessment: The most reliable traffic driver for hotel bookings. The commission rate is modest but the volume (Booking.com is the most used hotel booking platform in Europe) makes it the correct foundation. Join at booking.com/affiliate-program.
2. GetYourGuide Partner Programme
Commission: 8% of the activity booking value. On a £50 tour: the creator earns £4.
Cookie window: 30 days.
The content-commission alignment: GetYourGuide is the correct affiliate for the city activity guides (the best things to do in Kyoto, the best day trips from Lisbon, the best tours in Istanbul) — the content that the reader uses when planning activities naturally converts to GetYourGuide bookings.
The specific GetYourGuide advantage: The conversion rate on GetYourGuide links in activity content is higher than Booking.com in hotel content — the reader who clicks “skip-the-line Colosseum tickets” in the Rome guide converts at approximately 8-12%, higher than the typical Booking.com hotel conversion of 3-5%.
Payment: Bank transfer, monthly, minimum €50 threshold.
BGGD assessment: The second most important affiliate programme for the travel blog after Booking.com. Join at getyourguide.com/partner.
3. Airalo (eSIM Affiliate Programme)
Commission: 10% of the eSIM purchase value. On a typical SE Asia eSIM at £10-20: the creator earns £1-2 per sale.
Cookie window: 30 days.
Why it works: The eSIM affiliate converts at a high rate because the reader who arrives at the “best eSIM for Thailand” content is already in the purchasing mindset — the buying intent is the highest of any travel product category in this guide. The 10% commission on a product with a conversion rate of 15-25% generates more income per 1,000 visitors than the hotel affiliate despite the lower average commission value.
The content format: The eSIM comparison article (the Airalo vs Holafly vs Nomad comparison) with the Airalo affiliate link positioned as the recommended option after the honest comparison is the specific content format that converts.
Payment: PayPal or bank transfer, monthly.
BGGD assessment: The highest-conversion affiliate in the travel niche by conversion rate. Join at airalo.com/affiliate-program.
4. Skyscanner Partner Programme (Formerly the Skyscanner API)
Commission: CPC (cost per click) rather than the revenue share model — Skyscanner pays approximately £0.15-0.50 per click on the flight search link, regardless of whether the reader books. The CPC model gives predictable income without the 30-day cookie dependency.
The alternative — the Commission Junction Skyscanner affiliate: The CJ network (commission junction) gives Skyscanner affiliate access with a commission on the booking referral rather than the click — verify the current programme structure at skyscanner.net/affiliates.
Content format: The “how to find cheap flights from the UK to X” content and the “best time to visit X” content (both of which naturally include the flight search) give the Skyscanner click-through without requiring a hard sell.
BGGD assessment: The CPC model gives smaller individual payments but higher predictability. Useful as a supplementary affiliate alongside the Booking.com commission-based model.
5. Amazon UK Associates
Commission: 3-5% on travel gear categories (the backpacks, the travel adapters, the packing cubes — the accessories that appear in the packing list content).
Cookie window: 24 hours (the most restrictive major affiliate cookie in the travel category). The reader who clicks the Amazon link and does not purchase within 24 hours does not generate a commission even if they purchase the identical product within 30 days.
The 24-hour limitation: The most important Amazon Associates limitation for travel creators — the reader who clicks the backpack recommendation on Tuesday, adds it to the basket, and buys on Thursday generates no commission. The Amazon cookie window is the worst of any major affiliate programme.
The content workaround: The buying-intent content (the “best packing cubes 2025” post, the “best travel backpack for Southeast Asia” round-up) gives the highest Amazon conversion because the reader who has searched specifically for this content has the purchase decision already made — the click converts on the first visit rather than the delayed purchase.
BGGD assessment: The lowest commission rate and the worst cookie window of the major travel affiliates. Include in the packing list content because the reader expects product links; do not prioritise over Booking.com or GetYourGuide.
6. World Nomads (Travel Insurance Affiliate)
Commission: 10-20% of the first year’s premium. On a typical World Nomads Standard policy for a 2-week Southeast Asia trip (approximately £60-90): the creator earns £6-18 per policy.
Cookie window: 30 days.
The conversion context: The travel insurance affiliate converts best in the destination-specific content (the “Thailand travel insurance — what you need to know” article) rather than the generic travel insurance comparison — the reader who is specifically planning Thailand wants specific Thailand advice, not the global comparison.
The content restriction: World Nomads’ affiliate terms require the accurate representation of the policy terms — the creator cannot make coverage claims that the policy does not support.
BGGD assessment: The correct travel insurance affiliate for the adventure travel niche. The World Nomads commission on a single policy purchase is modest but the trust-building function of the travel insurance recommendation is valuable — the reader who buys through your link and makes a successful claim is the highest-trust-building conversion available in the travel affiliate category.
7. Chase UK (Travel Credit Card)
Commission: £30-80 per approved application (the flat fee per converted applicant — the most predictable commission structure in the travel affiliate category, the payment triggered by the approved application rather than the booking).
Cookie window: 45 days.
The content format: The “best travel credit card UK 2025” round-up and the “best credit card for overseas spending” content give the highest credit card affiliate conversion — the reader who has searched specifically for this content is in the decision stage.
The regulatory context: The financial affiliate content (the credit card recommendation) requires the UK FCA disclosure — the creator must include the specific required statements about the credit product in any content that contains a financial affiliate link. The FCA rules apply to all UK-based creators regardless of the platform.
BGGD assessment: The highest single-commission affiliate in this guide (£30-80 per conversion versus the £3-10 of the hotel affiliate on a typical booking). The content that drives credit card affiliate conversions is a specific category — include it in the money section of the travel blog, not the destination content.
The Commission Stack
The travel blog that maximises affiliate income does not choose one programme — it layers the programmes across the content:
- Hotel guide posts → Booking.com affiliate
- Activity content → GetYourGuide affiliate
- eSIM content → Airalo affiliate
- Packing list posts → Amazon UK Associates
- Flight content → Skyscanner CPC
- Insurance content → World Nomads
- Money/finance content → Chase UK credit card
The creator who publishes each content category with the correct affiliate programme earns across all seven income streams simultaneously from the accumulated content.
The Disclosure Requirement
UK law (the ASA CAP Code and the FCA financial promotion rules) requires the disclosure of affiliate relationships in any content that contains affiliate links. The correct disclosure: “This post contains affiliate links. If you book through these links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.”
The disclosure is not optional. The ASA has issued enforcement notices to UK bloggers who have failed to disclose affiliate relationships. The BGGD disclosure appears in every post that contains affiliate links.
