Learn About Kayak Affiliate Program: Its Pros, Cons & More

The Kayak affiliate program has huge market potential.

Statistics show that the affiliate scheme is really promising.

It offers several products for affiliates to promote.

Just imagine that it has over 15,000 properties worldwide for affiliates to promote.

The total amount of money paid in commissions annually exceeds $76 million.

Currently, there are over 15,000 affiliate partners.

Let’s look at the affiliate program in detail.

Ready?

Let’s dive in now.

Program Overview

Does Kayak Have an Affiliate Program?

The company allows customers to book hotels, flights, and cars.

The affiliate program comes with tons of benefits.

When you join this affiliate scheme, you will not only support Kayak but even its partners, HotelsCombined and Momondo.

What Is the Kayak Kayak Program?

The Kayak affiliate scheme is a sales partnership that pays affiliates who promote hotels, flights, and cars for Kayak and its partners.

Figures show that it is a successful affiliate program.

The program pays out more than $76 billion in commissions annually.

The company offers more than 2 million properties worldwide for promotion.

But what caught my attention is the number of people searching for the word travel annually.

The number is huge; it sounds too good to be true.

But numbers do not lie.

Over 6 billion people search for the word travel annually.

The future of the affiliate program looks bright.

So many people are still showing interest in joining the program.

There are over 15,000 affiliate partners at the moment.

But the numbers are increasing exponentially.

The 15,000+ affiliate partners get an attractive commission of up to 50% and a long cookie window of 30 days.

But there is another thing that caught my eye.

There is no minimum payout threshold, which is good for new affiliates without decent traffic.

You can even withdraw $10.

How does the Kayak affiliate program work?

It is an in-house affiliate program.

What this means is that they run the affiliate program themselves on their platform.

However, they also run the program through TravelPayounts and Shareasale affiliate networks.

So you can decide to join the program directly on their site or apply to become a Shareasale publisher and then sign up for the program.

Does the platform you join really matter?

Yes, it matters a lot.

Affiliates who sign up on the platform directly earn up to 8% commission, while the cookie window is 30 days.

However, when you sign up on the Shareasale affiliate network, you will earn a commission of 4% while the cookie duration remains the same: 30 days.

Meanwhile, this program on Travelpayounts offers a 50% commission and a 30-day cookie window period.

The first step is signing up for the program.

Once approved and signed in, get the links for the hotels, flights, or cars you want to promote and incorporate them into your content.

When you start promoting the bookings, you will get credit for that; you earn a commission for every click or booking made using your link.

Each time your reader books a room at a hotel, flight, or car, you are rewarded.

You will get paid up to an 8% commission if it is done within 30 days of clicking your affiliate link.

The more clicks or bookings made using your link, the more money you make.

What Products Can You Promote?

As earlier stated, Viator offers 2 million properties worldwide for promotion.

Plus, it is a one-stop shop or platform for bookings. HostelsCombined and Momondo are part and parcel of this affiliate program.

So the number of products to promote may even be higher.

You will promote all the travel needs of your audience in one place.

But when talking about the exact products, affiliates can promote:

Flights: Promoting all flight routes will not yield positive results.

It will be like chasing the wind. So refrain from this temptation.

Focus on specific flight routes.

For example, promote cheap flights or the best deals from one place to another.

Hotels: Do not deviate from the principle. Just focus on specific hotels.

You may want to promote hotels that are best for families in a particular location or country.

Car hire: Here, you need to narrow down to specific car rental companies.

Settle on those with a high conversion rate.

Depending on what people are searching for online, you may promote the best car rental companies for travelers on a tight budget.

Holiday packages: Holiday packages encompass everything that a traveler needs, and they tend to be cheaper.

It may not be necessary to talk about what the packages are.

Just hammer the nail on its head right away.

Simply promote specific packages, like family vacation packages, to Dubail.

How Much Do Kayak Affiliates Make?

The amount of money they receive varies because of a number of factors.

The major factors at play include traffic, products, and their conversion rate.

It is no secret that decent traffic is the lifeblood of affiliate marketing.

So driving decent traffic to your affiliate links is highly likely to result in more if the products have a high conversion rate.

Of course, another factor is the affiliate network you sign up with.

On the Kayak affiliate network, you get a higher commission than Commission Junction, though it is the same program.

Let’s look at the commission structures.

Related post: Best travel affiliate programs

What are the commission rates?

As earlier indicated, affiliates pay different amounts of commissions on different affiliate networks.

In the case of Kayak, we are talking about the Kayak affiliate network and commission junction.

With Commission Junction, you get a 50% commission per sale.

However, on the company’s network, Kayak, you get paid anywhere from $0.17 to $1.09 per sale.

On both the Kayak affiliate network and Commission Junction, the company gives the same cookie duration.

How long does the cookie last?

The cookie life lasts for 30 days.

How Do Affiliates Get Paid From Kayak?

The program has two different methods of paying affiliates, which are PayPal and wire transfer

Bank transfer: What I like about this method is that it is flexible.

Funds can be processed within 24 hours.

To receive your payments through a bank transfer, simply provide your name, bank account number, bank name, and address.

And you are good to go. Just wait for your funds.

With the wire transfer payment method, the minimum payout threshold is $500.

Paypal: Paypal is for affiliates outside of Australia who use the self-service products.

So if you use PayPal, the minimum payout threshold is $100.

Marketing Materials and Promotional Tools

Effective tools and resources are available.

Deeplink generator

The deep link generator is easy to use and amazing.

Depending on your target market brand and Kayak partners you wish to promote, it can be used to generate flight, hotel, and car links.

You can decide where to direct your traffic.

You can send them to a website or to a specific hotel page you are promoting.

Creating a text link is simple.

Follow the guide below:

When you finish, pick a tracking method.

For basic tracking, simply add a click ID or label.

But for more advanced tracking, add further tracking parameters to the location ID and experiment ID.

Widgets

Widgets are a great resource for marketing.

The brand knows the power of widgets.

So it makes them available to affiliates.

Use it to promote the brand by displaying its information, like flight deals, on your website.

API

Take advantage of the API offered to diversify your promotional strategies.

The brand has an API for the products they have allowed affiliates to promote in exchange for commission.

With an API, you will be able to access brand information—flight, hotel, and car rental data—and display it on your website.

So you will be able to recommend the products without creating your own content. Great initiative, right?

Banners

Their eye-catching banners are also equal to the task.

Just place them in your sidebar, and they will send your readers to the specific page you want them to visit.

Wondering how to go about doing this?

Worry not. 

Closely follow the steps, and you will get it right.

Learn how to do it.

• Navigate to the Banners section in your affiliate portal
• Choose the language and the size of the banner you want to use
• Click on a banner to activate it and add a label for tracking purposes
• Finally, embed it on your blog where you want it to appear

KAYAK explore feature

Wondering what this feature is?

Well, it is a feature that allows customers to compare flight prices and find great deals. Great feature for affiliates too.

It makes them easier.

Promote the cheap flights and deals.

Who Should Join Kayak Affiliate Program?

Personal blogs: The affiliate program is suitable for personal blog owners.

However, I’m not referring to all personal blogs.

I’m only talking about blogs in the travel niche.

Affiliates can promote travel products in exchange for commissions.

Cashback sites: People do not want to spend their money recklessly.

They want to save money, be it on travel or other ventures.

Remember, money is difficult to come by nowadays.

Cashback site owners can offer cash back on flights, hotels, and car rentals and earn a commission.

Price-comparison sites: Customers want to know the prices of the brand’s travel products.

Price comparison sites breathe and eat price comparisons. So they are the best candidates for the program.

Is Kayak Affiliate Program Worth It?

Figures will answer this question.

The brand has 15,000 affiliate partners.

The affiliates receive $76 billion in commissions.

Talking about products to promote, there are more than 15,000 properties worldwide for promotion, and these are world-class properties.

When it comes to commission, affiliates get paid up to 50%, and the cookie duration is 30 days.

Pros

High commission rates: Affiliates who join the program directly on the platform are offered an attractive price.

They are paid up to 50% commission

Long cookie duration: The brand offers a cookie duration of 30 days.

So the chances of you earning on your referrals are high, even if they don’t book immediately after clicking on your affiliate links.

Variety of products to promote: Over 15,000 properties worldwide for promotion is a huge number.

You promote everything that your readers need when they travel.

High conversion rates: Kayak is a trusted brand, so you will not have difficulties promoting the program.

People will not doubt your recommendations.

Deep linking: Sending traffic to a specific hotel page or any other targeted page will be easier.

Affiliates can easily create links to send to specific web pages on the merchant’s website.

Dedicated support team: In terms of supporting affiliates, the brand offers some of the best support.

Their aim is to help you succeed as an affiliate.

Pros

High competition: The niche is saturated.

There are over 15, 000 affiliates.

So standing out from others is something that is not easy.

High minimum payout: Honestly, the minimum payout is extremely high.

The brand’s minimum payout is a whopping $500.

The amount is not friendly for affiliates who are just starting out.

Conclusion: Is Kayak affiliate program worth it?

Yes, it is worth joining.

But if you are just starting out, you need to put in a lot of work because payments will only hit your account once you reach $500.

It is a well-known brand in the travel niche. So the conversion rate is high.

The chances that your readers will convert are high.

How To Join the Program

• Visit the site’s affiliate program page
• Check the FAQs to learn more about the program
• Click on the “Apply now” button
• Fill out the application
• Read and agree to the terms and conditions
• Submit your application
• Wait for review by the affiliate team

Requirements to join the program

Just like any scheme, Kayak requires that you agree to certain terms before their program begins.

What are the requirements?

I’ll not beat about bush; I will hammer the nail on its head right away.

Requirements:

• Decent traffic.
• The platform for promoting travel products: hotels, flights, and car rentals
• Agree to the terms of service.

Does Kayak Support Affiliates?

When talking about support, they offer the best support.

The support team is amazing.

They provide guidance and offer help when needed to troubleshoot problems.

Tips For Success As An Affiliate

Actionable tips:

Create great content

Creating good content encompasses a lot of things.

Remember, you are writing the blog posts for your readers.

So when you craft content, use simple words that can be easily understood by your target audience.

Good content also offers value; it should solve the problems of your readers.

That is the reason why it is advisable to enable comments on your blog—it creates another platform for interacting with readers.

When answering their questions, provide detailed answers.

When you write your detailed content, include calls to action for transactional and informational search intent.

Understand the products

It is common for affiliates to promote something that is trending, even if they know very little about the product.

Approaching affiliate marketing in this manner is not a good idea.

But do not get me wrong; I’m not saying you need to be an expert to flourish; anyone can do it.

But where do you find information about the product?

Well, check the reviews others have done.

Approaching affiliate marketing in this manner can help you provide factual and helpful content that your readers will enjoy.

Communicate with your readers

It is always a good idea to engage your readers.

Provoke them by asking them questions or sharing their opinion on a particular matter.

Doing so will create a strong community, and you are likely to retain your readers.

Provide value before selling

The main reason for creating the content is to make affiliate sales.

But does this mean that you should just be talking about sales?

Far from it.

Find the reason people are visiting your site.

It’s clear that they are looking for a solution to a problem they are facing.

First, solve their problem to build trust.

So when you promote a product to them, they will trust your recommendation because they trust you.

Solve their problem first, and then sell it to them.

Work hard

Affiliate income is not passive income, as stated by some affiliates.

You need to break a sweat to earn affiliate income.

Work 40–60 hours a week for 6 months or more to start seeing results.

Alternatives To the Kayak Affiliate Program

Its top alternatives are:

Marriot affiliate program

There are over 3,900 hotels in 72 countries for promotion.

The Marriott affiliate program offers commission rates from 3% – 6% per booking.

Its cookie lasts for 7 days.

TripAdvisor affiliate program

TripAdvisor offers hotel bookings.

The Tripadvisor affiliate program pays 50% of what they get from hotel bookings.

Its cookie duration is 14 days.

Booking.com affiliate program

While doing my research, I learned that the Booking.com affiliate program pays affiliates up to 4% commission per booking.

It has a session-based cookie.

Agoda affiliate program

The Agoda affiliate program pays a higher commission rate.

It usually pays up to a 7% commission per booking.

Its cookie lasts for 30 days.

Hotels.com affiliate program

The Hotels.com affiliate program is another scheme with a high conversion rate.

It pays a commission rate of 4% per booking.

And its cookie lasts for 7 days.

Viator affiliate program

The Viator affiliate program pays up to 8% commission per booking.

You will enjoy its cookie duration; it is really long.

The cookie duration is usually 30 days.

Final Thoughts

I like the Kayak affiliate scheme.

It is highly profitable.

The commission rate offered is generous.

It is 50% per booking.

The cookie duration is long.

It is usually 30 days.

I also discovered this affiliate scheme has a high conversion rate.

No wonder it is loved by over 15, 000 affiliate partners.

Join the affiliate program and promote a big player in the travel niche.