Here is a comprehensive review on the Expedia affiliate program.
Does Expedia have an affiliate program? is a question I have been coming across for a while now.
They actually have an affiliate program.
So, to broaden your view about their affiliate program, we will be discussing:
- The commission rate
- The Cookie duration
- How the affiliate program works
- Expedia affiliate program sign up
- And How to make money from the affiliate program.
Just follow this Expedia affiliate program review.
What is Expedia?
Expedia is a conglomerate of travel companies founded on 22 October, 1996 by Rich Barton.
The company covers anything regarding travel margins for individuals and businesses.
Now known as Expedia Group, due to the aggregation of travel companies within its reach.
Expedia has some popular companies under them including Vrbo, Trivago, Hotel.com, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, Trivago and Car rentals…
And their primary travel meta search engine, Expedia.com.
In short, Expedia.com is one of the most popular travel booking sites in the world.
Though Expedia still needs a lot of brand visibility.
For that reason, the need for an affiliate program can not be overlooked.
So, Expedia running an affiliate program means that there is an opportunity for bloggers to make money online, while increasing the visibility of their brand.
Let’s run though how it works.
How Does Expedia Affiliate Program Work?
Expedia is one of the few companies that runs an affiliate program in the travel niche.
With the Expedia affiliate program, you can promote hotels, flights, car rentals or vacation experiences.
It’s a commission per sale affiliate program, directly for customers and travellers.
Expedia affiliate program is hosted on CJ Affiliate network. So, affiliates can sign up from CJ.
Well, they have a landing page which you can rather sign up from, even though it does not contain all the necessary information for the affiliate program.
Regardless, you will need a website too before you can sign up.
Or let me just say, it is mostly preferable to have a website, optimised around the travel niche before trying to sign up to the Expedia program.
Besides, affiliates are not allowed to promote Expedia via Facebook and Twitter.
Probably, Youtube can also be approved, though must be worked around the travel niche.
In addition, once you have been able to sign up to Expedia affiliate program, you would have access to their partners’ websites – Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotels.com etc.
How much does Expedia pay per sale?
Expedia Affiliate Program Commission
The Expedia affiliate program commission rate is between 2%-6%.
So, the commission you’d be earning per sale depends on the kind of booking you are promoting.
Vacation rentals are generally 2% commission based, while cruise traveling offers 6% commission per sale.
You can check out the commission structure on their page.
Expedia Affiliate Program Cookie Duration
Expedia affiliate program has a cookie duration of 7 days.
That is you have only 7 days to convince your referrals to make a purchase on Expedia website.
If they were able to make a purchase within the 7 days, it would be accredited to you.
Alternatively, after 7 days, your referrals purchase would no longer be attributed to you.
If you are still oblivious about what cookie duration means, I explained in full in one of our reviews, check it out here.
How to Sign up to Expedia Affiliate Program
Like I said earlier, Expedia already has a sign up page.
To join their affiliate program, go to their affiliate page, here.
Click on Join Now.
Fill in the form with your personal information and promotion details and click on sign up.
Within a while, you should receive an email showing whether you are approved into the affiliate program or not.
Similarly, if you have signed up to CJ.com, you can join the affiliate program directly from there.
Payment Structure
Expedia affiliate program has a minimum threshold of $50.
You only get paid when you have reached $50.
Payments are only issued every 15th of each month.
So, once you have reached $50 before 15th of every month, you’d be paid.
If not, it would be carried up to the following month.
How to Promote Expedia and Make Money from the Affiliate Program
There are several travel booking websites, having their own affiliate program.
Expedia is one of the most popular. Obviously, it would be easier to promote a brand that is already well known.
Yet, the competition to rank for keywords in the travel affiliate program is high.
In fact, the keywords that will direct visitors to big commission returns from Expedia website must be very competitive.
This is a reason most travel bloggers prefer to just embed the booking search form in their website sidebar.
Or rather create a dedicated page for the search form.
In my opinion, this is the easiest ways, but would limit your conversion rate and returns.
Here are what you should do to get more sales and maximise revenue from Expedia affiliate program:
1. Harness longtail keywords
Write blog posts with your basic keywords being long tail keywords white high search volume.
You can use keyword research tools such as Semrush, Ahref, Moz, Ubersuggest etc to find long tail keywords.
Write articles about them and then optimise them for searchers’ query.
After that, insert your affiliate links organically into your articles.
2. Comparison articles
You can always use the comparison table to compare and contrast a certain booking site over another.
Such as an article, comparing prices of hotels that can be booked on Booking.com and Expedia.
If your readers are convinced, they can visit Expedia website to make purchases.
Expedia Affiliate Program Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Expedia is one of the biggest travel company in the world.
- There is a lot products to promote in the Expedia affiliate program – car rentals, hotels, lodges etc.
Cons
- The 7 days cookie duration is short.
- The commission rate is also low, though it seems like one of the best in the market.
Alternatives to Expedia Affiliate Program
Below are the best affiliate programs for travel bloggers. And they can also serve as alternatives to Expedia affiliate program.
1. Agoda affiliate program
Commission rate: 4%
Cookie Duration: 1 day
2. Kayak affiliate program
Commission rate: 3%-5%
Cookie Duration: 30 dats
3. Trip Advisor affiliate program
Commission rate: 50%-80%
Cookie Duration: 14 days
4. Cruise Direct affiliate program
Commission rate: 3%
Cookie Duration: 45 days
5. Qatar affiliate program
Commission rate: 2%
Cookie Duration: 30 days
Read Qatar affiliate program review.
Conclusion
Expedia affiliate program is worth trying, though it has its own setbacks too.
Anyways, if you think you are not satisfied with the core features of the affiliate program, check out our reviews of other travel affiliate programs.
