Sure, the last couple years haven’t been a great time to join airline affiliate programs. But the times they are a-changin’.
Research from March 2022 revealed that 70% of Americans planned to take a leisure trip in the next 12 months, while 47% were planning to or more trips within the same period. Meanwhile, a separate survey found that 80% of Americans who have traveled internationally in the past 14 months feel like they need overseas vacations more than ever in 2023.
All of this is good news for the global airline industry, which is expected to be worth $744 billion by 2026, more than double its value in 2020.
As far as affiliate marketers are concerned, there’s lots to love about the travel niche. From budget vacations to luxury trips and once-in-a-lifetime adventures, there’s a type of travel to suit every audience. And the average travel website earns more than $13,000 per month, according to our affiliate marketing statistics.
Like the sound of promoting airline tickets, flight deals, and vacation packages? Read on for Authority Hacker’s roundup of the very best airline affiliate programs.
Airline Affiliate Programs
- Qatar Airways
- Kiwi.com
- Emirates US Airline
- Skyscanner
- KAYAK
- Momondo
- CheapTickets.com
- KLM
- Etihad Airways
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Omio
- Dollar Flight Club
- JustFly
- CheapOair
- Travelocity
- Scott’s Cheap Flights
- Air France Airline
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1 Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is one of the Middle East’s largest airlines, flying to 150+ international destinations across the world. In 2022, it was named Airline of the Year by Skytrax for an unprecedented seventh successive time. The airline also won three other awards, including World’s Best Business Class.
Find the Qatar Airlines affiliate program on two affiliate networks: Awin and FlexOffers. Commissions range from 1.6% per sale on FlexOffers to 2% on Awin, with both networks offering a 30-day cookie window. According to Awin, the average order value stands at an impressive $1,000.
Once approved, you’ll get access to a library of creative assets, including HTML and jpg banners. Qatar Airways also shares regular notifications about its latest promotions.
URL: Qatar Airways affiliate program
Commission: 1.6% – 2% per completed sale
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: International flights
2 Kiwi.com
Kiwi.com is a low-cost online travel agency that specializes in joining the dots between airlines, trains, and bus operators that don’t typically work together. Its nomad travel search feature scans every possible transport combination to help users save money on multi-city trips.
Like most travel affiliate programs, Kiwi.com uses the CPA model, with sales counting as conversions. It uses last-click attribution, with commissions awarded to the final source that drove the sale. he program also offers performance-based bonuses and has dedicated affiliate managers to help optimize your affiliate marketing strategy.
The Kiwi.com affiliate program pays a 3% commission per sale and has a 30-day cookie window. Commissions are paid monthly in arrears and are generated automatically, with no requirement for affiliates to send invoices.
URL: Kiwi.com affiliate program
Commission: 3% per sale
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Flight tickets
3 Emirates US Airline
Emirates is one of the world’s largest airlines, with a fleet of more than 260 airplanes. It serves 152 international destinations and flew 19 million passengers in 2021-22.
The passenger experience is a key focus for Emirates, with the airline winning best in-flight entertainment at the 2022 World Airline Awards. It is rated as one of just 23 five-star global airlines by APEX, the Airline Passenger Experience Association.
Find the Emirates affiliate program on CJ Affiliate. The Emirates US Airline affiliate program has a 30-day cookie window and pays a standard commission of 1.25% on all US bookings, rising to 2.5% for bookings covering flights to certain airports (check CJ Affiliate for the latest combinations).
Commissions are paid based on net fare, excluding fuel surcharges and taxes. However, be aware that Flights bought with Emirates Skywards points will not be tracked and are non-commissionable.
URL: Emirates US affiliate program
Commission: 1.25% – 2.5% per US sale
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Airline tickets
4 Skyscanner
Skyscanner is arguably the world’s best known flight search engine, allowing users to book flights from hundreds of major airlines. It searches 10 billion prices every day, supports over 90 million monthly active users, and is available in 30+ languages across 52 countries.
Join the company’s flight affiliate program via Impact Radius to earn a 20% share of the money received by Skyscanner on each booking. The program has a 30-day cookie window.
As a major travel brand, Skyscanner is stricter than most flight affiliate programs when it comes to approving affiliate marketers. To be accepted, you must have a complete HTTPS website with working links, up-to-date travel content, and a strong user experience. Additionally, you can’t book tickets on behalf of your customers, and you must not fall into one of the following categories:
- Coupon sites
- Discount sites
- Networks or sub-networks
- Marketing performance agencies
- Technology partners
Provided you make the grade, you’ll get access to a monthly newsletter containing the latest travel trends, industry events, and exclusive websites. Skyscanner also allows affiliates to build and add widgets to your site, allowing your audience to search for flights, hotels, and cars without leaving your site.
URL: Skyscanner affiliate program
Commission: 20% of the money Skyscanner receives from each booking
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Flight comparison
5 KAYAK
KAYAK is a global network of travel brands that also includes three other travel sites: Cheapflights, HotelsCombined, and Momondo. The latter also made our list of the best airline affiliate programs.
Combined, the KAYAK network processes over six billion travel searches a year, has relationships with more than two million properties, and works with 15,000+ affiliate partners.
The KAYAK affiliate program allows members to earn money through clicks, bookings, and ad revenue on flights, car rentals, hotels, and vacation packages. It pays a 50% cut of the money KAYAK receives from its travel partners.
Commission payments are typically processed in 45 days and paid via bank transfer or PayPal on a monthly basis, provided you hit the minimum payment threshold.
KAYAK offers a bunch of affiliate marketing tools, including deep links, widgets, and a search box. You can also customize KAYAK’s product through an API and white label solution, making this one of the most technologically advanced and flexible airline affiliate programs we’ve seen.
Commission: 50% of the money KAYAK receives from each booking
Cookie duration: Unlisted
Products: Flight comparison
6 Momondo
Think of Momondo as an international travel agency that allows users to compare deals from 700+ providers on flights, hotels and car rentals. It offers a tool called Price Forecast, which uses historical data to predict whether the price of a flight will rise or fall, helping customers decide whether to book now or wait.
As we’ve already noted, Momondo is part of the KAYAK affiliate program, which pays affiliates a 50% cut of the money it makes on flight, car, hotel, and vacation bookings.
It also has a program on the CJ Affiliate network with a session-based cookie, so you only earn a commission if the user books within the same browsing session. It pays the following commissions:
- Flights: $0.48 for desktop and tablet bookings, $0.21 for mobile
- Hotels: $0.95 for desktop and tablet bookings, $0.56 for mobile
- Rental cars: $0.75 for desktop and tablet bookings, $0.55 for mobile
- Travel deals: $0.16 for desktop and tablet bookings, $0.14 for mobile
Commissions are paid on a monthly basis within 45 days of the end of the relevant month.
URL: Momondo affiliate program
Commission: 50% of the money Momondo receives from each booking
Cookie duration: 30 minutes
Products: Cheap flights
7 CheapTickets.com
CheapTickets.com is part of the Expedia group. The website brings in 60+ million unique visitors a month, works with over 400 bookable airlines, and has more than 260,000 properties on its books. It also runs one of the most popular travel loyalty programs, paying CheapCash for every flight booking that can be spent on hotels.
The company’s affiliate program is on CJ Affiliate and pays a flat $2 per air booking. It offers rates of 1% – 5% on most other booking types, including hotels, car rental, and activities. Cruise bookings offer a bounty payment of $30. All booking types have a cookie duration of seven days.
All air commissions are paid on a per-ticket basis, whereas cruises are paid per reservation. All other categories pay commissions as a percentage of the sale amount. CheapTickets.com also offers potential incentives for driving high-quality traffic and sends affiliate newsletters promoting its latest deals.
URL: CheapTickets.com affiliate program
Commission: $2 per air booking
Cookie duration: 7 days
Products: Flight, car hire, cruise, and hotel bookings
8 KLM
KLM is an award-winning airline that flies to 92 European cities and 70 international destinations, as well as being part of Air France KLM, Europe’s largest airline group. It is also a partner in the SkyTeam Alliance, which jointly serves 1,063 destinations in 173 countries.
The company’s global tracking solution ensures affiliate marketers are compensated on all referred KLM.com bookings, regardless of the country, departure airport, currency, or language.
To join KLM’s flight affiliate program, you’ll first need to create an account on Partnerize. Once approved, you’ll earn a 1% commission on medium-haul flight bookings and 1.5% on long-haul flights. The program has a 30-day cookie window.
KLM offers various tools to help drive conversions, including a link maker, product feed, flight search widget, and custom mobile banners.
Commission: 1% – 1.5% on flights
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Short, medium, and long-haul flights
9 Etihad Airways
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways flies to destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.
Renowned for its high service standards, the airline won Best First Class at the 2022 Business Traveller Middle East Awards.
The Etihad Airways affiliate program is powered by FlexOffers. It pays a standard 1.6% commission on all flight bookings and has a 30-day cookie window. Commissions can be paid via bank transfer, wire transfer, check, or PayPal.
URL: Etihad Airways affiliate program
Commission: 1.6%
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: International flight bookings
10 Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines offers approximately 130 flights within the Hawaiian Islands, plus daily nonstop flights to 16 US gateway cities and long-haul services reaching American Samoa, Japan, South Korea, Sydney, and Tahiti.
The airline beat all other US carriers for on-time performance every year from 2004 – 2020, while also winning best US airline at Condé Nast Traveler’s 2021 Readers Choice Awards.
Find Hawaiian’s airline affiliate program on the CJ Affiliate network. It pays a 1.5% commission on all flight bookings and 0.5% on vacation packages, with a 30-day cookie duration. However, flights must be concluded within 180 days of booking to be eligible for commission.
Program name: Hawaiian Airlines affiliate program
Commission: 1.5% on flights; 0.5% on vacation packages
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: International and domestic flights; vacation packages
11 Omio
Similar to Kiwi.com, Omio allows international travelers to search for and book journeys by plane, train, ferry, and bus. It works with more than 1,000 travel partners.
The Omio affiliate program is open to affiliates with a website, app, or online travel agency. Located on the Impact Radius network, it pays commissions of 2% – 8% per booking and has a 30-day cookie duration. According to Impact’s data, the affiliate program has a 30-day EPC of €1.10.
Omio reviews all applications to its affiliate program and provides feedback within 14 business days. Once approved, you’ll get access to an extensive media library including various banners and other creatives, plus Omio’s search widgets and API.
Commission: 2% – 8% per online sale
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Bus, train, and flight ticket bookings
12 Dollar Flight Club
Dollar Flight Club is a membership site that shares updates on cut-price flight deals, offering savings of up to 90% compared to regular prices. It claims the average subscriber saves more than $500 a year through the service.
Affiliates can sign up for the Dollar Flight Club affiliate program via Refersion. However, be aware that DFC prefers to work with affiliate partners who produce regular new travel blog content, and is less inclined to approve those who have small audiences and/or only use social media to their audience.
Provided you get accepted, you’ll earn a 50% revenue share on all new memberships you refer, which equates to $35 per sale. Unlike other travel-related programs we’ve seen, it offers lifetime commissions, so you’ll earn a further 50% cut if or when your customer renews their annual membership. The program also has a generous 90-day cookie window.
URL: Dollar Flight Club affiliate program
Commission: 50% revenue share for life
Cookie duration: 90 days
Products: Cheap airline tickets
13 Justfly
Flight search engine Justfly is part of the FlightHub Group, which helps more than five million customers a year find the best deals on air fares.
Justfly allows users to search and book flights from more than 440 airlines, as well as offering car rentals and hotel bookings.
The website’s flight affiliate program is on CJ Affiliate. It pays an $8 commission on bookings to or from US destinations and $16 for all other bookings, with a lengthy 45-day cookie window. Affiliates can also boost their earnings through private commission and consumer offers.
To help you drive more sales, Justfly offers access to dynamic banners and dedicated affiliate managers.
URL: JustFly affiliate program
Commission: $8 – $16 on flight bookings
Cookie duration: 45 days
Products: International and domestic flight bookings
14 CheapOair
CheapOair allows users to compare and book flights on more than 500 airlines, as well as offering hotel bookings, car rentals, and flight insurance. It’s owned by Fareportal, which also runs brands like OneTravel, Travelong, and Dukes Court Travel. The CheapOair site is highly rated, with an Excellent score on SiteJabber based on 125,000+ reviews.
The CheapOair affiliate program pays more than $500,000 in commissions every month. You’ll find it on three of the biggest affiliate networks: CJ Affiliate, Impact, and Rakuten Linkshare.
Confusingly, each network offers slightly different terms. For instance, CJ Affiliate has a 30-day cookie window and pays an $8 base commission on flight bookings, rising as high as $10 per booking for high-volume affiliates. It also pays $25 – $35 on vacation packages.
Alternatively, the Impact Radius program pays $5 – $25 per booking and a 30-day cookie window, while Rakuten has a mammoth 90-day cookie window and pays $5 – $35 per booking.
Regardless of your choice of network, you’ll get access to regular newsletters containing timely promotions to help you boost sales. Incentives are also available on high-volume bookings, increasing your earning potential.
URL: CheapOair affiliate program
Commission: $5 – $35 per booking, dependent on affiliate network and booking type
Cookie duration: 30 – 90 days
Products: Flights, flight insurance, hotels, car rentals
15 Travelocity
Travelocity is part of the vast Expedia group. Describing itself as a one-stop shop for travel customers, it’s particularly geared toward family travel, with search filters designed to help users find family-friendly trips.
CJ Affiliate is Travelocity’s affiliate network partner. The site’s affiliate program pays a flat rate of $2 on all airline ticket bookings and has a seven-day cookie duration.
Affiliates can earn various other commissions via the program, including 3% – 4% on hotel bookings, 2% on car rentals, 3% on vacation packages, and a flat $30 commission on cruises. Travelocity is also currently offering a $20 bonus for driving three total completed trips within 30 days of being accepted into the program.
URL: Travelocity affiliate program
Commission: $2 per flight booking
Cookie duration: 7 days
Products: Flights, hotels, cruises, rental cars, travel deals
16 Scott’s Cheap Flights
Like Dollar Flight Club, Scott’s Cheap Flights is a membership site that helps customers find low-cost flight deals. The site shows prices for your preferred airport and also recommends other airports that often have amazing deals on your favored destinations. Most of the site’s deals offer 40% – 90% off normal prices.
Scott’s has more than two million active members and 500,000 monthly visitors. It claims the site has helped members save more than $500 million on airfares.
The brand’s affiliate program is on Impact Radius and pays a flat $3 commission per email signup verification, with a seven-day cookie window. That’s less generous than Dollar Flight Club’s affiliate terms, but on the flip side, Scott’s has cheaper membership fees.
Once you join the affiliate program, you’ll get access to high-quality imagery and creatives, as well as a VIP newsletter including top travel tips.
URL: Scott’s Cheap Flights affiliate program
Commission: $3 per email signup verification
Cookie duration: 7 days
Products: Low-cost short, medium, and long-haul flights
17 Air France
Air France is part of the largest airline group in Europe, along with its partners KLM and Transavia. The French flag carrier was named Western Europe’s best airline for the second successive year at the 2022 Skytrax World Airline Awards.
To sign up for the company’s airline affiliate program, you first need to join TradeTracker as a publisher. The network offers tracking tools, stats reports, and various other features.
Once approved, you can earn a 1.25% commission on all flight bookings originating from your affiliate link within the 30-day cookie window.
URL: Air France affiliate program
Commission: 1.25% per flight booking
Cookie duration: 30 days
Products: Short-haul, medium-haul, and long-haul flights
Are Airline Affiliate Programs Right For You?
If you’re going to earn money from airline affiliate programs, you need to strike a balance between high volumes and high commissions. You’ll always make more per transaction promoting airlines like KLM and Qatar Airways, but it’s easier to drive regular sales through a more budget-friendly affiliate program like KAYAK or CheapTickets.com.
But if you don’t have a website capable of driving traffic to your affiliate partners, it makes no difference which airline affiliate programs you choose.
👉 See also: How to Start a Travel Blog
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