In a surprising and abrupt move, Booking.com has terminated thousands of affiliate partnerships worldwide, including many long-time partners who have driven substantial traffic and bookings over the years. The decision has sparked confusion and frustration across the travel blogging and digital marketing communities, especially because Booking.com gave little to no explanation for the mass termination.
Why Did This Happen?
While Booking.com hasn’t provided a clear public reason for the cuts, many speculate it may be part of a broader cost-cutting strategy. The affiliate program has been popular for years, but with rising customer acquisition costs and a tightening of marketing budgets, the company might be shifting towards more centralised or exclusive partnerships.
Bloggers and creators in the U.S. report being redirected to Awin, an affiliate network that offers a more restricted version of Booking.com’s program. Unfortunately, Awin’s Booking.com offering is not available in Europe, making it a non-option for EU-based bloggers or those with a global audience. It is available in North America, APAC, Brazil, Latam and Australia (see this link).
So What Now? Alternatives to Booking.com
If you’ve relied on Booking.com for affiliate revenue, you’re probably wondering what to do with your existing content, which likely includes hundreds of embedded links. Luckily, solid alternatives—Travelpayouts and Stay22—let you keep monetising without rewriting all your links.
Travelpayouts
Best for: Broad travel content, international traffic, flexibility
- Offers affiliate access to multiple platforms: Agoda, Hotels.com, Trip.com, Expedia, and more.
- Use their LinkSwitcher tool to automatically convert existing links on your site into affiliate links—no need to edit every post.
- You can control which providers get converted, so you stay in charge of your brand relationships.
🛠️ Bonus: Tools include search widgets, banners, and deep linking for added monetisation opportunities.
Stay22
Best for: Location-specific content, events, and visually-driven pages
- Displays a map-based widget that automatically pulls in nearby hotel listings from Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia, and others.
- You can embed a map or use their SmartLink to auto-convert links to affiliate versions.
- Like Travelpayouts, you can prioritise or exclude providers based on your preferences.
✨ Highlight: Stay22 is one of the few affiliate platforms that support Airbnb monetisation.