Hotels.com Affiliate Program
The Hotels.com affiliate program pays 4% per completed stay with a 7-day cookie window, and is available to LinkApprove creators and publishers in the US, UK, EU and Canada without a separate application.
Last reviewed by the LinkApprove partnerships team
7days to convert
Nothing in travel runs a shorter window, 2 of the 20 programs we list share this 7-day window, against a 30-day median. A purchase made after day 7 is not attributed to you, so this program rewards content that converts on the first visit.
Program fit score
2.8/5
- Commission per conversion
- 40%
- Cookie window
- 25%
- Average order value
- 20%
- Region breadth
- 15%
Computed from this program’s own terms against 20 programs in its category. How this is calculated
01Overview
About the Hotels.com affiliate program
Hotels.com is an Expedia Group property, and that shows in the two things it does best: near-total city coverage with a deep long tail of independent hotels, so a creator writing about almost any destination has something to link, and One Key, the group-wide rewards program whose points and member rates carry across Hotels.com, Expedia and Vrbo. A traveler already inside that ecosystem has a concrete reason to book here rather than comparison-shop.
The seven-day cookie is the real problem, and it is a serious one for travel. Hotel booking is research-heavy, people browse for weeks before committing, and a week-long window will not survive that. Commission is also calculated on the room rate alone, so the taxes and resort fees inflating a headline nightly price never reach your payout. This program rewards content that catches people at the point of decision, not top-of-funnel inspiration.
Hotels.com has one of the shortest cookie windows of any travel program in the LinkApprove directory, and publishers consistently report that bottom-of-funnel hotel picks outperform broad destination inspiration on it, because a seven-day window rarely survives a hotel research cycle.
02Conversion
Why Hotels.com converts
- Global inventory means a link stays relevant from major capitals down to small regional towns a creator covers
- One Key rewards and signed-in member rates give repeat travelers a concrete reason to book here specifically
- Free-cancellation inventory lowers the barrier to booking early, which matters when attribution lasts only seven days
- Neighborhood, star-rating, and guest-score filters make it easy to deep-link one named property from a where-to-stay guide
03Audience fit
Which creators this suits
- Where-to-stay and single-hotel review content
- City guides aimed at travelers who have already picked their dates
- Deal and rate-alert publishers working within the short attribution window
04Getting started
How to join the Hotels.com affiliate program
- 1Create a free LinkApprove partner account and submit your content channels for review.
- 2Once approved, usually within two business days, open the program directory and find Hotels.com.
- 3Generate a deep link to any Hotels.com product page, adding sub-IDs for the platform or campaign you are publishing to.
- 4Publish, then track clicks and validated commission in one balance alongside every other program you run.
Because LinkApprove already holds the upstream approval, you do not submit a separate application to Hotels.com.
05Attribution
When you get paid on this program
Full thresholds, rails and schedules are on the payouts page.
06FAQ
Common questions
How much does the Hotels.com affiliate program pay?
The Hotels.com affiliate program pays 4% per completed stay (commission is calculated on the room rate excluding taxes and fees). Average order value on the program is $420, so commission per conversion is calculated against that basket rather than a single item price.
What is the cookie duration for the Hotels.com affiliate program?
The Hotels.com program has a 7-day cookie window. A purchase made after that window has closed is not attributed to you, which is why content timing matters on this program.
How do I join the Hotels.com affiliate program?
You can join the Hotels.com affiliate program through LinkApprove without applying to Hotels.com directly. LinkApprove already holds the upstream approval, so once your LinkApprove partner account is approved you can generate tracked links to any Hotels.com product page immediately.
Which countries does the Hotels.com affiliate program accept?
The Hotels.com program accepts traffic from US, UK, EU, CA. Traffic from outside these regions may not be attributed even when the click is tracked, so check your audience geography before committing content to it.
Travel
How Hotels.com compares in its category
Travel commissions are validated on completed stay rather than booking, which means longer hold periods, 60 to 90 days is normal. In exchange, the vertical has the longest cookie windows in the directory and very high order values.
| Program | Commission | Cookie | Avg. order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agoda | 4% per booking | 30 days | $310 |
| Airbnb | 3% per completed stay | 30 days | $680 |
| Away | Up to 7% per sale | 30 days | $310 |
| Booking.com | Up to 4% of stay value | 30 days | $520 |
| Discover Cars | Up to 6% per booking | 30 days | $230 |
| Expedia | 3% per booking | 7 days | $620 |
| GetYourGuide | Up to 8% per booking | 31 days | $95 |
| Hilton | Up to 4% per stay | 30 days | $480 |
| Hostelworld | Up to 6% per booking | 30 days | $85 |
| Hotels.com (this program) | 4% per completed stay | 7 days | $420 |
| Kayak | Up to 3% per booking | 30 days | $460 |
| Klook | 5% per sale | 30 days | $85 |
| Marriott | Up to 4% per stay | 30 days | $520 |
| Samsonite | Up to 6% per sale | 30 days | $225 |
| Skyscanner | Up to 3% per booking | 30 days | $420 |
| Trainline | Up to 4% per booking | 30 days | $70 |
| Trip.com | Up to 5% per sale | 30 days | $390 |
| Tripadvisor | 50% of revenue share | 14 days | $240 |
| Viator | Up to 8% per booking | 30 days | $110 |
| Vrbo | 3.5% per completed stay | 30 days | $1,450 |
Related programs
Programs partners often run alongside this one
Creators and publishers
Promote Hotels.com and every other program in the directory from one account, with a single payout. Free to join, from 1,000 followers.
Advertisers
Recruit vetted creators across the UK, EU and US without managing hundreds of individual partner relationships.
Promote Hotels.com from today
Join LinkApprove free and generate your first tracked Hotels.com link once approved. No separate application, and no advertiser approval queue.