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Best Accommodation/Tourism Affiliate program - RoamFree?

TroyW

Top Contributor
Hello everyone,

As many of you will know I've stuck with RoamFree with my tourism websites but their recent poor service coupled with decreasing local property numbers have me now looking elsewhere. RoamFree were offering 10% (or 6%) depending on the booking time frame which was a good deal, but if you only have 4 properties out of 50 in an area, it's simply not good enough.

Takeabreak looks like an alternative, their local property numbers are much higher but they offer a 3% booking commission. Am I missing any?
 

jam

Top Contributor
Troy,

have a look at http://www.wego.com/hotels/
if they are listed on this site they are on offer through an affiliate program.

Also Wego offers its own affiliate program.

If its an area where there is not much competition why not go direct to the accommodation provider and take 10-15% plus a setup fee...
 

Oz.

Top Contributor
Hmm interesting thread, I've got an a+ .com.au hotel domain that I am ultimately want to develop.
 

TroyW

Top Contributor
Thanks for the advice Jam - you've done some great websites. I'll be competing against you and RoamFree in Byron Bay very soon. What I'd like is an affiliate program that gives me $$$ for signing up new properties. One of the main issues with the RoamFree program is that they simply don't have enough properties in regional areas. On the Central Coast, they have only 4 properties, where there are literally hundreds. Hard to make money when you have no products to sell.
 
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JugglerX

Member
Hi Troy,

I run alot of South East QLD travel sites, www.mooloolabaesplanade.com.au - Roamfree's dwindling inventory has been on my radar for some time. The large number of hotels which are "live" but never have availability drives me crazy...

They haven't really made any progress with the affiliate program for 6 months now, and their affiliate support team is greener every day.

I blog about Roamfree occasionally at www.hardmargin.com - you might find it interesting.

I recently trialed Hotels Combined on my websites ( and via PPC ) but it didn't match 6 - 10% commissions. I am now considering trying one of the old school providers like expedia.com.au or hotels.com.

I don't think they pay as well, but consider this. They have larger inventory and consumers are more aware of these brands, which could mean increased confidence and increased bookings.

This could offset the lower commissions.

It's a hard one, Roamfree was great 2 years ago, and I live in hope they will recover, but things are only getting worse...
 

geodomains

Top Contributor
Hi Robert,
Nice to see you on the forum, I read your blog and found it interesting to read, well done, I'll keep you on my favourites.

Yes Roamfree is a bit of a worry and they only recently took a lot of the private holiday houses off the site and put them on another website of theirs which dilutes the properties available again.

I use HotelsCombined on my hotel sites and will say that I won't retire on the income it generates, has been getting better slowly as my sites are ranking better, but still nothing to get excited about.

I'm just about to roll out API for all my geo's using Roamfree, been a long haul getting my software guys to impliment it, fingers crossed it will be worth it.

One of my sites last year had a 7 week online booking with Roamfree and my commission was $960.00, now if we all had bookings like that all the time, it would make it all worthwhile.

Don
 

TroyW

Top Contributor
Has RoamFree's international inventory disappeared? Last year I had options for New York, etc no there are none. They've also stopped suggesting Int locations on the front page
 

JugglerX

Member
Cheers guys, I chip away at that blog, but there is never enough time in the day.

So has anyone tried any other commission based travel affiliate programs?

I'm signed up with Stella Resorts awhile back ( mantra, breakfree, etc ) but never added the links. I think this would be a good one for QLD, wherever there is a tourist suburb there is a stella property, and they sell well.

Just hate the idea of multiple affiliate providers you know.
 

JugglerX

Member
Don,

Yeah the holiday rentals site has no inventory. It's pretty lame.

I've considered using the roamfree API, but I am concerned that the auto generated content will hinder organic rankings.

I had a $500 commission earlier this year, and the hotel canceled it... I believe some properties cancel bookings and retake over the phone. Especially those that don't like affiliates. This particular hotel has done this several times.
 

TroyW

Top Contributor
I've had similar issues with large commissions through RoamFree. As soon as it gets over $100, I get nervous. Crowne Plaza Terrigal is one that I recall.
 

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