Airbnb is among the largest marketplace that offers accommodation to millions of people across 200+ countries. An Airbnb affiliate program is an affiliate program that enables content creators and influencers in the hospitality or traveling niche to earn by marketing Airbnb products. The affiliate program is slowly becoming the best-earning affiliate program in the market.
There is some confusion on the existence of the Airbnb affiliate program. The confusion arises because back in 2015, Airbnb has a running affiliate program that they shut down. Only a few partners were able to continue being affiliates. Later in 2017, they relaunched an affiliate program, which still had a lot of uncertainties.
In May 2020, Airbnb officially launched its affiliate program. However, the program is set to end on 31st March 2021 as the company adopts a new marketing campaign. The program pays travel bloggers and influencers some percentage for successful client sign-ups and books using their links.
How do you join Airbnb Affiliate program?
The Airbnb affiliate program is a suitable program for anyone with a large audience to make money by promoting hosting and traveling on Airbnb. To be an associate, you need to be an active creator and sharer of travel content with your audience.
There are six requirements put in place that you must meet in order to join the Airbnb affiliate program;
- Your channel, blog, or social media channels must have a minimum of 1 million monthly visits or openings every month
- Demonstrate an undying passion for helping people connect and belong
- Your content needs to be relevant, dynamic, and inspirational. Also, your content needs to be related to the hospitality or travel niche
- Have a creative design that offers a modern user experience
- Be versatile, that is, have an eagerness to make the most of various social media channels and blogs
- Have an intent to engage an audience with a high chance of hosting their names or making an accommodation booking
Do you meet all the above requirements? Here is how to get started
- Create an Airbnb account or log in if you already are a member
- Refer guests to airbnb.com/associates
- Refer hosts to airbnb.com/associates/host
- Click on “Get Started” to join
You will be asked to review and accept the Terms and Conditions of the program guidelines. You will then have access to the program tools. All the content you upload must comply with Airbnb’s set community standards, Failure to which your account might get disabled.
How does Airbnb affiliate program work?
If you meet the criteria of becoming an associate and get accepted into the Airbnb affiliate program, you have the liberty to decide which program you will be promoting. You can either be an affiliate for their guest program or host program.
As a guest associate, you will be featuring any Airbnb listing, and if a person makes a booking using your referral link, you will earn a commission. On the other hand, as a hosting affiliate, you will earn some commission when a new host signs up to Airbnb using your link.
The Airbnb affiliate programs work quite easily. Promote the content on your blog, social media sites, or websites. Add in the link and earn once someone makes a booking or signs up using your displayed link.
Airbnb affiliate products
Accommodation
Airbnb is a common marketplace to find a suitable short-term rental or holiday rental. It is an ideal accommodation marketplace for an individual, family, work-group or any other parties looking for a decent accommodation at affordable rates.
The company has a disruptive effect when it comes to the travel and hospitality industry. It is often a suitable alternative, especially in expensive markets across the state. Airbnb doesn’t own the apartments. Neither does it take any responsibility for services other than listing the property. The company only gets some percentage of your lodging from the owner of the property.
How do you earn on Airbnb Affiliate program
Remember, the Airbnb affiliate program is coming to an end on 31st March 2021. Thus, you will only earn if ;
a booking is made through our link before 31st March. You will receive the payouts regularly on a monthly interval once the guest checks out.
Any bookings made after 31st March will not attract any commission through the affiliate program.
The commission rates
When promoting the guest program
If someone books a stay using your referral link or content, you will get a 25% commission of the total Airbnb guest fee. This rate applies to the first 500 bookings made during that month. For bookings made above the 500 bookings target, you will enjoy a 30% commission.
You will earn if;
- Someone clicks on your link and books a stay within 28 days
- Someone uses your content link and books an experience within 14 days
- Your commission will reflect on your associate account after their trip
- Expect your payout between the 10th and 20th of the month once your client makes a complete reservation. You will then get an email with your complete payout details monthly
When promoting the hosting program
If you choose to promote hosting and listing in the Airbnb affiliate program, you will earn every time a person books an initial stay using your link.
You can earn a variable amount, which barely falls below $40 for every new listing. However, the listing will depend on the geography and booked within a year after the listing.
Hosts have a maximum of 28 days after clicking the property ti complete listing the space. The payout will be made within 60 days after the person checks out.
You will earn if;
- Someone clicks on your link and makes a new listing within 28 days, and completes the first booking within the next 365 days
- The geographical region will determine your payout, but it will be more than $40
- Once the client checks out, your payout will appear on your associate account within 60 days
- Payout will happen between the 10th and 20th of the month after the complete reservation. You will receive an email notification on the same
You will have to set up a convenient payment method to receive your earnings.
Bonus
With the Airbnb affiliate program, you enjoy referral bonuses. Enjoy bonuses worth $50 one you refer a host who lists their property for rent.
Airbnb affiliate program guidelines
As an associate, here are the guidelines that you should keep in mind;
- Be open about your relationship with the company- when sharing content on your blog or site, promote the advantages of hosting on Airbnb. You can include a disclosure, for example, “As an Airbnb affiliate, I will earn once you host/ book using this link”.
- As an associate, you are not an Airbnb employee. Therefore, you will not be working under any directions of any Airbnb employee. You should never represent yourself as an employee or agent of the company.
- Posting your content on Airbnb shows you agree to abide by the set Airbnb Content Policy
- When posting content, do not remove the Airbnb branding from any of the program tools. Also, do not use any Airbnb copyrighted materials or trademarks.
- Do not make your bookings through your links. There is no payout for booking through your listings
- Do not run any paid advertisements in digital or print format. Do not bid on any Airbnb arbitrage or keywords on a global audience.
- Don’t hide any pages, links or widgets. You should only share programs whose content relates directly to your followers on social media or personal sites.
Tools available on Airbnb Affiliate program
As a member of the Airbnb affiliate program, you will be provided with some tools to help you customize your content. These tools will be suitable for your web pages, social media posts, videos and newsletters that you can share with your audience. Here are some tools available to you as an associate of the program;
- Widgets- embed visually interactive Airbnb to stay widgets
- Referral Links- embed unique links which lead your followers to Airbnb stays, hosting pages and experiences
- Landing pages- you get an experience-focused landing page on Airbnb that you can share with your audience.
These are tools that come with the Airbnb affiliate program to help create informative content for your followers. To access them, go to your Associates Account.
How can you promote The Affiliate Program?
If you would like to promote the Airbnb affiliate program, there are two options you can use;
Airbnb referral program
First, you can sign up for the referral program. Airbnb users can refer people to the company and earn travel credits for future Airbnb travels. You can earn the travel credits if a referral clicks the link and creates a valid and active Airbnb account compliant with their terms and conditions. Second, you can earn if the referred individual completes making a qualified reservation. Note that this program doesn’t pay in cash and is a fun incentive.
Airbnb associate program
Second, you can join the Airbnb associate program. This program involves referring eligible guests to stays or experiences in Airbnb listings. The program works similarly to the Airbnb affiliate program.
Conclusion
For years now, Airbnb has been the choice for many travelers, taking the hospitality industry by storm. You can take advantage of this by signing up for the Airbnb affiliate program as an influencer. Remember, you need to meet the eligibility criteria and comply with their guidelines. There are high commissions and bonuses to earn if you market the content in compliance with their content rules.
Does Airbnb have an affiliate program?
Airbnb has an affiliate marketing program designed for big influencers who have a huge following.
How do you become an Airbnb associate?
1.Create an Airbnb account or log in if you already are a member
2.Refer guests to airbnb.com/associates
3.Refer hosts to airbnb.com/associates/host
4.Click on “Get Started” to join
Does Airbnb have a rewards program?
Airbnb doesn’t have its own loyalty program but instead has generally chosen to team up with other partners to offer loyalty perks. By clicking through a dedicated link, you can earn frequent flyer points on every dollar spent on Airbnb stays.