April 7, 2023
This page contains affiliate links, and we may earn commissions for purchases on other sites.
COVID-19 and a global pandemic have upended the travel industry. Travel bloggers and YouTubers have been hit hard as a result. It will be a while before travel and tourism return to normal and prosperity. However, we must continue monitoring opportunities and merchants with high earnings potential. Skyscanner is one such company that interests many affiliate marketers.
Skyscanner is a travel search engine and comparison site. It scans the internet and pulls prices for flights, hotels, and car rentals from thousands of online travel agencies and airlines worldwide. Skyscanner wants to show the best deals and cost savings. The Trip.com Group–a large online travel agency in China–owns Skyscanner. Here’s a brief rundown of what Skyscanner offers.
Flights – Filter by the airline, flight duration, stops, and times, or set up a price alert to track prices for a particular route. Use the ‘everywhere’ feature to see all the possibilities from your local airport, filtered by price.
Hotels – Find your perfect hotel by price, location, points of interest, amenities, and user ratings. View results on maps that toggle between a specific hotel’s location and the pricing of alternatives nearby.
Cars – With global and local car rental providers in over 200 countries, you’ll find the perfect deal for your trip. Results are available by price and car size, with features including ‘downtown pickup’ and a ‘fair fuel’ policy. Select the airport terminal, car type, price range, and star rating for more customization.
Company Profile
- Founded by Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, and Bonamy Grimes in 2003
- CEO: Moshe Rafiah
- Headquarters: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Offices in Singapore, Spain, China, the United States, Hungary, and Bulgaria
- Status: publicly traded under Trip.com
- Over 800 employees (as of November 2017)
- Operates in 30+ languages
- The website accepts over 150 currencies
- 100 million users monthly
- Winner of multiple travel app awards
Skyscanner Affiliate Program
Skyscanner has multiple affiliate programs. They’re available on the CJ Affiliate network for different regions. Let’s review the benefits, drawbacks, commission rate, cookie duration, and program details. Here’s a snapshot.
- Cost per action (CPA): Cost per sale
- Commission rate: 20% to 50%
- Commission type: Single payment, nonrecurring
- Cookie duration: 30 days
- Payout threshold: $50
- Payment options: Bank account (get free bank account details for USD, EUR, GBP, and other currencies)
- Affiliate software/network: CJ Affiliate
Program Benefits
An affiliate signup page outlines the program and how it works, and Skyscanner includes sufficient details. However, it’s missing the cookie duration. Otherwise, it does an excellent job of outlining permitted and nonpermitted activities.
A global program is available alongside various regional offers, including APAC, Canada, Hong Kong, LATAM, North America, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The benefit of region-focused programs is deals and marketing materials tailored to that market.
Skyscanner’s affiliate commission structure is in line with other travel search engines. It pays a high commission rate of 20 to 50 percent. However, the payment is based on the profit from each transaction. Skyscanner states, “This normally means a pay-out to you of between $0.10-$0.20 for flights and $0.30-$0.80 for car hire and hotels per redirect or click out from Skyscanner to a partner’s site.”
Skyscanner offers a 30-day cookie. It meets the industry standard, but 60 to 90 days would be more advantageous.
The commission payment threshold is low. CJ Affiliate issues payments when earnings exceed $50 USD. Affiliates receive payments to their bank accounts.
CJ Affiliate provides satisfactory reporting and analytics. Affiliates can view commissions, conversions, and performance reports and graphs.
Deep linking isn’t available, but it’s how an affiliate creates a link to a specific page on the merchant’s site. Instead of using a standard homepage affiliate link, you can link to a product, page, or article related to your content to increase relevance and conversion rates. Many travel merchants allow deep linking due to the number of destinations, flights, accommodations, and options. Publishers can leverage multiple marketing tools, such as travel search widgets, banners, text links, APIs, and white-label products.
There’s a full-time affiliate marketing manager. When a merchant has the staff to support publishers, it quickens processes and shows commitment. You can contact the affiliate team via email address.
Skyscanner is an established online travel company with an attractive brand. It was born after the dot com crash and profitable a few years later. They want to lead the “global transformation to modern and sustainable travel.” Their brand page is one of the most complete, with details on their logo, icons, colors, typography, photography, and illustrations.
Program Drawbacks
Reviews for Skyscanner are mixed. On Trustpilot, a user review site, Skyscanner bombs with scores hovering around three stars out of five. However, reviews on Google Play and Apple Store apps are much better at 4.5+. Is the mobile experience much better than the desktop? Is Skyscanner’s management in a downward spiral after being acquired in 2017? Whatever the reasons for the mixed reviews, they’ll impact conversion rates.
Making Money
Can you make $1,000 a month as a Skyscanner affiliate? It’s unlikely that you will make that amount or a significant income. Although Skyscanner pays a high commission rate, the actual payouts are small at pennies on the dollar. You would need substantial traffic to make headway with its program. Also, a 30-day cookie is not overly beneficial.
Where should Skyscanner rank in your marketing activities? It should be a low priority. The travel industry is saturated and fragmented with search, comparison, and review sites, big and small. Secondly, many of Skyscanner’s competitors receive better reviews and have affiliate programs, including Priceline, Booking, Expedia, and Momondo. Lastly, Skyscanner has lost some of its creativity since being acquired by Trip.com. I remember when Skyscanner was frequently discussed, but now it’s just another travel website offering deals. On the other hand, Skyscanner’s new brand image and loyal following mean money can be made.
Trip.com also has an affiliate program that might be worthy of your participation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Skyscanner pays affiliates 20 to 50 percent.
The cookie is 30 days.
