Airline and Hotel Direct Affiliate Programs vs Online Travel Agencies (OTAs): Which Should a Travel Creator Use?

Short answer

Most airlines don't run their own affiliate program at all. This research found no evidence that SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) has one — not on sas.dk/flysas.com, and not in independent affiliate-network directories. British Airways and Lufthansa, by contrast, both host their own dedicated affiliate-programme page (on britishairways.com and lufthansa.com respectively), but secondary sources cite a British Airways flight commission around 1% — far lower than hotel commissions, because airline ticket margins are generally thinner. This research could not access either British Airways' or Lufthansa's own page directly to confirm that rate (both blocked automated access during this research). Hotel chains are a stronger direct-brand option: Hilton's own program runs through the network Awin and pays, per Awin's own programme page, a confirmed base rate of 4% (up to 6% subject to validation) with a 30-day cookie window — compared with Booking.com's confirmed 4% across many hotel chains (see Booking.com's affiliate program explained) and momondo's hybrid model (see momondo and the Nordic travel-search affiliate model).

Three different ways to monetize travel content

A travel creator linking to flight or hotel bookings is really choosing between three structurally different models:

• OTA (online travel agency) — e.g. Booking.com: the booking completes on the OTA's own platform, and you earn commission on the total booking value regardless of which specific hotel or airline is involved.
• Meta-search — e.g. momondo: the service doesn't sell the booking itself, it hands the user off to another site; the reward can therefore be partly tied to the click itself, not only the completed sale.
• Brand-direct — a single airline's or a single hotel chain's own affiliate program: you only earn commission when someone books that specific brand, but sometimes at a different (occasionally higher) rate than a broad OTA pays on the same brand's inventory.

That last point is what this article examines: when is the third lane — a single airline's or hotel chain's own program — actually better than linking broadly through an OTA or a meta-search tool?

Why most airlines rarely reward direct-affiliate content well

Airline ticket margins are generally thinner than hotel margins, which feeds directly into the affiliate commission whenever an airline offers a program at all. British Airways and Lufthansa both host their own affiliate-programme page — britishairways.com/content/information/about-ba/affiliate-programme and lufthansa.com/us/en/affiliatemarketing respectively — and Lufthansa's program is reported (via secondary sources) to run through the networks CJ, Tradedoubler and Awin. Several secondary affiliate directories (including Skimlinks- and Travelpayouts-based listings) cite British Airways' flight commission at around 1%, with a cookie window of 28-30 days, often with a higher rate for package holidays/hotel bookings made on the same site. This research could not confirm those figures directly on either britishairways.com or lufthansa.com — both sites blocked automated access during this research — so treat the 1% figure as secondary-sourced and unconfirmed, not an established rate.

SAS is the clearest example of the other extreme: this research found no evidence that SAS runs any consumer-facing affiliate program at all — not on its own site, and not in the affiliate-network directories that typically list major airlines. That doesn't rule out a program existing somewhere this research didn't find, but it's a clear contrast to British Airways and Lufthansa both having easily discoverable, named programme pages.

Hotel chains: a genuine direct-brand option — but still network-run

Hotel chains are a markedly stronger case for brand-direct affiliate than most airlines. Three of the largest chains all have their own named affiliate program, but every one of them runs through a third-party network — none operates its own tracking infrastructure:

Only Hilton's figures are confirmed directly on a source that actually runs the program (Awin's own page). Marriott's and IHG's figures come from secondary affiliate directories that don't always agree with each other — treat them as a plausible range, not an established rate, and always confirm the current figure directly inside your own network dashboard before building content or a budget on it.

Hotel-chain-direct vs OTA: what actually changes

Compared with Booking.com's confirmed 4% across many hotel chains (see Booking.com's affiliate program explained), Hilton's own 4% base rate is identical at standard validation — but can rise to 6%, and carries a 30-day cookie window against Booking.com's session-based tracking (no delayed conversion at all). In exchange, a hotel-chain-direct program covers only one brand: an article that links exclusively to Hilton loses any commission from a reader who books a Scandic or Radisson hotel instead. A broad OTA article doesn't lose that commission the same way, because Booking.com's inventory covers most hotel chains at once.

Decision framework

IF your content consistently recommends one specific hotel chain (e.g. a dedicated Hilton review series) → Hilton's own program via Awin is worth applying to directly, since the confirmed 4-6% rate and 30-day window can beat a generic OTA rate on the same booking.

IF your content compares broadly across many hotels or airlines → an OTA like Booking.com or a meta-search tool like momondo captures commission regardless of which specific brand the reader chooses, which a single-brand program can't.

IF you're considering building flight-focused content specifically around SAS → no SAS-run affiliate program was found in this research; consider a broader OTA or meta-search approach instead, which still captures commission when the reader books an SAS ticket through that channel.

IF you want to use a specific Marriott or IHG figure in budget planning → confirm it first directly inside the network's own dashboard (Impact/Partnerize for Marriott, CJ for IHG) — the figures this article cites are secondary-sourced and not confirmed on the brand's own page.

Worked example (hypothetical)

The figures below use the two confirmed rates (Hilton and Booking.com) on a hypothetical booking value — not a real customer case.

Assume a Danish travel creator's content drives one completed hotel stay worth DKK 3,000 in a given month. At Hilton's confirmed base rate of 4%, commission is 3,000 × 0.04 = DKK 120 — exactly what the same stay would generate via Booking.com's confirmed 4% rate: 3,000 × 0.04 = DKK 120. The difference only appears if (a) Hilton validates a higher rate up to 6%: 3,000 × 0.06 = DKK 180, or (b) the booking happens ten days after the click — Hilton's 30-day cookie window still counts it, while Booking.com's session-based tracking (see Booking.com's affiliate program explained) wouldn't register the click as the cause of the booking at all.

Common mistakes

• Assuming an airline has an affiliate program because another one does — British Airways and Lufthansa both have their own programme page; this research found nothing equivalent for SAS.
• Quoting Marriott's or IHG's commission as a confirmed, fixed rate — both come from secondary directories that disagree with each other on both rate and network.
• Assuming a hotel-chain-direct program automatically pays better than an OTA — Hilton's and Booking.com's base rates are identical (4%); the difference is in the cookie window and how broadly the program covers, not necessarily the percentage itself.
• Building an entire content strategy around one hotel-chain brand without accounting for readers who book a different brand generating zero commission — a broad OTA or meta-search article doesn't have that problem.

Make Influence's perspective

Make Influence doesn't run Hilton's, Marriott's, IHG's, British Airways' or Lufthansa's affiliate programs, and travel isn't a vertical we currently have a documented customer case in. Our operational read, having now reviewed the OTA, meta-search and brand-direct models for the Academy, is that the choice between them depends more on how broad or narrow your content is already built than on which model pays best in isolation — a narrow, single-brand content format can justify a brand-direct application, while a broadly comparative format is typically better served by an OTA or a meta-search tool that captures commission regardless of which brand the reader ends up choosing.

FAQ

Can I apply to Hilton's affiliate program directly with Hilton?

No — the program runs through the network Awin. You apply via Awin's platform, not directly on Hilton's own website.

Why do British Airways and Lufthansa have an affiliate program when SAS apparently doesn't?

This research didn't investigate why — only that British Airways and Lufthansa both have a named, publicly discoverable programme page, while this research found nothing equivalent for SAS, either on the airline's own site or in independent affiliate-network directories.

Do hotel chains' own programs pay better than Booking.com?

Not necessarily. Hilton's confirmed base rate (4%) is identical to Booking.com's confirmed rate on hotel stays; the difference is in the cookie window (30 days vs session-based) and in a hotel-chain program covering only one brand.

Which network do I need to join Hilton's program?

Awin, per Awin's own programme page for Hilton, which directly states a base rate of 4% and a 30-day cookie window.

Are Marriott's and IHG's commission rates reliable?

They come from secondary affiliate directories that don't always agree on either rate or network. Always confirm the current figure directly inside the network's own dashboard before building content or a budget on it.

Is a hotel chain's own program the same as a curated influencer collaboration?

No — like Booking.com's and momondo's programs, it's a self-serve commission link with no individual negotiation. See affiliate influencer marketing in Denmark for how that model differs from a briefed, curated deal.

Do the same principles apply as when choosing an affiliate tracking network generally?

Partly — the same discipline of confirming rates and terms directly with the network applies, but neither Awin (for Hilton), CJ (for IHG) nor Booking.com's CJ arrangement is among the four networks compared directly in choosing an affiliate tracking network.

Are these programs open or application-only?

They generally function as application-only programs through the relevant network rather than a fully open, instant sign-up.