Hostelworld Affiliate Program

Hostelworld is the largest hostel booking platform, with tens of thousands of hostels and budget properties worldwide, verified reviews and a social feature that connects travellers staying in the same place. For backpackers, students and solo travellers it is the default, and it has far deeper hostel inventory than the general booking sites.

The affiliate program is run in house and pays a share of the commission Hostelworld earns on each referred booking, from 18 percent at the entry tier to 22 percent for higher volume partners, with a 30 day cookie. Applications are reviewed against published eligibility criteria and terms, and approved partners get deep links, search widgets and a dashboard. Payouts are monthly by PayPal or bank transfer; the threshold is shown in the portal. Commissions are confirmed once the guest has stayed.

Hostel bookings are cheap, so individual commissions are small, but backpacker audiences book many nights and many stops per trip.

Hostelworld converts from best hostels in a city roundups, backpacking route guides, solo travel content, gap year planning posts and budget destination itineraries. Because hostel choice is social as well as practical, honest reviews of specific properties convert well with this audience. Its free cancellation on most bookings keeps readers comfortable booking early, inside your cookie window.