Affiliate programme
Affiliate programme terms
Version 2026-10-draft-1
These terms describe how the SearchMyGuide affiliate programme works today. Where a number appears, it is the programme's current setting, read from our system when this page was shown.
1. Who may join
Tour guides, travel agents, influencers, content creators, travel bloggers, website owners and others who promote travel may apply. You need a SearchMyGuide account with a confirmed email address. We review every application and may decline one without giving detailed reasons.
2. Your links
Once approved you can create links to pages on SearchMyGuide. A link identifies you; you may not change another partner's link or code, or pass off another partner's links as yours. We may switch off a link that points somewhere misleading.
3. Referral tracking and cookies
When somebody follows your link we record the click and, unless they have declined non-essential cookies, set a referral cookie for 30 days. We keep the referral on our servers and use the cookie only to find it again. If the visitor is signed in when they click, or books on the same browser, we also link the referral to their account. We do not record IP addresses or device identifiers against a click.
4. Which bookings earn
A booking earns commission when it is made within 30 days of a click on your link, your link was the last partner link clicked before it, the booking is paid for, and the trip takes place. Bookings made through your own account do not earn. Cancelled bookings do not earn.
5. How commission is calculated
Commission is the applicable rate — 8% unless a different rate has been agreed for you or for a tour — applied to the amount the traveller paid, after promo codes. It never exceeds the fee SearchMyGuide keeps on the booking. The rate and basis are fixed when the booking is made; later changes to the programme do not change commission already earned.
6. Refunds, cancellations and disputes
If a booking is cancelled, its commission is reversed. If it is partly refunded, its commission is reduced in proportion. While a card payment is disputed, its commission is on hold. If commission has already been paid, the reversed amount is deducted from your next payout.
7. Payouts
Commission becomes payable 14 days after the trip if nothing has been refunded or disputed. We pay monthly by PayPal or bank transfer once your payable balance reaches $50, in the currency the bookings were made in. Fees charged by your bank or PayPal are yours. Each payout comes with a statement.
8. How you may promote
Be honest about the relationship: say that you may earn a commission. Do not bid on our brand in search ads, use our name in a domain, send spam, use incentivised or automated clicks, or make claims about a tour that its page does not make.
9. Fraud, suspension and disputes
We watch for unusual activity — sudden bursts of clicks, self-referrals, bookings that are always cancelled — and review it before we act. We may hold commission while we look into it, and may suspend a partner whose activity breaks these terms. If you disagree with a decision, write to us and a person will look at it again.
10. Your data
We use what you give us in your application to decide on it, run the programme and pay you. Payout details are encrypted and only shown to you masked. Our privacy policy explains your rights and how to use them.
11. Changes and ending
We may change these terms or end the programme with notice by email. You may leave at any time. Commission that is already approved is paid out under the terms in force when it was earned.