Stay22 for Beginners: How to Earn From Your Travel Recommendations

If you love travel as much as I do and have always wanted to turn that passion into something more, it’s good you found me. I’ve been there, done that.

I’ve always been upfront about what it really takes to make money in the travel industry. It didn’t happen overnight for me. In fact, it took years before I started earning anything meaningful, mostly because I didn’t know where to start or how to invest wisely.

Now that I’m six years into this career I worked so hard to make, I want to help other aspiring travel creators get started without wasting time or money. The key is learning how to monetize travel content in smart, low-risk ways. 

One of the easiest ways to do that is by earning from what travelers already spend the most on: hotels.

That’s where Stay22 comes in. Stay22 helps creators and travel planning enthusiasts turn hotel recommendations into commissions using maps and smart links, with no signup cost or travel agency required.

When I first explored ways to earn from my travel content, I wasn’t ready to pay annual fees or join a host agency. 

I just wanted to see if I could make a little extra from the hotels and destinations I was already recommending, and Stay22 was the perfect place to start.

What Is Stay22 and How Does It Work?

If you’ve never heard of Stay22, think of it as a super-easy way to earn money from hotels and experiences you already recommend.

It’s an affiliate tool that connects with major booking sites like:

• Booking.com
• Expedia
• Hotels.com
• Tripadvisor
• VRBO
• Trivago
• Kayak
• GetYourGuide
• Agoda

Stay22’s affiliate tool works seamlessly with platforms like WordPress, Instagram, or Linktree, making it ideal for beginner travel bloggers.

What I love about Stay22 is that it doesn’t cost anything to join, and you don’t need a huge audience to start seeing results. You can use it to add hotel links to your travel guides or even send them to friends and family who ask for your advice.

It’s a great way to dip your toes into travel affiliate income and get a feel for how bookings and commissions work before stepping into a full travel advisor role.

Oh, and before you ask, no, Stay22 doesn’t include Airbnb. I know, it’s a bummer, but maybe someday!

To learn more about Stay22, you can fill out their quick request form. If you sign up through my link, you’ll get a $100 bonus after your first 100 confirmed bookings. 

How You Can Start Using Stay22 Right Away

I’m sure you want examples of how you can start using Stay22 right away. You don’t need a big blog or fancy setup to get going.

Friends Planning a Trip

Say you and your friends are planning a trip. You’re the one who always ends up researching the hotels, right? Instead of just sending them a regular link, create your own Stay22 link. When your friends book through it, you’ll earn a small commission.

Your Own Hotel List

Or maybe you’re planning a solo trip and want to organize your hotel ideas in one spot. You can make a simple one-page list of your hotel recommendations, add your Stay22 links, and share that page with anyone who asks where you stayed.

Sharing Past Trips

And here’s another common one. Your friends’ friends hear you just got back from Italy, and they want to know every place you stayed. 

Perfect opportunity. Create a quick “Where I Stayed in Italy” page on your site with your Stay22 links. When someone books one of those hotels, you’ll earn a commission from that booking.

It’s that simple. You’re already sharing travel advice and hotel names. Now you can earn something when people actually book from your recommendations.

This is exactly how I started. I made pages for a few of my favorite destinations and linked the hotels I already loved. No complicated setup, no paid ads, just sharing what I knew.

Quick Reminder

You’ll want to make sure you have an affiliate disclaimer displayed somewhere on your site. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Just a short note that tells readers you may earn a small commission if they book through your links.

You can place it at the top of your blog posts or right on your recommendation pages. It keeps things transparent and helps you stay compliant with affiliate program rules.

Here’s a simple example you can use:

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you. 

What You Really Need to Get Started

If you’re serious about giving Stay22 a try, you’ll need one main thing: a simple website. Don’t panic. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. 

You just need a space online where you can post your recommendations and link to your Stay22 pages.

When I first started, I wasted a lot of money building complicated sites I didn’t need. Learn from me. Keep it simple and affordable.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Domain Name

You can grab one from Namecheap or Google Domains for around $10 to $15 a year. Choose something short, easy to spell, and travel-related if possible.

2. Web Hosting

A reliable host keeps your site running smoothly. I’ve used SiteGround when I first got started, and it’s been great for beginners. Their plans start at around $3 a month, which is more than enough when you’re starting out.

3. Website Builder

If you’re using WordPress, I recommend Kadence. It’s fast, clean, and easy to customize. You can start with their free version and upgrade later if you want more design control.

Kadence also works really well with affiliate widgets like Stay22, so your pages look good and load quickly.

If you want to use a Kadence theme like mine, you can check it out at 17th Avenue Designs.

4. Essential Pages to Start With

You don’t need a full blog yet. Just create a few key pages:

• Home: A short intro about who you are and what you do
• Destinations or Recommendations: A few pages where you share hotel ideas and Stay22 links
• Contact: A simple form or email link so people can reach out
• Disclaimer: Your affiliate disclosure statement

Once you have that in place, you’re ready to start creating your first Stay22 link pages and learning how affiliate bookings work.

Can You Actually Make Money Doing This?

Short answer: yes, you can. But don’t expect to quit your day job just yet. The key is to get into the mindset that you’re building something long-term.

Affiliate marketing is a slow burn, but it’s one of the best ways to learn the ropes before investing more into becoming a full travel advisor.

Starting with Stay22 is a low-risk way to see what it’s really like to plan travel for others. You’ll get to organize trips for friends and family, make small commissions, and get a real sense of how it all works.

The reality is that whether you become a travel blogger or a professional advisor, you’ll still need to find your own clients. 

No agency, not even Fora, is going to hand them to you. That’s why I wanted to be completely upfront about this part.

The good news is that starting small with affiliate tools like Stay22 gives you the experience, confidence, and early wins you need to build something real over time.

How Much Commission Does Stay22 Pay

Let’s talk about the part everyone wants to know. How much can you actually earn with Stay22?

The short answer is that Stay22 gives you a 30 percent commission split as a base. That means when Stay22 earns a commission from a booking, you get 30 percent of their share.

Now, here’s where things get a little unclear, and I like to keep it real with you. Stay22 doesn’t publish the exact breakdown of how much they make per booking, so there isn’t a simple “you earn X percent” formula like with some other affiliate programs.

Here’s a peek at what that looks like behind the scenes. In the screenshot below, you can see an example of a booking made through my Stay22 link, the total room cost, and my share of the commission.

(screenshot here)

My Stay22 Earnings as a Beginner

When I first started using Stay22 back in 2023, I didn’t expect much. I was still figuring out my website, testing links, and learning how affiliate bookings worked. But even in those early months, I started seeing results that showed me this could really work.

Below is a look at my actual payouts from my first few months with Stay22.

In just my first three months, I earned over $3,000 USD in affiliate payouts. My first wire transfer was $1,027.94 in September 2023, followed by $1,042.59 in October and $931.93 in November.

I share this because I want you to see what’s possible, even when you are starting small. These results didn’t come from huge traffic numbers or paid ads. They came from the same kinds of hotel recommendation pages I showed earlier. Real trips, real stays, and real people booking through my links.

If you stay consistent, this type of income can grow faster than you think. It’s proof that affiliate travel marketing can be a real way to start building something meaningful.

And here is another look at some of the recent bookings and what they are paying.

Now, like I said, you aren’t going to retire off your earnings right away, but you are going to pay for dinner and then some.

What’s the Difference Between a Travel Blogger and a Travel Advisor?

A travel blogger earns from sharing travel tips, guides, and affiliate links. They focus on creating content that inspires people to book their own trips.

A travel advisor (or agent) helps clients plan and book trips directly. They handle the research, logistics, and communication with hotels or tour companies, and earn a commission from those bookings.

If you’re just starting out, blogging with affiliate tools like Stay22 is a great way to test how much you actually enjoy the planning and research side before committing to the advisor route. 

It’s like a trial run, you’ll learn how to recommend destinations, organize hotels, and even track bookings before you ever have to manage clients.

What to Do Next

The most important thing is to start. You’ll learn more by doing this once than by researching it for weeks.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re already ahead of most people who just think about making money from travel. Now it’s time to take the first small step.

Start by signing up for Stay22, a smart monetization platform that helps you automatically earn from your travel content. Once you’ve joined, install their Let Me Allez (LMA) script, which takes less than five minutes.

It starts working right away in the background, finding affiliate opportunities and optimizing links on your site without you having to lift a finger.

After that, create your first interactive map or affiliate link in the Stay22 dashboard. Then build one simple page on your website with a few hotel recommendations. Don’t overthink it. You can always improve as you go.

Once your page is live, share it with a few friends or family members who are planning trips. Watch how the process works, how bookings show up, and how it feels to earn your first commission.

From there, you can decide if you want to keep building your blog, add more destinations, or take the next step and join a host agency like Fora when you’re ready.

The most important thing is to start. You’ll learn more by doing this once than by researching it for weeks.

So, Are You Ready To Try Stay22?

I’ll be honest, I have no financial stake in convincing anyone to get into the travel industry. There are a lot of people already doing this, and it’s not for everyone.

But if you’re here because you truly love travel and want to find a way to be part of the industry, I think Stay22 is worth trying. The investment is minimal, and aside from your time, there’s very little risk.

From my point of view, it’s one of the easiest and most affordable ways to test the waters and see if turning your passion for travel into income is something you actually enjoy.