How we handle affiliate links

RoamFound earns a small commission when readers book accommodation through certain links on the site. This page explains exactly how that works, how it's tracked, and what it means for the editorial.

What's an affiliate link, on RoamFound

On most destination pages (e.g. an individual waterfall page), there's a "Stay nearby" section that links to Booking.com search results for the closest documented metro. If you click that link and complete a booking on Booking.com, Booking.com pays us a small commission — typically 4% of the room cost — through their affiliate network (Awin). You pay the same price either way. The commission comes out of Booking.com's margin, not yours.

Affiliate links are marked with rel="sponsored nofollow", which is how Google and other search engines expect monetised links to be tagged. They open in a new tab so they don't disrupt your reading.

How we choose what to link

The destination links to a generic Booking.com search for the closest U.S. metro on file — not a specific hotel, not a sponsored property. We don't favour higher-commission listings; Booking.com's search ranking handles that, and we have no control over it.

We do not:

• Recommend a waterfall, trail, or destination because it generates more bookings
• Demote destinations because the closest town has fewer hotels
• Insert affiliate links inside body prose as if they were editorial
• Accept payment from individual hotels or destination marketing organisations to feature them

What you see vs what we get paid for

You see the same Booking.com search results you'd see if you went to Booking.com directly and typed in the metro name. The only difference is that Awin's tracking cookie attributes any subsequent booking back to RoamFound. The cookie expires after 30 days; if you book within that window we get credit, regardless of which device you complete the booking on.

Why we use Awin (instead of Booking.com directly)

Awin is a global affiliate network that handles partnerships with thousands of merchants including Booking.com. We use Awin because it's well-established, payments are reliable, and the same partnership covers our other portfolio sites. The Awin merchant ID is 18118 (Booking.com) and our affiliate ID is 2862705. You can see those values in the URL of any "Stay nearby" link.

How we report this

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guides require disclosure of "material connection" between an endorser and a brand. Booking.com isn't an endorser of RoamFound, but our financial connection is material, so we disclose it on every page that contains an affiliate link, on this page, and in our terms. If you ever feel a recommendation is influenced by the affiliate revenue, we want to know — contact us.

If you'd rather not

If you don't want our commission, you can:

• Use the underlying Booking.com URL by stripping the Awin redirect (everything before booking.com/ can be deleted)
• Search Booking.com directly without going through any link on this site
• Use an entirely different accommodation provider (Airbnb, Vrbo, IHG, Marriott)

None of these affect your access to the site or its content.

Other monetisation

RoamFound may also display Google AdSense advertising on some pages. Ads are clearly labelled by Google. We don't control which specific ads are shown.

We do not currently sell sponsored placements, paid listings, or featured spots. If we ever do, we'll update this page first.

Contact

Questions about how affiliate links or any other monetisation works on RoamFound: /contact.