mytravel conversions very low

[pollensa]

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Is anyone else signed up to mytravel/directholidays etc. I am getting so FEW sales. I have other travelcos with TD & CJ & they do pretty well but these are awful. The conversion rate is abysmal.

Just wondered if anyone else had similar?

[angelabx]

How much are you averaging per click?

PM me and I'll let you know how it compares with ours.

Our EPC is not fantastic but it's ok'ish.

[crazihos]

Sorry to jump on this thread but id be very interested to know how well people do in the travel affiliate market as I am having a meeting with a travel exec later in the week and would love to have some info on the travel affiliate market to put to him.

If anyone could Pm me any info at all it'd be very helpful - mainly on turnover generated for travel companies.

The site we are looking at setting up is an expedia style one.

Re - mytravel, im not sure if this will help much but arent they a package holiday company? It could be that its becoming more popular to build your own holiday rather than buying off the shelf?

cheers

Russell

[pollensa]

Re mytravel being a package co. isn't really the issue as I have Thomson & Thomas Cook with CJ & they do really well. I need to look at the stats properly to see what the click thru rate is etc. but as I am getting hardly any sales, I can tell straight off that it isn't going well. Initially I had problems when the links were failing (mytravel changed the URL for deep-linking) but they work now. I just wondered if there was a reason i.e. maybe visitors find their sites difficult to use.

[pistol101]

Of the 3 My Travel sites the Direct Holidays is by far the biggest earner and best convertor. My Travel is not bad and Going Places is poor. This has been reflected in Going Places having their commissions reduced so that people swapped links away. This site is getting a rebuild at present.

My Travel and Direct Holidays are also having a lot of work done on them and as the conversions are slightly lower than Thomson and Thomas Cook however are paying better commission to compensate.

If you need to have a chat please let me know.

Russell, travel is one of the largest online markets. If you drop me an email i can give you some figures.

[angelabx]

Travel online is indeed a big market but a LOT of users look at holidays and don't book for ages if ever.

Lots research online then prefer to book 'in person' on the phone or in the travel agents.

People also shop around far more than with smaller purchases.

We find it takes a lot of clicks to make sales in Travel.

[pollensa]

As my web sites are travel related this is what I deal with. My income does not depend upon affiliate income - it is a bonus. However I commented on mytravel because I am getting much fewer sales than for Thomas Cook & Thomson (both with CJ). I've tried comparing the stats but I can't find any reports showing number of impressions with AF - is this available? With CJ & Tradoubler I get Click Through Rate i.e. clicks divided by impressions. My sales with mytravel are far less but this may be due to less impressions & clicks - I can't tell. How do other people guage the success of their affiliate programs?

[John Jupp]

I agree people don't book for ages. They do come back though; particularly for me as I have a live booking facility. I've had people browse for NEXT year yet alone this!

Travel is a hugely competitive market and it can take a very very long time to get established and above all trusted by Joe Public. Consider this: it took LastMinute more than five years and they STILL don't make a profit and only now just about break even.

Im interested in what you're doing Crazihos. I have an inkling which of the three major players you might be chatting to as all three offer that type of deal. All I can say is that the flights deal I got was rubbish, the hotels deal excellent, the car hire okayish and the cruises would be fine except I can't replace the default header so I'm dropping that for now. I signed a three year renewable and they were told to expect at least a year of playing around until I start to see results.

So good luck with the venture and if you get a really good deal let me know. Who knows I might set up an additional travel site.

[iswise]

I presume you are aware that My Travel, Direct Holidays and Going PLaces are in fact all the same company - but target slightly different markets which may account for the variation in your returns across the 3.

[pollensa]

Yes of course I am aware. But I am still getting very few sales (hardly any) compared with regular sales from Thomson & Thomas Cook (via CJ).