I’ve been travel blogging full time since 2020 and while I don’t see myself as a blogging pro, I’ve certainly tried and tested a lot of blogging methods, courses and tips over that time.
I made sure to integrate affiliates from day one, I followed SEO best practice and constantly sought out tips and advice from fellow bloggers on Facebook groups.
When I started seeing people talking about Stay22 in 2023, reviews were mixed. I saw a few negative comments about Stay22 pop-ups, while others said it was a game changer for their affiliate income. So when Stay22 first reached out to me, I was hesitant to reply at first.
I was just starting to see positive growth of my blog after the events of 2020-2021 which changed global travel and I was wary of trying to “fix something that wasn’t broken”.
However I decided it was worth jumping on a call with the team, just to hear for myself how Stay22 worked, rather than hearsay through Facebook groups, and I’m so glad I made that decision.
This review is sponsored by Stay22 however all opinions are my own. Use my link to give Stay22 a try and receive $100 bonus when you hit 100 bookings - it only takes a couple of minutes to install!
Taipei, Taiwan
Quick view: My key Stay22 stats and earning data
In the last 12 months I’ve averaged $1,448 per month in affiliate income on my blog from Stay22 Let Me Allez alone
My first Stay22 payout was $301, now I make $2,000+ every month
The average booking commission I earn from Stay22 per booking is $10.01
I average 8.8 bookings per day which works out at 264 bookings per month
I’ve earned over $22,000 USD since starting with Stay22
It’s important to note that this is only through my use of the Stay22 LMA NOVA integration, not any of my other affiliate income. I keep all of my deep links for hotels linked via the Booking .com affiliate programme and all tours directly through the GetYourGuide programme. Anything else I link via TravelPayouts.
My monthly commission over the last 12 months with Stay22
my monthlybookings with Stay22 over the last 12 months
How I use Stay22 on my blog and why
I only have the Stay22 LMA script installed for the simple reason that when I first signed up, I wanted to test how the feature would work. I didn’t want to swap over all my native affiliate links before I was comfortable using the script and other Stay22 features on my site.
I’ve since chosen to keep it this way and have it setup to exclude any changes to Booking .com and GetYourGuide links.
One, because I have good connections with the direct affiliate platforms that I use and I want to keep them, and Two, I prefer to keep my income sources diversified - should something go wrong with an affiliate platform or company, my affiliate revenue is not all tied up in one place.
Swiss Alps
My Stay22 review: if you’re on the fence, here’s what you need to know
What is Stay22 NOVA and how does it work?
NOVA is part of the Let Me Allez Stay22 script that you install via a simple code in your website’s backend. This AI script can detect real-time user intent signals and it will trigger a non-invasive, new tab to open in the user’s browser, displaying hotels or tours for the destination they’re browsing for AND crucially, it shows the booking platform that it detects is most likely to be used by the user.
This is the only Stay22 feature I use on my website and that’s because it exactly meets a specific problem that I was encountering with hotel bookings on my site…
My husband is American and when I first told him 5+ years ago that I only book hotels with Booking .com, he was surprised and told me that it wasn’t as popular as a hotel booking platform in the USA. While 30% of my website visitors are from the UK or Europe, the same amount is from the USA, and another 15% is from Asia.
I soon realised that I was losing out on hotel bookings from Expedia (usually the preferred booking site in America) and from Hotels .com and Agoda (preferred booking sites in Asia) simply because I was not presenting my blog readers with the option to book with one of those platforms (because I only used Booking .com links).
With Stay22, the script detects the user’s location and displays the booking platform that the user is most likely to book through, then opens a new tab for that platform and the location the user was browsing. By showing the user the platform that they’re most likely to book on, my income from hotel affiliates alone has increased by 500%. From £462 in May 2023 to £2,774 in April 2025.
Pazin, Croatia
But isn’t Stay22 NOVA bad for user experience?
This was probably the most common complaint I saw in Facebook Groups about Stay22 before I signed up 2 years ago.
Yes, we all know that pop-ups are not great for UX. But this Stay22 feature isn’t actually a pop-up at all…
The Nova feature opens in the background of the user’s browser either in a new tab or new window, it doesn’t physically “pop up” and block the reader’s view of your page, so their page experience is uninterrupted.
On average, most users will only see it once per session, and typically no more than once every 30-40 days, so you’re not going to alienate your readers with new windows opening on every page they view or session they start.
I still see people raise this concern about using this feature, but the proof is in the pudding for me, I’ve only seen my pageviews, sessions and income increase since I started using Stay22.
In fact, I started with Stay22 in May 2023 and I was accepted onto Mediavine in April 2024. Not only did Stay22 NOT impact my website views or earnings, it was there all along as I saw my website increase from 32,000 sessions a month to 50,000 sessions a month.
And it hasn’t stopped there. I now get over 110,000 sessions per month, even with ads now running on my site too and monthly revenue is continuing to increase.
Thailand
Stay22 review: their standout products
Stay22 LMA, and the NOVA AI booking agent, is their standout product for me. The script is installed in seconds and I’ve seen a vast increase in affiliate income
Let Me Allez (LMA) also, redirects your existing affiliate deep links (including broken links!) to the best, most personalised option for the user so you’re never leaving money on the table. By showing them the option they’re more likely to book, booking conversions are increased by 10.6% on average
Interactive Maps are easy-to-integrate interactive widgets which show accommodation options in the area, based on your user’s activities. The great thing about these maps is that they show booking options across multiple platforms including Booking, Expedia, Vrbo and Hotels .com.
You can now also get direct affiliate links (Allez) through Stay22 if you’d like to keep all your affiliates in one place
Hvar, Croatia
Stay22 Pros and Cons
Pros of using Stay22
The total ease of script integration is a game changer. The effort-to-earnings ratio is unmatched by any other affiliate platform that I use
The team were so easy to chat to on the initial call and non-salesy, if you decide it’s genuinely not for you, that’s okay.
Their support team is so responsive and helpful. Not only did they walk me through the initial setup and script installation, they also get back to me super quickly when I have queries. They also easily made changes when I asked them to make tweaks to my script to exclude Booking .com links
More on my last point, they really can customise the script to suit your needs. They’re using AI and building a product which is truly flexible to meet your needs
The Nova feature is non-intrusive and such a great way to target the booking preferences of your audience around the world
You can now generate affiliate links for all major travel booking partners you know and love directly through Stay22’s link generator. If you prefer to keep your affiliate income in one place, this is a great option for you
This is true passive income. You’ve done the hard work of writing, updating and maintaining your website, Stay22 makes earning money from all that effort super easy
Elephant Mountain Taipei
Stay22 Cons
While I’ve always been happy with my earnings, their commission structure is private, so I never fully know what rate I’m getting from all the different booking platforms. But considering it’s my single biggest income stream from my website, I’m not too concerned about that!
The analytics are fairly basic compared to some of the other affiliate platforms I use. However they are easily able to run reports for you if you drop them an email and the team have confirmed that improvements to the analytics page are a big priority for the upcoming quarter.
Train Street Hanoi
Stay22 review: summary
Honestly that’s it and these two minor cons that I have are overshadowed by the significant increase in affiliate revenue that I’ve enjoyed since installing Stay22 on my site.
People will always have their own opinions about affiliate platforms and products in the industry, however I’m firmly of the belief that you can never know until you try. I prefer to see the results for myself and decide what the right course of action is. After seeing the dramatic increase in affiliate revenue from using Stay22, it really was a no-brainer for me to continue to leverage the incredible products that Stay22 uses and to recommend it to other bloggers.
The biggest shift for me came in January this year…
I’ve been self-employed for 5 years and have never really taken time off from work during the last 5 years, apart from over Christmas and even then, I was still doing blog maintenance and writing articles during my “down time”.
However, in January, I went on my honeymoon to Switzerland and for 2 whole weeks, I did not open my laptop once. I didn’t check my analytics, I didn’t check my earnings and I didn’t check my emails.
That freedom came thanks to knowing that my Stay22 script was working, even while I wasn’t.
If I’ve convinced you to try it out, you can use my referral link to get a $100 bonus when you’ve made 100 bookings.
