Affiliate Disclosure

Some of the links on this site, especially the “Book on Agoda” buttons on hotel pages, are affiliate links. If you click one and end up booking a hotel within a reasonable window (usually 30 days), I earn a small commission from the booking site. You pay the same price either way.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. But because the internet has trained everyone to be suspicious, here are the details.

Who I work with

I use Agoda for almost all hotel bookings. They’re consistently the cheapest in Thailand and the customer service is local. Where I link to Booking.com or Hotels.com instead, it’s because Agoda doesn’t carry that property.

What this changes about my reviews

Nothing. The order of the hotels on every list is the order I’d actually give you. I do not get paid more if you book the more expensive hotel; commissions are a small percentage of the booking total either way, and the difference between a $200 and a $700 hotel is not enough to bias a recommendation.

What I won’t do

• I will not put a hotel on a “best of” list because the commission is higher.
• I will not accept payment, gifts, or comped stays in exchange for coverage. If a hotel ever offers, I either turn it down or disclose it at the top of the relevant post.
• I will not recommend a hotel I haven’t stayed at without saying so.

Why I use affiliate links at all

Running this site costs money: hosting, the camera I bring on trips, and most importantly the time it takes to write and update the guides. Affiliate links are how independent travel writers stay independent. The alternatives are paid placement (which is the opposite of useful) and ad networks (which make the reading experience worse). Affiliate links keep the lights on without putting anything in front of you that you weren’t already going to want.

If you want to support the site

The best way is to book through one of the “Book on Agoda” links on a hotel page. It costs you nothing and it tells me which hotels are pulling their weight.

If you want to support the site without booking through an affiliate link, just tell a friend. The site grows by word of mouth.

Questions

If you have a question about how an affiliate relationship has shaped a specific review, email me at hello@bangkokjohn.com. I’ll tell you the truth.