Affiliate & Partner Commission Tracking
Hotels refer. You track. Everyone gets paid.
Hotel and hostel partnerships are a reliable booking channel for surf schools. SurfSlot tracks referral bookings with unique affiliate codes — so you know exactly which partner sent which booking and how much commission you owe.
Highlights
- Create affiliate partners with unique tracking codes
- Automatic booking attribution via URL parameters
- Commission tracking per partner per period
- Commission reporting for easy payout
- Multiple commission structures (flat fee or percentage)
How It Works
1. Create a partner profile (Hotel Sol, Hostel Wave, Tourism Office) 2. Give them a unique booking link: `surfslot.eu/book?ref=hotel-sol` 3. When their guests book through that link, the booking is tagged to the affiliate 4. Dashboard shows bookings and commission per partner 5. Pay partners monthly based on the commission report
Commission Structures
| Structure | Example | Best For | |-----------|---------|----------| | Percentage | 10% of booking value | Proportional to lesson price | | Flat fee | €5 per booking | Simple, predictable | | Tiered | 10% for 1-10 bookings, 12% for 11+ | Incentivise high-volume partners |
Why partner channels are worth the admin
A hotel, hostel or surf house sells a bed and then gets asked "where can I learn to surf?" — which makes them the cheapest customer acquisition a surf school has access to. The reason most schools under-invest in it is not the commission, it is the bookkeeping: reconciling whose guest was whose at the end of the month across WhatsApp threads and paper notes. Attribution at the booking link removes that entirely, and a partner who trusts your numbers refers more.
OTA and marketplace bookings, kept separate
Bookings that arrive through third-party marketplaces cost you a lot more than a hotel referral. Tagging every booking by source means you can see, per channel, what you actually netted after commission — and decide with numbers whether a marketplace is worth keeping or whether that traffic can be pushed towards your own booking page.
Paying partners without a spreadsheet
Commission accrues per partner per period, so a month-end payout is a report rather than an evening of cross-referencing. Because the attribution happened at booking time, a partner querying their total gets an answer with bookings attached instead of a negotiation.
Frequently asked
Can affiliates see their own dashboard?
Currently via commission reports shared with partners. Self-service affiliate dashboards are on the roadmap.
Does this work with walk-in referrals?
Yes. When entering a manual booking, select the referring partner to attribute the booking.
How do we handle a partner who sends guests by phone rather than a link?
Select the referring partner when you enter the booking manually, and it is attributed the same way as a link booking.
Can we see which channels are actually profitable?
Yes. Because every booking carries its source, you can compare direct, partner and marketplace bookings on what you net rather than on gross volume.
What commission rate should we offer a hotel?
That's your call, but the common structures are a flat fee per booking or a percentage of value. Flat fees are easier for a partner's front desk to understand, which usually means more referrals.