ToP Switches Affiliate Networks
Over the last 12 months, Travel on Point(s) has seen incredible growth. Our Facebook group is up over 100% in the last 12 months and the blog has almost surpassed all of 2023 page views by early July! With growth comes the opportunity for change. No, this is not a “program enhancement” like airlines and hotels announce. We've made changes for the future, to create a better user experience for all involved. Today, ToP switches affiliate networks, along with lots of other exciting updates. We also include a PSA and a few things to look out for.
ToP History
Sarah and I started ToP over dinner with our friends, Jen & Dave. It was nothing more than a dream in August 2019, but we wanted to fill a void that we felt existed in the award travel space. A friendly, helpful community of experienced award travelers, along with a healthy mix of beginners, eager to join the fun.
After launching in August 2019, ToP began steady growth and by March 2020, had over 3,000 members. At the time, CardRatings, a Quinstreet company, gave ToP a chance and offered us an affiliate network agreement. CardRatings has been our sole affiliate network since 3 days prior to the start of the COVID lockdowns. My, how times have changed. As we announce that ToP switches affiliate networks, we'd like to give a heartfelt thanks to the many nice folks at CardRatings. They saw us grow from 3,000 members to 118,000 members, and growing by 50,000+ per year at this time. It was a great partnership for many years, but we are excited for the future.
The Future After ToP Switches Affiliate Networks
As ToP switches affiliate networks, we are happy to announce that we are now an affiliate of Red Ventures Media Network. This opens up lots of new opportunities for ToP and for you. More on this below.
We're also pleased to announce that we have made numerous changes to the website for better user experience. We have greatly reduced advertisements, changed fonts, shrunk margins, and generally made the blog articles and website better for our readers, all based on reader feedback. If you have any further suggestions, feel free to send us an email at any time via the Contact Us section of the website (or the team email is listed in the Facebook Group).
Lastly, we have a whole new website in the works. This is a state-of-the-art website, that we believe will surpass any and all websites in the award travel sphere. We plan to further enhance the reader experience, add interactive components to our various ToP Resources, and greatly expand our Getting Started and search engine functionality. When finished, hopefully by early 2025, it will be a great improvement for all.
What Does This Mean For You?
We strongly believe everyone will benefit from these changes! If not, say something. We work all day, everyday to help you travel better. We believe the website changes are clear improvements and the coming website will only ratchet that up quite a lot.
As for ToP switching affiliate networks, this is also an improvement for you. But first, as you can see above, expect changes on the card application landing pages. You should see the familiar ToP logo on the credit card pages by July 15, 2024. If you are not seeing our logo, please let us know!
Once you're in an article, it should be business as usual. All card names that are highlighted in blue are our clickable affiliate links. Additionally, thanks to this affiliate change, you can now click the card art as a clickable link too! See the example below from the Venture X card review (note: this is a picture of a clickable link, not an actual clickable link).
Lastly, we will have access to many more features for all of you. We are adding more cards to our lineup. While we cover all of them previously, as affiliate links never sway our decision-making process, the main objective is getting more advance notice of offers and changes through affiliate agreements. If we know more, YOU know more. It is as simple as that. We also will gain access to the CardMatch tool, which allows YOU to search for special offers and allows ToP to assist you in finding these offers (like we currently do dozens of times per day with no affiliate relationship).
What We Need From You
At ToP, we're a big ‘ole family. I always get a kick out of folks posting in the Facebook group with “Hey, ToP Fam. I have a question.” That's the culture we wanted way back in August 2019. We appreciate you and you all appreciate us. That's all we need. We need your support. Anytime you don't have a spouse, friend, or family referral, we truly appreciate the support when you use our links to apply. I say this 20+ times per day in the Facebook group and mean it every time. Without your support, ToP, and its 12-member staff, could not carry on. So when you can, visit that ToP Cards list and support us. In return, we promise to only share the best available offers each and every time and to continue running the friendliest and most helpful group on Facebook!
Also, we ask that as ToP switches affiliate networks if you can please let us know when you see anything out of place. If you see a card link that is incorrect or not working, our ToP logo is not appearing on a credit card landing page, or you have general feedback on the website, please share with us to our team email or via the Contact Us page on the website. Note that the full conversion may take a day or two, so no need to report anything before July 12, 2024.
A PSA About Facebook Mobile App
In 2024, there is mounting evidence that the Facebook & Instagram mobile apps may not accurately track credit card information. This may affect ToP's affiliate sign-ups, but also your personal referrals with friends and family. If you are signing up for a credit card, or sharing your referral with a friend or family member, via Facebook or Instagram, always use a computer. If you must use the mobile apps, when you open the link 1) click the 3 dots at the ToP right or bottom right of your screen; 2) select “open in external browser;” and 3) the original link opens up outside of the mobile app. This should avoid any issues and allow proper tracking. Examples of this from Instagram mobile app are below, but the process is exactly the same for the Facebook mobile app.
ToP Switches Affiliate Networks: ToP Thoughts
We are extremely excited to share all of this news with you. At least everything but the PSA about credit card applications via mobile apps. Our website is already infinitely better than it was 12 months ago and it will get even better over the next 12. We truly hope, and we fully expect, the changes will create a better experience for everyone.
We truly appreciate all the support that has carried ToP to this point in time. As we approach our 5 year anniversary, we salute you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Let us know your thoughts over in the Facebook group.
