College Hobbies is reader-funded. We don't sell display advertising to the highest bidder and we don't run "sponsored posts" dressed up as editorial. Instead we use affiliate links, when you click one of our recommended booking, flight, hotel, tour or gear links and complete a purchase, the merchant pays us a small commission. You pay the same price you'd pay going direct.
Affiliate links can appear inside stories, comparison tables, our deals desk, and occasionally in the newsletter. We make it clear where a merchant is being recommended and we credit sources for prices we quote. Where our recommendation is time-sensitive (a fare, a shoulder-season window), we date it in the copy.
We work with a mix of affiliate networks and direct merchant partnerships across travel, gear, software and financial services. Every partner featured on College Hobbies has to earn its spot on the strength of the product, not the size of the commission. If a partner ever asks us to change a verdict or hide a downside, we drop them.
We recommend the best option we can find at the price bracket the reader is shopping in, not the one that pays the most. We publish "skip it" verdicts as often as "worth it" ones. If a partner is worse than a non-partner alternative, we say so. We never sign an agreement that requires positive coverage.
You can support us by using the links inside stories when you're already planning to book, or by forwarding our newsletter to a friend who plans trips. Either way, thank you, that's how we keep the lights on and stay independent.