How this site makes money

An affiliate link is a normal link with a tag on it that tells the company you came from us. If you go on to book a hotel, rent a car, or buy something, that company pays us a small commission out of its own margin. The price you pay is the same as if you had gone there directly. You are never charged more for using our link.

That commission is one of the ways this site pays for itself, which is what lets it stay independent instead of answering to a tourism board or a single big advertiser.

This is the part that matters, so here it is plainly. A commission never buys a recommendation.

• No one can pay their way into the recommendations, rankings, or guides. Editorial entries are chosen on merit, full stop. If the site ever runs advertising or featured listings, they will be clearly labeled as paid and kept separate from the editorial.
• If a place with an affiliate program and a better place without one are up for the same slot, the better place wins. And the page will tell you that is why it is there.
• We would rather point you to the right beach, room, or rental than the one that pays us. An honest guide is the only thing this site is actually selling.

Any page that contains affiliate links carries a short disclosure saying so, in plain words, near the links themselves. We are not trying to hide them. If a page has none, it says nothing, because there is nothing to disclose.

If any of this is unclear, or you want to know whether a particular recommendation involves an affiliate link, just ask at leslie@thisissxm.com. You can read more about how the site works on the about page, and how it handles your data on the privacy policy page.