Here’s a list of 30 publishers that pay up to $500 or more for travel writing. Included are airline magazines, national magazines, websites, blogs, and more. For even more travel publishers, get a free copy of The Paid Publishing Guidebook.

Southwest: The Magazine is the official inflight magazine of Southwest Airlines. They usually publish two works of narrative nonfiction (3,000 to 3,500 words) each issue. They also assign special advertising sections. For features, their rate is typically $1.00 per word. For details, read their writer’s guidelines.

Atlanta Magazine is a general interest publication based in Atlanta, Georgia. They cover news, culture, food, travel, entertainment, style, and all things Atlanta. They are interested in stories focused on Atlanta and the metro region. According to payment reports, they pay up to $1.00 per word. To submit a pitch, visit this page.

Texas Monthly is a magazine and website that covers Texas news, politics, culture, food, travel, history, music, crime, and more. According to payment reports, they pay $1.00 per word. To contact them, refer to this page.

Architectural Digest is a monthly magazine that celebrates international design talents, inspiring decorating ideas, innovative homes, travel, and culture. They publish nine international editions, and have “immeasurable influence in the world of interior design.” According to payment reports, they pay $0.50 per word. To contact them, refer to this page.

BBC Travel is a feature section within the website BBC.com. They offer high-quality content on destinations around the globe. They are looking for feature articles of 800 to 2,000 words. According to payment reports, they pay up to $0.56 per word. For details, visit this page.

World Nomads provides travel insurance to independent travelers from over 150 countries. They are looking for personal stories regarding life-changing trips and experiences. They want stories that fall under the categories of love, fear, discovery, connection and transformation. They pay $0.50 per word for written stories and $350 to $600 for photo essays. For details, visit this page.

Hakai Magazine is an online magazine that “explores science, society, and the environment from a coastal perspective.” They are based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The length of stories and commentary in their “news & views” section is 300 to 800 words. While, the length of narratives, essays, profiles, and investigative pieces in their “features” section is 1,000 to 5,000 words. Payment reports indicate that they pay up to $0.60 per word. According to Hakai magazine’s website, they have a “modest travel budget and all expenses must be approved in advance.” To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Adventure Cyclist is a bicycle-travel magazine that inspires and empowers people to travel by bicycle. They generally use two types of stories (i.e. feature-length stories and The Final Mile essays) from freelancers. The feature-length stories are about specific areas, whereas The Final Mile essays are “less about locale than about a singular experience while on a bicycle trip.” They generally pay $0.25 to $0.50 per word. To learn more, visit this page.

National Geographic Travel is a travel brand that tells “visually-driven, unexpected stories about the world.” They provide travel information to people and expose them to new places and cultures. They want contributors to send a brief paragraph about their idea(s). According to payment reports, they pay $0.50 per word. To learn more, refer to this page.

Bon Appétit is a food lifestyle brand that “covers food through the lens of cooking, fashion, travel, technology, design and home.” They are looking for conversational, funny and passionate writing. According to payment reports, they pay up to $0.50 per word. To find out more, visit this page.

Let’s Travel is a bi-monthly travel magazine that focuses on “articles with a twist that offer first person accounts of travel in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific Islands.” They also publish a few stories from far flung places like, South East Asia, Europe and Americas. Their “readership demographics is luxury”, so if the pitch is about getting by on a few dollars, they would probably not be interested in it. Their feature articles are of 800 to 1,200 words. They pay a flat fee of NZ$300 per story to unpublished writers. While, to previously published writers, they pay NZ$500. To find out more, refer to this page.

Early American Life is a history magazine, centered on American history through the mid 1800s. They publish articles about history, architecture, antiques, crafts, and travel. They pay around $500 for feature articles from new writers. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Westworld (WW) magazine (the largest-circulation publication in Western Canada) is primarily a travel publication: its editorial content includes local, regional, and international travel stories. WW buys First North American rights for the WW magazine network – all editions (WW may bank a story for one year or more). Payment includes $50 for use on the BCAA, AMA, CAA Saskatchewan and/or CAA Manitoba websites. WW writer fees start at 60 cents per word (85 cents a word in the B.C. edition). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://files.caask.ca/Writer%20Guidelines.pdf

BCAA Magazine is the quarterly magazine published by the BCAA (British Columbia Automobile Association). It is the largest-circulation magazine in Western Canada. It was recently called <spanstyle=’font-weight:normal’>Westworld, </spanstyle=’font-weight:normal’>and this is just speculation, but it was probably renamed because of a certain popular TV show. They reach nearly half a million subscribers each issue. You can read their back-issues here. They are primarily a travel magazine for the region. Pay starts at 60 cents CAD per word. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Honolulu Magazine is a regional magazine for the city of Honolulu. They’re not a travel magazine, they’re a magazine for the residents of the city. They pay up to $1,800 for feature stories. They pay $100 to $600 for departments. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Texas Highways is the official travel magazine of Texas, published by the Travel Information Division of the Texas Department of Transportation. Articles should document Texas destinations for readers in the US and across the world, through descriptive and evocative language. The style should be readable and well-informed. They prefer queries. Word count: Unspecified. Pay: $0.50/word. Details here.

Adventure Cycling Association publishes articles about bicycle travel and other recreational cycling subjects, and feature-length stories about tour accounts. They also accept shorter pieces for The Final Mile, which are about a singular experience while on a cycling trip, and humor pieces. Their submission period ends on 31 October 2017. Word count: 2,000-3,500 for features; 1,200-1,500 for The Final Mile. Pay: $0.30-$0.50/word Details here.

Backpacker publishes articles that target the backpacking and hiking communities. Their pieces cover foot-based travel, backcountry experience, North American destinations, and other topics that they highlight. They pay up to $1 per word depending on complexity and experience. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Gray’s Sporting Journal is a journal for hunters and anglers. They are always looking for features on hunting and fishing, and publish four themed issues a year. They publish Expeditions – travel pieces of hunting and fishing locations, Yarns – campfire tales that can be fact or fiction, and poetry. Word count: 2,500-3,000 for Expeditions; above 1,500 for features; 750-1,500 for Yarns; up to 1,000 for poetry. Pay: $850-1,000 for Expeditions; $600-1,250 based on quality, not length, for features; $600 for yarns; $100 for poems. Details here.

Smarter Travel publishes slideshows and feature length stories on a”range of consumer travel topics, including booking strategies, saving money, avoiding scams, packing tips, best places to go, travel tech, travel trends, and travel tips that represent all kinds of travelers and travel experiences.” They pay $500 for long-form articles and $100 to $250 for shorter posts. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Travel + Leisure Magazine pays $1 a word. The vast majority of their writing is from freelance writers. They have a very large audience, with a circulation of 950,00. The editors “are looking for a compelling reason to assign an article: a specific angle, news that makes the subject fresh, a writer’s enthusiasm for and familiarity with the topic.” To learn more, read their contributor guidelines.

MotorHome, the magazine for RV enthusiasts, covers all aspects of the RV lifestyle. They accept queries, and pay writers up to $900 an article, with photos. According to their guidelines: “The easiest way to sell your work to MotorHome is to query us on an interesting and tightly focused motorhome story.” Learn more here.

Air Canada’s enRoute Magazine. Air Canada’s magazine reaches over 1 million readers a month. They have an international audience, and high expectations. They accept submissions in a variety of categories. They aim to respond to submissions within 30 days. According to our sources, they pay $1 CDN per word. Be sure to read their full submission guidelines.

Alaska Airlines Magazine is the monthly in-flight magazine for Alaska Airlines. They are 75 percent written by freelance writers. They pay between $150 and $700. They also occasionally reimburse for expenses. They have thorough guidelines, including an editorial calendar, on their website.

Journey is AAA’s magazine for their members in Washington and Northern Idaho. They reach over 600,000 readers a month. Payment reports indicate $1 a word for payment. They aim to “present readers with lively and informative stories on lifestyle, travel and automotive topics that encourage them to discover and explore the Northwest and beyond.” To learn more, read their submission guidelines. When visiting the page, type in the Zip Code 98225 so you can access the right page.

AFAR is the ‘experiential travel guide.’ They cover travel stories from a more personal perspective, telling their “stories through people, allowing readers to explore authentic local cultures from the inside out.” Payment reports indicate $1 a word as a common payment rate. Keep in mind that pay will need to be negotiated. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

The Los Angeles Times Travel section includes original sophisticated and compelling destination articles that evoke “a strong sense of place (sounds, colors, smells, tastes), time (when did you go?), expertise and personal perspective.” Trips must be taken within the previous two years. Editors look for first person experiential pieces (about 2,000 words) and Guidebooks (about 500 to 700 words). Payment is $200-$750 for print stories and $500 for online only stories. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: http://www.latimes.com/la-trw-guidelines-story-story.html.

Almost Fearless is an adventure/travel magazine for parents. They want practical information about how to have adventures (and travel) with kids. They also want essays and think pieces about what it means to be a parent and live a fulfilled life. They pay $1 per word for print, and $50 to $250 for web articles. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

Trailer Life is a monthly magazine for RV enthusiasts. They cover travel destinations, outdoor activities, technical trailer info, and DIY projects for trailers. They pay $100 to $700 (with photos) depending on the topic. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.