House-sitting usually involves caring for pets in exchange for accommodation. Home swapping requires making one's home available to others in return for staying in someone else's. These arrangements are mutual exchanges and not free vacations, and they require appreciation and honouring of responsibilities. Home swapping can eliminate accommodation costs and need not be simultaneous, making platforms with points systems convenient. Some platforms charge an annual fee comparable to one hotel night. Points can be earned while a house is empty, redeemed for stays, and can generate further points when others book the property. Sitters typically care for pets and maintain the home during the owner's absence.
Angela Laws, a founder of Trusted Housesitters, the world's largest house-sitting platform with more than 200,000 active members, wants to be clear with those considering giving it a go: It's not a free vacation. It's not free travel. It's not free accommodation. It is a mutually beneficial exchange between pet parents and sitters. She stresses too that anyone wanting to take advantage of the benefits needs to appreciate and honour the responsibilities it entails.
On the other hand, if you have your own home, Emily Budin, an Australian living in the UK, has swapped her zone two London apartment for New York brownstones, a Christmas in Switzerland, chateaus in the south of France, Croatian villas and more. She says, with caveats, the practice is a super-easy way to banish accommodation costs from your holiday budget.
Swaps don't always have to be simultaneous, which makes platforms like Home Exchange made famous by the film The Holiday much more convenient. Budin says its annual fee is about equivalent to one night in a decent hotel in a big European city. You can earn points while your house is empty, Budin says. If you're visiting family elsewhere, and use them to pay for a property during a time that suits your vacation schedule.
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