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“Didn’t you guys say you’re going to Valencia?”
“Yeah?”
“So, it got flooded yesterday and it’s now a natural disaster zone!”
“WHAT?!”
I had no idea the city we were planning on visiting would experience an emergency like this just days before our arrival.
We were taking a trans-atlantic cruise and had zero Wifi. Luckily another digital nomad family on the ship had Wifi paid for by their company and told us.
The second our cruise arrived at port, I immediately contacted HomeExchange, and within 2 hours they sent an SOS out to all members in Barcelona, seeing who could host us on short notice.
That’s the beauty of this platform. Its members are driven by reciprocity, not profit. Sure, when it comes to a natural disaster, even Airbnb will give you a refund. But they won’t help you find a replacement. This is where HomeExchange shines. Since this is a community of like-minded travellers, hosts are usually very generous in opening their home, even if they weren’t originally planning to host and had blocked off their calendars.
I got 2 messages from HomeExchange members right away willing to host my family of 3. One of them was from a host who offered her 3 bedroom apartment in a central part of Barcelona (within 30 minutes walking distance to many attractions and the beach), because she just happened to be going on vacation. Since we were going to Valencia to meet up with 2 close friends who flew all the way from the other side of the world to meet us, I asked her if it would be OK for my friends to also come stay, since they were also stranded.
Without hesitation, my saint of a host said “Of course! I will set up the guest bedroom for them.”
We’d initially booked a 1.5 bedroom in Valencia for my family of 3 and my friends were in an Airbnb about 30 mins away by transit. Somehow, we were now going to be able to stay in the same home because we’ve been upgraded to a 3 bedroom! Thank you, HomeExchange!
HomeExchange SOS support generated the extra points required for this new stay while allowing my Valencia host to keep her points, and suddenly the stress of having to find accommodations last minute with an infant in tow evaporated.
And this isn’t the first time either! The last time HomeExchange saved our butts was when we were in headed to Sydney and our host had to cancel last minute due to a family emergency. We ended up staying in another host’s pool house, which was so helpful because I was pregnant at that time and didn’t need the anxiety.
I know I can count on HomeExchange because of their excellent cancellation policy, which states that if you get cancelled on or have to cancel due reasons outside your control, support will try to find you a replacement. If they can’t hey will pay for a hotel up to $120 USD/night.
Who knew this policy would save me not once, but twice! Not only that, I didn’t expect my friends to be able to stay as well. Though I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by the openness of our hosts because I already had another experience in New Zealand, where we got to stay in a 4-bedroom house near Auckland, and the host also agreed to having friends come stay without hesitation. In that sense, HomeExchange seems to be a filter for chill people who love to travel. Since you can’t make a profit on HomeExchange and points can only be be used for travel, those who are revolted by other people touching their stuff and having extra guests wouldn’t be attracted to the platform. I think this is why HomeExchange hosts are some of the kindest, most relaxed people I’ve ever met.
So, as a result of HomeExchange, we had a wonderful time with our friends and when my host got back from vacation, we took her out for lunch and had a nice chat about what it’s like living in Spain, her pets, and her extensive collection of nutrition books. She even offered to gift me one of her books after I mentioned I read a chapter and was impressed by it. That’s just the type of people you find on this platform. So kind, they will literally give you a book right off their shelf.
I was already in massive debt to her generosity because even though she didn’t have kids, she provided a crib, diapers, wipes, and changing pads for Little MatchStick, and even lent us her expensive Dyson hairdryer (those things cost $700, so her trust truly knows no bounds), robo-vacuum, and her fancy kitchen gadgets. Can’t say that’s ever happened in a hotel or Airbnb.
I’m so thankful to have found HomeExchange. The wonderful fellow travellers, the lived-in homes with well-stocked kitchens, all the little personal touches that remind your host has opened up their home to you, and the no-stress cancellation policy makes this platform a true gem.
For those of you who’ve been asking, how do you use this platform if you rent instead of own, read my post here.
If you’ve never used HomeExchange, here’s a brief overview of how it works. You exchange homes with other travellers to save money on accommodations. There are simultaneous exchanges where you swap homes at the same time for the same duration. But since not everyone has the same vacation schedule or wants to visit each other’s places, there are non-simultaneous exchanges in which you use Guest Points, which can be used like currency on the platform. They aren’t convertible to cash and are purely meant as a reciprocity tracking system. For example, I host someone in my home for a month at 100 GP/day. I get 3000 GP for the stay. I then use this 3000 GP to stay at another home in New Zealand, which is double the size for 200 GP/day for 15 days. That way you contribute the system as much as you get out of it.
I’ve written more detailed posts about my experiences with HomeExchange here, here, and here.
Get Free Points!
If you want to try out HomeExchange, here’s how you can get started with some free stays:
If you are new to the platform, you can get up to 1300 Guest Points for completing the following New Member milestones:
And if you sign up using my sponsor code “kristy-d61e2” you can get an additional 250 Guest Points (100 GP after completing your home profile, 150 GP after you activate your membership). Added that to the 1300 GP, that’s 1550 Guest Points!
It might take a bit of effort in the beginning to get accepted by a host for a stay. This is why I recommend you either host first to get some good review or send your Airbnb reviews to the host to prove your trustworthiness.
When I first joined HomeExchange I had to send out 15 requests before getting accepted for a stay in Zadar, Croatia. Now that I have over 18 positive reviews as a guest and host, I only need to send out 2-3 messages before I get an acceptance. So far, I’ve stayed in Zadar, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Isla Mujeres, Merida, Vancouver, Barcelona and saved over $25,000 in accommodation costs! All have been incredible experiences. The home in Mexico even had a private pool! I would’ve never considered that luxurious option if I was using cash. The membership costs is easily paid for with the savings from just one stay.
Also, since signing up is free and sending messages to hosts are free, there’s no risk. You don’t even need to pay for a membership until you secure a stay. The membership currently costs $220 USD/year and you can get 20% off with my code if you email me at firecracker.revolution@gmail.com with “HomeExchange Membership Discount” in the subject line. HomeExchange also gives you the 2nd year free if you don’t find an exchange during the first year.
Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of HomeExchange and I’m not the only one. I’m excited for our next HomeExchange and I know Little Matchstick is too!
(Full discloser: This is not a sponsored post so I’m not getting paid anything by HomeExchange to promote them. I just love this platform and want as many people to know about it as possible. The only compensation I’m getting is that as an affiliate, I may get some guest points if you sign up.)
Have you ever had to change trip plans last minute due to an emergency? What did you do?
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Home Exchange did the same for me when my host flaked out (no reason given). It’s a great service
So glad it worked out for you, Julia!
I’m gonna try them. We are headed out of town in Feb for a week. How epically nice does your place need to be? I don’t mean in terms of cleanliness, but there are some things like older blinds that we need to upgrade at some point….
It doesn’t matter if it’s not upgraded. It just needs to be clean and comfortable.
Great article, again. I have HomeExchange saved for when we purchase a home, looks like a cool app to try out. Thank you Millennial revolution!
Awesome! Hope you try it out!
Are you renting an apartment in Toronto to build the points for Home Exchange? Do you find that the rental expense is worth it to build the points to use for travel?
I live in a non ideal area for Home Exchange, but was thinking about having a second place in a more ideal area to help do this. Trying to figure out if it’s worth it.
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So glad it worked out for you uno online
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