An increasing number of sitters think it’s perfectly ok to ask for travel costs. The hosts might as well just get a local paid sitter, and save the hefty fee to join THS if this becomes the norm. I hope your friend didn’t agree to this.
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No, the sitters applied. Both sitters who asked for money are without permanent homes, so they travel from sit to sit.
No–it was not a direct invitation. My friends posted their listing, and the sitters applied.
@Selena thank you for confirming that .
We also travel from sit to sit but at our own expense and have never asked for payment for our travel expenses. As @temba quoted above it’s against the THS T&Cs for a sitter to ask for money.
Your friend could report them to members services E-mail support@TrustedHousesitters.com forwarding a screenshot of their messages .
Well, then it is those sitters that want to travel to that remote community (an island maybe?). And then I find it a bit appalling that they think that their 106 reviews would entitle to get free travel to such places.
They deserve to get reported. (And I hardly ever write that.)
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Call me a Doubting Dolly but something doesn’t feel right about this story. I’d feel more confident if it was coming from the horse’s mouth as stories do tend to change slightly each time they are told.
A sitter asking for travel costs is not common, to get two consecutive applications asking will be very , very rare - and from a sitter with over 100 (presumably) five star reviews makes it even more unusual.
I am wondering whether there is something in the wording of the listing that has caused this?
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There have been many times I’ve read posts on this forum and questioned their legitimacy. I’ve been wrong before in my assumptions but some of the stories are a wee bit iffy fishy for me. 
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I agree, I also think some people create posts to stir things up and are not THS members
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There was a post I reported about a year and a half ago because the situation seemed pure Reddit-level creative writing, but the mod confirmed that the OP was, in fact, a THS member. Sometimes weird things do happen.
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I randomly came across a profile on another house sitting site today that surprised me. The sitter in question stated that he requests his travel expenses be paid for, as well as (what I would consider) a significant daily amount for house sitting. He also had the most reviews I have ever seen one person to have on this particular site which was another surprise, given there are people offering to provide the same service at no cost.
Looking further, this site’s policy is not that the sitter must not request money, but that if payment is requested, it needs to be stated clearly on the profile, which the sitter has complied with. I wouldn’t be comfortable asking for payment for house sitting, it feels like there would be an imbalance, but this sitter is definitely highly regarded despite this. Therefore, if sitters wish to request payment or travel expenses, there are places that will accommodate this, just not THS.
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