I have another sit in Germany after the cancelled sit so I don’t really want to have to fly back and forth. I guess I’ll just get a hotel.
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@systaran Germany really is much, much cheaper than Switzerland. @Cuttlefish makes an excellent point. Hop on a Flixbus and find yourself something cheap(er) in Germany, especially if you have to be there for your next sit anyway. Good luck. Obviously try for places outside of the actual stadtmitte (inner city) as it will get cheaper the further you go out and there are usually pretty good transport connections. If you end up in Stuttgart by any chance, let me know, I have loads of tips.
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East Germany is cheaper, but again that might be too much travelling for you.
Really frustrated with the insurance policy. I have a premium membership which should cover me for situations such as this. There are no hotels within a 20 mile radius of the cancelled sit since it’s in a small town and it’s last minute (expect one with a price tag of $5000+ for the 10 days). So, the insurance is useless (just got off a chat to clarify the policy).
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Maybe they think that canceling is like with Airbnb. Are they Airbnb hosts? There are countless posts on forums about hosts who try to strongarm guests into canceling because it penalizes the host and gets them money for nothing (in many cases) if the guest cancels.
THS doesn’t work the same way, as others point out. They need to uncomfirm on their end.
I wouldn’t stay there, for health and well being reasons. I’m reminded of the time my friends did a house swap and the man’s home had awful “creeping mold” issues on the ground floor. Friends had a baby. Husband bought industrial plastic wrap and tape to close off that area of the house, and they put HEPA filter machines all around.
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You say the sit is in Switzerland? I see quite a few coming up in the next few days that you could apply for. You might need to stay in a hotel for a couple of days but if you could find a few last minutes sits, this could be a win for you.
I’m not seeing them. But I filter out those that are not accessible by public transport.
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People have been trying to help you here, hope you find some inspiration.
Good luck
I believe that if some people are still looking for last-minute sitters they might be willing to pick you up from the main train station, help you get some groceries, or even offer to lend you the car.
Not knowing where in Switzerland you are looking at, but knowing that it is not such a large country, have you looked at eastern France, northern Italy, or Austria?
Also, last minute EasyJet flights out of Switzerland might be quite cheap. My husband found a Geneva-Nantes flight at the beginning of June (10 days before departure day) and paid something like €35.
do you by chance have the premium membership? If this is within 14 days and the homeowners cancel, you’ll get reimbursed for lodging elsewhere
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I would take off the “accessible by public transport” tag and have a look, as there are a fair amount nearby that are accessible by PT as stated in their listing.
Also, having just come from a sit in Zurich, nearly everywhere is accessible by public transport. As others have mentioned, Flixbus can get you to Germany very quickly. We went to Freiburg from Zurich in 2 hours for £12. The hotel prices (along with everything else) was much cheaper than in Switzerland. We also went to Dijon from Zurich in 2 hours, though we took a train and it was more expensive. But the accommodation was nice and not too pricey.
I wouldn’t accept just getting a hotel in Zurich. But that’s me. I do think you should be covered by THS insurance in this instance.
Best of luck!
See earlier responses
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It should be covered by insurance since it was cancelled 4 days before the start date. The problem is that it’s in a small town in Switzerland and I’m having trouble finding a hotel within 20 miles that is available and isn’t extremely expensive. The restrictions of the insurance make it impossible to actually use.
Unfortunately, all the sits that are coming up within the 10 days I have open are very short sits (2-4 days). I’m searching in most of Europe, but it’s really not worth the time and expense to travel somewhere just for a couple days and then still have to pay for a hotel there for the rest of the days. If I’m going to have to pay a lot for 10 days hotel, I should go somewhere that I actually want to go. I’m going to keep looking to see if I can find anything within 20 miles of the sit so that I might be able to use the insurance.
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I understand the frustration- for the insurance it doesn’t have to be a hotel it can be Airbnb or equivalent as long as you have receipts.
Just posting an update. The HOs ended up changing their trip to next month and did offer me the new dates. However, I already have another sit scheduled for those dates.
I did find a sit to apply for that I had hoped to get and would have covered 5 of the 10 days. But I didn’t get it - just an auto decline. So, I did find a bed & breakfast in the same town for the days of the sit. Hopefully, the insurance will cover my claim, as I believe I’ve met all the requirements.
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Keep us posted about that too, please!
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