Hi! I have rarely seen preferred arrival / departure times on listings. It would be helpful for travel planning to know if a sitter is needed for full days on the first and last days of a sit. 
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I discuss this in the video chat, for example one HO confirmed sit is leaving at 4.30am so we will arrive 8-9am as weāre only 30 mins drive away and will text each other that morning re flight times if anything changesā¦they get back 9 days later around 9pm so asked if we could walk the dogs then leave around 6/7pm which suits us. Itās harder to stay over as itās a big family so probably a more complex leaving/returning process.
We will visit for a dog walk and house ārecceā this summer and do the handover long before the sit in the autumn.
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You usually have some form of communication with the HO prior to being accepted, this is the time to ask these sort of questions.
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Welcome @Sar
If we need to know before applying ( for example if we will be travelling from far away ) we will use the āapplyā button to initiate a conversation with the owner and ask the question.
Weāve done this on several occasions- sometimes the answer means that we wonāt apply ( they need a sitter early in the morning and we canāt get there until the evening) and on many occasions the answer means it will work for both of us ( owner and sitter ) weāve then applied properly and been accepted .
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When we have a video call with the owner before accepting the sit, we always ask what their travel plans are and if they would like us to arrive the day before they leave. The answer is usually yes, though on some occasions we have had owners that cannot accommodate extra people in the house while theyāre home and weāve arrived either shortly before or even after their departure. We are fine with either, and stay as flexible as possible with owners and their travel plans There have been times where we have stayed for a night both before and after the owners depart and return, and also times where we were unable to meet the owners in person. It just depends. But yes, it would be helpful for them to include this info in their profile. I guess sometimes owners donāt yet know the specifics of their departure & arrival times, and some wait to book their trip until they have secured a sitter.
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@Sar We include this info in the first few sentences of our listing. We are sitters, too, and know itās a very important detail needed for planning.
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We need an overlap of 2 nights at the start because there is a lot to show the sitter and we have ample room for them to stay. In the listing, right at the top of the profile, we state that the start date shown is the day we want the sitter to arrive and the end date is the day we return. In the video call we explain that overlap at the end is optional.
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During my crazy period, I missed a call with a potential HO a couple of times, so I felt very bad. Then she offered the sit, which ends on the same day as another sit starts, a repeat sit, the guys are great, the dogs are great. But I forgot to ask when I could leave. It is about an hour drive from one to the other. But I figure a cat sit, though a particular cat sit ā it goes outside on a leash, morning and afternoon. When I asked when I could leave, she mentioned she had an evening flight. I replied that I had to get to the other sit and if I couldnāt leave in time, she needed to cancel me and find another sitter. And no response. How long do you give it for a response, and what would you do? do you think she is rethinking her other applicants and checking to see if they could still do the sit, it was only 24 hours.
I think there should be a checkin and check out time and if arrange otherwise, that is fine, but it is crazy when HOs want you there at 8 am and departure at 7 pm. I should have asked but I didnāt in the video call. It hit me as I put it in my calendar.
I think that it is very natural for travelers to leave in the morning on the day of departure, and then return in the evening on the return. Not too many people would choose red-eye travel, if they have a choice.
It would be nice if the pet owners were prompted to give an arrival day/time and departure day/time when they create their listings, but it is still a good point of discussion on the video chat. This catāI would imagine that a neighbor could step in for the late afternoon walk and mealtime, so that you could leave after the morning feeding and walkā¦
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To me, itās natural to nail down timing from the get-go. If timing doesnāt work, how is anyone supposed to make sure pets arenāt left without care for too long? They should be top of mind.
Iāve never had issues with this, because I ask at the outset that hosts send me their departure and return times and I ask how much overlap weāll need, if any. Like I just left a sit today and my hosts told me in writing from the get-go, at my request:
Outbound: August 6th, departs 10:50PM ET. Weāll probably leave for the airport at 8:00PM ET.
Inbound: August 18th, arrives 5:15PM ET. Itāll probably take another ~1h to clear customs and collect our luggage and get back home. (They also told me when to arrive at their home and treated me to dinner.)
I ask for such info before booking any travel and I tell prospective hosts that. (If anyone didnāt send such info, Iād just cancel the sit.) And having their times in writing means less chance of misunderstandings.
Then when these latest hosts were returning, they also messaged me as they were heading to the airport and when theyād boarded and were about to take off, confirming their expected arrival, without delays or such.
In turn, I left about 30 minutes before they arrived home, after feeding the cats. Then my hosts later messaged me, after arriving home:
Maggie the house looks spotless!
Thank you for taking such good care of our home.
The cats seem happy and well taken care of too.
Iāve done the same thing whether sitting for hosts who are flying, cruising, driving or even piloting their own plane. Even two sets of hosts with emergencies (one a bad accident and another whose dog had catastrophic seizures and needed putting down) let me know when their updated returns would be, down to the hour.
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Cat is just put on a leash in the backyard and hangs. No walking.
As a full-time sitter, that information is particularly important as starting a sit the same day another one ends is very commonplace for me.
If at the time of applying, I already know the earliest I can arrive and/or the latest I would be able to stay, I mention this right upfront in the application message since that could potentially rule us out immediately, and it is a good time saver for both ends.
This is also good to mention upfront in the event they actually want the sitter to arrive the day before, but they didnāt make that the start date. Depending on various factors, we may or may not be able to split up and have one of us come a day earlier.
If at the time of applying for a sit my schedule is still open on either end, I ask the hosts upfront what is the earliest they would need us to arrive or the latest they would like us to stay as this will factor into the sit I will choose either prior to or after that one ends.
In my experience, most hosts donāt seem to expect sitters to stay until they get home, nor stay until late in the night. Sometimes if a host is getting home a bit later in the day, they may request we stay until sometime in the early afternoon which is fine for us. I have had some hosts make the end date of the sit the next day if they are getting home very late in the evening and we overlap with themā¦I am fine with this as well.
This is definitely something important to discuss for both parties. Sitters shouldnāt assume they can leave any time the day the sit ends and hosts shouldnāt assume the sitter will stay as late as they may want them to.
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Yes, I agree, it would be very useful to know but Iām many cases it is fairly flexible so open to discussion.
I usually ask for the specific timeframe when I am applying so that I can look into travel options and costs. Thereās no point wasting each otherās time if itās not going to be logistically possible.
The HO might be trying to arrange for a friend/neighbour to cover the middle part of the day. Iād message again suggesting a video chat and offering to withdraw from the sit if nothing solution can be found.
I do ask about arrival and departure but I have been having such a crazy month, just a flustered mind at the moment and totally forgot. And part of me assumed, cat sit ā no need to walk it and I can leave. Not that she expected me to babysit it until she arrived late. I trully get annoyed with HOs that expect you early on day 1 and to stay late on the last day. Anyway, it was my fault, but she is getting someone to come after 1 pm and the other end are getting someone to walk the dogs until I get there. But lesson learned to have another cup of coffee when my mind is in a disarray like this period. I had another cat sit recently where she was annoyed I left early. I fed the cat, cleaned the house, washed the linens and towels, made the bed and left. Why sit there and babysit the cat. People write all the time on the forum they take cat sits so they can do what they want without the responsibility of walking dogs. So what was that issue?
Seriously. It is not like you are getting paid by the hour like watching toddlers. It all boils down to good communication from the very beginning. It can be difficult though. Whenever I ask about exact times, the owner usually tells me, āI will need to check and get back to you,ā which is understandable, but then they donāt get back to me in a timely manner. Everyone needs to be better communicators on this topic.
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