Fantastic topic @Garfield - this could be so useful for those looking to find accommodation between sits!
I’ve added an image to your post so that I could add the topic to our “Featured Topics” section on the Forum homepage 
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Thanks, PVGemini - forgot Home Exchange - strange since I’m a member! 
The point system hasn’t worked for me, but we’ve had many lovely simultaneous exchanges. That was my backstory to petsitting, as I’m now travelling solo more and then I can’t exchange my home as others are there! But who knows - maybe a home with pets swap. We have looked after pets home exchanging also.
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Love this topic, as we are also nomadic and slow travellers, and often in need of longer accommodation.
One other exchange platform that we use, that is less formal than Home Exchange, is called PLU or People Like Us. It’s much smaller than HE, so it can be slow going to find a good exchange, but it feels more personal.
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I’m glad to hear it 
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The challenge with HomeExchange private rooms is that the Guest Point system doesn’t work that well for rooms.
Some HOs are very considerate, understanding a room shouldn’t yield more than max 50% of the GP amount of their entire place. Other HOs will list every amenity/facility of their house/apartment and attribute it to the room, leading to a room GP number that’s highly inflated.
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I’ve learned recently that it’s surprisingly easy to get great deals last-minute on cruise lines (~$50/night), though you obviously have to be quite flexible to be able to jump on those.
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Would that be discounts directly announced on the webpage of the cruiseline?
It also helps to be a couple although they do occasionally have deals for singles
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I haven’t done it, so can’t speak too much to it unfortunately, but I think my friend said they’re on an email list that finds good deals across cruiselines. They also said there’s some guy on youtube they follow who does it all the time
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I found this cruise aggregator quite good: https://www.vacationstogo.com/
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I use Booking.com and Airbnb. My tip is to check out a hotel or hostel directly after checking prices on apps. I’ve just done this for a 2 night hotel stay in the Spanish Pyrenees. Although I’m a Level 3 Genius member with Booking I still got a better price directly with the hotel.
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My wife and I do our THS sits from around May to the end of September. We limit ourselves to Canada and the US and try to plan ahead so as to make a nice round trip. This year we will drive about 6000 miles (10,000 Km) for our sits. Last year about the same.
During the entire year, we use a credit card which gives us hotel points at major chains (Choice Hotels) and we get a lot of free nights that way. Almost all of their hotels are a bit above and include a micro wave for that late night pizza. When we book motels, we always look to see what their breakfast offering is - a nice hot breakfast at a motel can save $15 to $20 per person. We also drive a hybrid vehicle (gas & electric) which gives us 36 - 40 mpg so in a 6000 mile summer, we’ll end up buying about 180 gallons of gas at (this year) about a $3.35 average per gallon. We’ll be spending 12 days in motels this year - averaging the free points redemptions in with member very best rates, it works out to about $110 per night (including the free breakfasts). We also drop in and stay with friends and stay with our children when we’re in the area.
This year we will be away from home for 142 days, will have done 108 days of THS sits, 12 days of motels and 22 days of friend/relative visits. Gas and motels will have cost less than $2000. Food doesn’t really count - we eat when we’re at home too, so that’s a fixed cost. All told a very reasonable price for a great summer meeting new pets, visiting new parts of this vast continent, and meeting great HOs. That’s why we love it.
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