Oh, sorry, many of these are “Reviewing”. I get those results now included because my membership has expired.
A bit of a THS marketing ploy.
But I do believe that new sits would come up about once per day.
Couchsurfing all the way. This organisation is a blessing and I have had the pleasure of several really great Couchsurfing experiences in Switzerland. It’s free to stay at someones home, a cultural exchange and an excellent plan B if all goes pear shape. Joining for a minimal fee will pay for itself over and over and over. I have met the most amazing humans through couchsurfing and its the perfect complimentary organisation to THS, especially when you’re in a different country and you need that Plan B. I highly recommend you look into this and if you’d like further help or information please DM me and I’ll be glad to help.
Theres also an excellent hostel in Zurich old town that I stayed 5 nights between housesits that was affordable and a great central location. The YHA in Bern was really good too, I stayed there between sits and couchsurfs. Mind My House is a popular housesitting site in Switzerland, you might find something there with the same dates. Good Luck.
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THS works ideally for folks who can afford fallback plans. That means that sits that require airfare and extended travel aren’t a good idea for folks tight on money and/or without flexibility. Not only could someone cancel the sit before you leave home, you also could have someone cut short a sit and leave you stranded if you don’t have a fallback. Plus, if a sit turns out to be hideous, you could end up trapped if you lack a fallback.
If money is tight, better to stay local-ish if you want to sit.
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There are free alternatives: BeWelcome, Trustroots, Couchers. I am on those, if anyone wants to visit in Växjö (while I am there). And I used it on my way back from the UK last month, staying with former guests in Calais, Antwerp, and Hasselt.
But so many THS-ers are a bit horrified by being a guest at someone’s home, expected to socialize with humans.
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yes some people are not into socialising with strangers but, as a plan B it might have to do. I love Couchsurfing, been using it as a host and a guest for years. I highly recommend it. Thanks for the other names, I haven’t used those.
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And Nomador has a kind of couchsurfing option too, between sits.
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I’m afraid not. I have an alert for Europe roughly around the time the OP is searching and the ratio of listings for a specific period of 2 weeks is 100 + in the UK and 2, 3, none in continental Europe. Right now, just 2: 4 nights in Stuttgart and 3 nights in Austria.
So, I’m afraid if the OP can’t afford extra expenses in travel or accommodation it is highly unlikely to get the exact dates covered and at place which is very close to the airport of arrival.
That said, I think @Jlt59 ’s expectations of forum members’ advice are a bit too high. We can empathize with your situation and I we do, people have shown sympathy and tried to help and you don’t seem to appreciate the time and effort they have put into it. I understand that you feel frustrated and maybe you are not in a position to see that side right now but I think you either expect a miracle to be performed or be backed up in your position that owner should pay for your flight expenses. If you ask a question, I am afraid you are bound to get some answers that don’t echo your own opinion. The idea of the owner being forced to a reimbursement is just an opinion (yours, in this case). The fact is they don’t have to, according to T&Cs and it is also a fact that it works both ways.
After having read the whole thread, I think even if you are a premium member you won’t be covered by the insurance if the sit is canceled before 14 days prior to the starting date, even if you were, you would have to advance quite a considerable amount of money for two week’s expenses in Switzerland. So I consider two scenarios:
A . Your main goal would be to have an inexpensive holiday in Switzerland or the Alps. In that case, I would set an alert for sittings in the area of your choice and hope for something to come up. It is not likely but it is not impossible.
B. You are open to sits in the UK or would consider them as an acceptable plan B. There are many more options there, you could even give Switzerland a go until quite late and get a last minute sitting in the UK, there are lots of those.
Good luck to you. I hope everything works out for the best.
In my experience, sometimes life offers us a present and we feel too frustrated to appreciate it as such. I’m not saying your situation is good, I’m just trying to say: since it has already happened, it might be an opportunity for pleasant, unexpected outcomes. I hope that will be the case.
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I was able to get back the tax portion on my non-refundable Aer Lingus ticket in April 2023. May as well try for that. As we know, the tax portion is not inconsiderable.
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That ratio is correct I think but if you included England in your search I believe that the system is throtling the alerts.
So I would set up a map search covering the continent.
Even on Nomador (which has a much smaller membership) I get two dozen or so new listings per day, almost all in continental Europe, many at very short notice.
I was on Couchsurfing until 2020, mostly as a host. Have not used it since they started charging everyone. Perhaps I’ll give it a try again one of these days.
@Gabba I’d love to hear more about your experiences. Was it easy to get couches? Are more hosts male or female?
I am not the OP and haven’t yet faced an international cancellation (just a local one). I just wanted to express how appreciative I am of the suggestions given by the other responders. I am sure it will come in handy someday and illustrates how flexibility is such a valuable trait to have. Cheers
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That’s the result with a map search for my time frame.
I’ve never had a problem with finding a Couchsurf stay, all over the world. Originally I only sort after female hosts but that was getting trickier and tricker to find so I’ve branched out to male hosts with excellent reviews. Which has turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of my life. I’ve met people in their early 20’s to people in their late 70’s. I’ve stayed with couples, families, and singles and once at a home with many many people. Every single experience has been unique and not once have I had a negative/bad experience with a host .I would go as far to say my human experience on Couchsurfing has a better track record than with THS. I’ve had one awful horrific housesit through this site which has altered my opinion of THS.
I also host people in my own home and have had again, families, singles, young, old etc from all over this amazing world.
The site lost a lot of people over 2020 when they refused to pay an administration fee and I saw a lot of my references fall off because of that but, those that stayed, have kept the spirit alive of the host and the traveller and I hope to continue doing this well into my golden years.
I hope you do. 
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Ditto. The suggestions in this thread are awesome! Even if the OP might not find all of them useful, I think a lot of us will find inspiration here. Which is exactly why a forum like this exists, in my view! 
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@Gabba
Same here. I had some dodgy experiences on Couchsurfing (as opposed to mostly great ones), but my three bad sits here on THS were much worse.
Towards the end, Couchsurfing guests seemed to become more demanding and less appreciative or interested in hosts. So I didn’t want to pay for the privilege of hosting (?!!). Anyway, right now I don’t have a place suitable for hosting travellers, so I would be just a surfer. Might be fun
@Jlt59
Is Couchsurfing an alternative for you, or are you horrified at the idea?
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I would not book an international sit unless I did have a plan B.
Ultimately we are all responsible for ourselves regardless if cancelations by either party are extenuating or not.
Sometimes you can cancel a flight and hold on to that ticket fare to use within a year not sure if that’s an option or not but we’ve had to do that over the course of our lives a few times with nothing to do with trusted house sits.
Hopefully you’ll find a solution or be able to make peace with this experience.
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Exactly. Part of being an adult.
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From your previous replies I have a feeling that you may not want to hear my opinion but 
I spent a short time just outside Geneva and couldn’t believe how expensive it was for food (I live in the UK).
If money is tight then two weeks would have been a great expense so this may be a blessing in disguise. Maybe you could try a sit in neighbouring France and still use your flight?
I hope this wasn’t your first experience of THS and you have been unlucky to be cancelled.
Don’t lose hope, a month is a long time and something might come up. As others have said, already having a flight booked could be a positive when making an application.
Good luck
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Indeed. So I cycled to France for lunch. Ferney-Voltaire was close by. I could even have walked, but not the little dog 
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