I’ve now been burned twice at the last minute by sitters that were not local or within driving distance. When you book a sitter that needs to book a flight, do you request flight details/confirmation? If so, how far in advance of the sit do you ask for this info?
You have every right to ask for flight details. Just out of interest did the sitters who cancelled have several good reviews?
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I’m in the US and have had two sitters fly in, one within the US and one from another country. Both had other binding reasons to come (family wedding, etc) and knew where they were flying in from (as opposed maybe to a nomadic sitter). Both shared flight details a couple months ahead. I think it’s reasonable to ask and suggest canceling if it’s not booked at least that far ahead.
TBH I’m wary of sitters flying in just for our sit, it creates extra stress for me, so if it happens I require plenty of assurances.
What reasons did they give for canceling?
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We pick up sitters at the airport so getting their flight details is part of the process. We usually have assurance their flights are booked a month or 2 before the sit but the actual flight numbers sometimes aren’t forth coming until a few days before the sit.
One source of reassurance for us that the sit is on is that we check in with sitters 1 month before the sit begins. That’s an opportunity to ask them how things are going, whether they’d like certain food items available for their first day or 2 and to assure them that we’re looking forward to meeting them. Obviously, the underlying question is whether they’re still good for the sit. If they’re having second thoughts, I will probably pick up on that in their responses.
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I am not a host but a sitter but just wanted to share some thoughts. I am sorry to hear you have been burned.
If I book a sit that requires me to fly in, I always buy the tickets right away as the prices tend to only get higher the closer the sit gets, and I let hosts know I have purchased them. It’s rare they actually ask to see the flight info, but when they do, I don’t mind sending it.
The only time I don’t buy tickets right away is if at the time of applying, I am still not sure where we will be just prior, but I usually have a sense of the most likely general areas and the estimated lower and higher range of the ticket prices.
When this is the case, I let hosts know this right upfront in my application message in case it would be important to them for the sitter to book their flights right away–so far this has never seemed to be a problem for us. But if it were and the host felt uncomfortable with that, I would totally understand.
To me, this would be the only reason not to arrange flights straight away after confirming a sit.
I imagine there might be a variety of reasons sitters might not do it right away, whether it is lack of finances at the time or worry the sit will be cancelled (I know most sitters buy the cheapest non-refundable tickets.)
Unfortunately, this delay could possibly indicate the sitter is not taking the commitment seriously, but I think those cases are in the minority.
If this is something that is of major concern to you, which is understandable given your experience, it could be helpful to broach this right away in your listing, noting that based on unfortunate past experience, you can only accept sitters who will buy their flights either within X time of the sit being confirmed or within X time of the sit taking place–you can do whatever time frame makes you the most comfortable. And if they fail to do that, you can cancel them and find another sitter.
Some sitters might not be comfortable with that caveat and wouldn’t apply but I imagine most wouldn’t mind as they probably arrange their flights quickly anyway.
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We’re sitters, I wouldn’t mind at all if anyone asked for our flight details. Quite often we ask for the return flight details of HO’s depending on the circumstances, so we can keep an eye on whether their flight is on time or not.
How far in advance flights are booked depends on where the sitter is travelling from and to, as ease of flights vary.
For example, we travel from the UK to Spain a lot, and we’ve travelled between Christmas and New Year a couple of times to sit and see family at the same time, and we’ve booked those flights about 6 months ahead of time. In our case, it’s not because the seats get taken, but because there are simply way less flights available during those dates, so we want to ensure it’s organised, we pay more that more because there’s still plenty available flights, but so be it.
Whereas, ordinarily, we book our UK/Spain flights about 3 months ahead of time, because there are very regular flights most days of the week, and an abundance of them from our local airport, and also because we typically plan it so we’ll arrive in the country at least a few days before any sit starts, so our flight times don’t matter as much to an HO.
Considering you’ve had issues, I would personally ask a future potential sitter how often the flights run to your place from their place, and play it by ear to see whether they’ve looked into things properly.
As a sitter, I ask the hosts to send me their travel info, so I can make sure we overlap when I make travel arrangements. Once they send me their info, I shop for airfare. Then I send tentative flight info, so they can help me catch any errors before buying. Once I buy, I send them the info.
I often fly in early and/or stay later in town, at my own expense. Like for my next sit, I’ll be in town a few days earlier, at a hotel. We’ll overlap and hand off. And at my departure, I’ll leave with a small enough gap (or with an overlap), so their pets won’t be alone too long or at all.
Then I’ll drive my rental car several hours away and stay at a hotel there, see friends, then fly home from that other city. I’ve done similarly while sitting domestically and abroad. And I’ve never canceled a sit, with two exceptions:
- Mutual cancellation when a host told me months after confirming our sit that her grown son had unexpectedly moved back in and would overlap my sit. Nope. I said I could solo, as originally agreed on, or we could cancel.
- When a host hid dealbreakers till they sent their welcome guide. Turns out one dog needed letting overnight and the other was prone to diarrhea. Nope.
All but one of my sitters have arrived to my city by flight, and I’ve never gotten specific flight details. The only time I was slightly concerned was when a sitter was flying internationally, but I knew she was going to be in my region a week or two before my sit started.
I’ve always given general flight info to sitters but have never been asked for the flight number - would freely give it, though.
When I read stories like yours it feels almost impossible for the same thing to happen to a host twice
Just to confirm the details. Are you saying you have twice, confirmed sitters ( you invited them to sit and they accepted) and on both occasions, at the last minute, ( how long exactly?) both cancelled/didn’t show up?.
One because they never actually bought flight tickets, and the other because they decided the drive was too long.
@mtbikelover as a sitter I automatically send my HO my flight info. Normally I fly in a day before the sit starts (I pay for my own accommodations) to account for any travel delays which I have experienced. I check the flight cost before applying for a sit that requires me to fly to the sit destination and book my flight immediately after confirming my sit.
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I would definitely ask when they are buying their ticket. If they say they are waiting for airfare to come down, this would worry me. I would also ask if they plan on staying in the area for further travel after or before your sit. The more pet and sit commitments they have the more likely they won’t cancel. I would ask them to check in every two weeks to make sure everything is on track. If it’s been a month after they confirmed and they still don’t have their tickets, I would start looking for someone else. You can also put on your profile, I request you confirm your flight tickets with me within one week of accepting this sit. Arrival date and time requested. We will pick you up from the airport or arrange a car service. I would do the latter .
I am not a PP here but was a host on another platform.
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I’ve never had anyone ask for my flight info. I’m also never flying anywhere for just one sit. I’m travelling full-time, but I come back to my home base in the US every few months for family things. I’m typically planning trips of anywhere from 2-6 months. If I’m in the early planning stages and confirm the first sit, I don’t want to get my flight until I have more of my plans in place. That doesn’t mean there is any possibility of me cancelling, it means I don’t have a definite return date yet and haven’t finalized where I will be flying back from (often a different city than I fly into). I also like to watch flight prices so I get the best deal. If I confirm a sit 7 months out, I’m definitely not buying my plane ticket right away. I confirmed my Christmas sit in early March, I haven’t bought my flight yet. I’m still planning the second part of that trip in January after the sit part.
I guess it’s all about finding the right fit. If someone insisted I buy a ticket immediately such that it would disrupt my planning for the rest of the trip, I would decline. I spend an enormous amount of time on travel planning and have a process that works for me. However, no one has ever asked for my flight info. Possibly it’s because they know I’m an extremely experienced traveler so they are confident that I will arrive as agreed.
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This is great info!
For those asking - one sitter was international with a green card but he was worried he couldn’t get his green card renewed in time. The other sitter was a couple - one a US citizen, the other an Australian citizen. They had been to Mexico recently so were concerned he would get flagged at the border. When I talked to them prior to the sit, they assured me the US citizen would still come if things got worse coming into the US. That’s the only reason I accepted them after I had the last problem with the international sitter.
Yes…twice I have confirmed sitters. And twice they cancelled. One with 8 weeks before the sit and this one with 6 weeks before the sit. See reasons in my earlier post.
I’ve never booked a sitter but I’ve done sits in other states and I always share my arrival time and dates. Usually once the sit is agreed on and I make arrangements I let the client know and once on the day before travel. My clients know when I’m on a ferry or a plane and when I’ve landed and on my way. My plan is to not cause stress on either side. It seems to work and I think nothing of my sit clients asking me for it. Sometimes I even go the night before they depart.
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during the current political climate in the US, I would not book any sitters without US citizenship - both of your examples are close enough I understand why you confirmed them, but I also understand why they decided against it. I don’t think this is about flaky sitters (although did the 2nd couple explain why the US sitter is now not coming?), but the reality of sitting in the US at the moment.
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A well organised sitter with good communication will proactively share their travel information and flights with hosts, without the need to be asked. Consider this a green flag or 
if mentioned on sitter profiles or in their application / video chat.
Idea: We see many threads on here about 
we need more threads about sitter and host
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If we are flying in for a sit we always notify a host when we’ve booked flights & confirm arrival details. We don’t always book flights immediately. It often depends on how our other travel plans are unfolding as we may not know, at the time of confirming the sit, where exactly we will be travelling from. However we always keep hosts updated and check in at various intervals. No host has ever chased us for travel details or shown any doubt that we will show up but I am sure they are all reassured when we do check in!
E.g earlier this year we confirmed a sit in France- several months ahead whilst we were on another sit in Malaysia. 2 months later we checked in from India. A month later from the UK. Each time getting closer! Then we drove to Germany to family and checked in from there. Final check in was en route to the south of France. Each time they were happy to hear from us. WE know that we are totally reliable- our good reputation depends on it! But if I was a host expecting a globe trotting sitter (like us) I think I would really appreciate check ins the way we do it. Peace of mind all around. 
From our side, if hosts are flying, we do check their flights are confirmed before booking ours. And we usually ask for their flight number as my hubby loves tracking flights on Flight Radar!
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As a sitter we ask the Host their travel info and share ours. The problems we have had is with Hosts on Automobile trips returning early. Destination is a concern also, we had a host with plans to visit what turned into a war zone with restricted commercial flights. Bottom line is do the best you can, read this forum and cross your fingers.
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They said they preferred to travel together. So I don’t know why they initially said she would come without him. I absolutely wouldn’t have chosen them had they not assured me she would come.