Hi – I had to cancel a sit that I had a confirmed sitter for. I cancelled more than two months before the sit, but she’d bought nonrefundable plane tickets. I offered alternate sits or even for us to leave our home for the weekend that she really wanted to be here but instead she found an alternate sit in our town. However, she has to change her ticket to make that work, and it’s over $380 for the change. I have offered $150, which she doesn’t seem too pleased with, but geez. Is it on me to tell people to do trip insurance? This is the first sit I’ve ever had to cancel AND the first trip in eons that I’ve cancelled. It doesn’t seem there’s any relief from her through THS. Thoughts?
As a traveller, you always want insurance. Especially if you’re buying non-refundable tickets! I think it’s very generous of YOU to offer to help cover the cost, or to leave your home so she could come for part of the time. I don’t think you owe her any more. Unfortunately it sounds like a learning experience for her – buy the insurance next time!
she bought a non refundable plane ticket. That’s on her. Not your problem.,
you have been more than kind to her
For that sitter @jacogan1216, it is the price you pay for buying a non-refundable air ticket and I’m assuming she has not taken out travel insurance. Cancellations do happen on both sides and we all need to be prepared should that happen. You gave her plenty of notice and she has been able to find another sit. You owe her nothing. Don’t be blackmailed into paying the extra money.
I guess this is one of those questions where a definitive answer is not so straightforward. There are many different factors involved, including human emotions.
Yes, the sitter took a chance and skipped travel insurance and/or purchasing a refundable ticket for almost double the price. I do it too, all the time, and I fly two to three times a month.
As it is entirely the sitter’s responsibility to get to the sit (at whatever cost) and then take care of someone’s pets for free, I personally feel it is not fair to let the sitter lose all that money because the host needs or wants to cancel. I think letting the sitter spend some time at the host’s place sounds reasonable, but if that is not possible, the sitter and host should split the cost of the ticket change, as in this situation.
I find the cold replies stating “her ticket, her responsibility” quite disturbing. Although it might be true in theory, life is rarely so black and white.
@jacogan1216 cancellations do happen and THS does say that if there are extraordinarily circumstances then you can cancel a sit
It’s the sitter’s and hosts responsibility to have a back up plan to cover if a cancellation (due to an extraordinary situations ) occurs.
When a host cancels for a reason other than extraordinary circumstances , then that does go against the terms of THS . A sitter who has planned their itinerary and paid for flights to accommodate their commitment to the hosts listed dates will quite rightly feel that the mutual exchange of THS has not been respected . Hosts should keep in mind that they have made an agreement / commitment to the sitters and as per the THS terms only cancel for extraordinary circumstances .
You are being more than generous. It’s absolutely her responsibility to buy travel insurance. It was also her choice to buy a non-refundable ticket.
You do not owe her anything.
When we carry out a sitting abroad, we always buy non refundable tickets and I know that travel insurance would not cover such a cancellation. We take the risk.
We therefore use our own backup plan that we would go anyway and find either another sitting or find accommodation. We would never ask, nor expect any payment from the host.
However, we have not had a sitting cancelled abroad so we have been lucky
With the 2 month notice period, the offer of free accommodation for the important weekend, the alternative sit that has been found anyway, plus the offer of contributing $150 towards airline costs - you have been more than fair. Most importantly you’ve kept communication lines open. Life happens and we all have to have a plan b. We always book non refundable tickets as they’re so much cheaper & we know we take the risk. If less than 1 in 10 trips go wrong then it evens out on balance. If she’s grumpy that it’s not enough then unlucky. You’ve done your bit. #nextsitterplease
Two months is a good amount of notice. Your offer was fair. Us sitters know what we signed up for or should know with this type of travel.
We’re sitters, how far she wishes to travel is not your responsibility, although it’s lovely for the odd owner that offers to help. If a sitter chooses to travel, it’s their choice, if a sitter chooses not to get travel insurance, that’s their choice, if a sitter chooses an expensive flight, it’s their choice. If a sitter chooses to change her original flight dates, then that’s their choice.
No sitter should ‘expect’ an owner that cancels who gave 2 months notice to cover their lost costs. It’s a really good amount of time for a sitter to have found alternative arrangements.
It’s a sitters responsibility, not an owners.
Hi @jacogan1216 
You’ve given more than two months’ notice, offered alternative sits and offered $150 towards the ticket change. That seems like a genuine attempt to help.
If I were the sitter, I’d be disappointed too, but I wouldn’t expect you to cover my additional travel costs.
If the situation were reversed and we had to cancel a confirmed sit unexpectedly, we’d feel awful about the inconvenience and would certainly try to help, but we wouldn’t expect to have to cover any extra costs you incurred because of our cancellation.
I think it has to work both ways. If we wouldn’t expect to pay a HO’s extra costs if we had to cancel, I don’t think a HO should be expected to cover ours if they have to cancel.
The sitter’s disappointment is completely understandable, but I don’t think that means you should be expected to cover the additional $380.
I think you’ve been gracious about this cancellation.
For the larger question, I think it depends on things like, where is this sit? I have never had to cancel a sit, and I absolutely hope never to - but I am in a city that is saturated in sits. With 2 months notice, it is as close to guaranteed as possible that a sitter would be able to find another sit for their dates (although if it’s a long sit, might have to cobble together more than one). Not saying that it would not be an inconvenience/burden to the sitter, but there would likely be no need for cancelling or changing the flight.
If I lived somewhere with fewer sits - or someplace where the demand way outstrips the available sits like NYC, I might feel more inclined to pitch in financially. But probably only if the cancellation was much closer to the sit - hard to know until I am in a situation like that.
I am someone who also often buys non-refundable flights and have even foregone travel insurance more than a few times. The short-term savings I get are balanced out by the risk I carry if something changes or goes wrong.
@jacogan1216, welcome back to THS Forum.
Kudos on trying to be a kind, thoughtful person by offering financial support. As others have rightly noted, sit cancellations do happen (we’ve faced two). Neither Pet Parent nor housesitter has obligations in the event of a sit cancellation - though they are intended to be emergency use only. So you are not somehow obligated to pay any amount at all, nevermind elevated ticket change fee. THS Sit Cancellation Insurance, for premium housesitters, only covers cancellations within 14 days of start date - so would not apply here.
If helpful, we housesit internationally so book plenty of flights. If we determine that we would travel regardless of a hosuesit then we book a non-refundable ticket. If we’re taking a flight that is contingent on housesit then we choose refundable. That said, we’ve only learned this through experience.
You’ve had a lot of response here and I agree you have been very kind and generous.
The only thing I would add is that if she had travel insurance she couldn’t claim on it because of a cancelled housesit
It is the sitter’s choice, they decide which sits they apply to.
Of course it is inconvenient to have a sit cancelled but that’s always a possibility both sitters and hosts have to take into account.
Travel insurance wouldn’t cover a sit cancellation.
It sounds like this sitter is travelling some considerable distance, if the single ticket amendment fee is $380? I can understand her feeling frustrated and disappointed, but - as very many others have said - cancellations are always a risk to be factored in when deciding whether to confirm a sit, and especially where expensive air fares are concerned.
Cancel-for-any-reason Travel Insurance would cover a sit cancellation. It’s expensive and has timing restrictions on when you can purchase the coverage but it would do the trick.
Personally, buying trip insurance doesn’t work for us any longer. As we’ve aged, premiums now start at 10% of trip cost for basic insurance and quickly hit 20% for CFAR coverage. It makes little financial sense to us to mitigate a 1 in 20+ risk by paying 1/10th to 1/5th of the amount we’re trying to protect for each trip. Beyond that, our experience with travel insurance has been abysmal. Our 1 claim ever took 6 months to process with the company requiring we submit a mountain of documentation that served no purpose other than stalling. In the end, they covered a loss that equaled the insurance premium which means we ended up out-of-pocket the same amount whether we’d had insurance or not.
Hello all
I believe this should be part of the code of conduct because it does worry me that I wont get “looked after” if a sit is cancelled and I have to fly internationally for the sit
update the code of conduct to something like
“that any cancelations of a sit should come with some form of compensate for the other for travel costs or rerouting”
and/or
“both have agreed to cancel the sit with a compensate of $x.xx to cover the costs of etc etc”
I know THS offer a sit cancellation for a hotel room for up to 30 days.. but there is no provisions for re-routing or cancelling fees for prearranged travel to the sit location.
Or perhaps THS offer a THS travel insurance policy to cover such of an event ?
@DavidW A warm welcome to the forum. Nice to see you here.