Has anyone tried both and upgraded to premium because the airport lounge passes and insurance make it worthwhile? We will probably take 8/10 flights this year. Also, are the passes for the member and HS partner or just member? Thanks everyone 
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Not 100% sure about the number of passes but I think its just two. If you are flying international or a place were you would need to book a hotel if the sit gets canx. YES its definitely worth it. Iâm a local sitter building my profile but next year I plan to do further a field and will be needing the canx insurance. Unless you take out a high end travel insurance that covers accommodation cancellation that is not paid accommodation.
For me yes it is worth it especially if
- Traveling a lot that year
- Doing or expecting to do multiple sits.
Have I used all the benefits yet no and hope not to aside from the lounge passes, which add to the travel benefits I already have via other sources being that I travel a lot.
It also adds a layer of âsecurityâ to the HOs who are also most often also premium members.
I find it instills confidence to them which is an unseen valuable benefit.
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For me no. I travel with my own insurances and am very adaptable when things get cancelled. We weighed up what it would bring to us and our answer was nothing apart from the uncertainty if we were covered or not.
The one thing it does give which may help you get sits is a nice bold badge on your profile which indicates you are a Premium Member. Some members may be unaware this does not mean you are the âcrème de La crème â and think they are getting the best care possible for their pets and home. They might be but the badge does not guarantee that. I think it is very misleading for members.
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Agreed. Just words left to personal interpretation. Similarly like becoming a member, or having a background check,
does not guarantee a trusted person.
Responsibility of choices are always our own personal comfort level
I am a premium member that has been sitting full-time for five years. I believe this membership is worth the cost though it is important to know the specifics of the insurance policy. For example, this insurance policy only covers you for cancellation if the owner cancels your sit fifteen days or less prior to the sit.
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We are up for renewal in a month and have previously been paying $339CAD for a Premium membership. But right now, we are torn about spending that extra $120 a year for the premium over the standard membership. We donât care about the lounge passes so itâs really just about the insurance.
If we were able to get the kind of sits in France and Italy that we are looking for, the insurance would be worth the investment, but for now, it seems we can only find sits in North America (because obviously most of the European sits are closed before we have a chance to apply). We donât need insurance for sits in NA because we arenât making the same financial travel investment.
I guess we have a month to decide.
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Thinking about upgrading to a premium membership. If youâre a premium member, have you ever used the trip cancellation insurance? Iâd like to hear about your experience.
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Have you ever needed the trip cancellation insurance? I see that TH will first try to find you an alternate sit. But I donât know if we can turn those down depending on the location or if the sit includes cats. My wife is highly allergic to them.
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I just submitted a claim for a cancelled sit. THS does not try to find you a sit, they just tell you to search for other sits. I asked about location and they told me it just needed to be in the same city. I did a search in the region and then expanded my search to a much larger area and didnât find a replacement sit (Europe in June - sits go really fast). Iâm hoping the insurance works since the cancellation was very expensive for me.
@denniscnewman Iâve had two homeowners cancel on me this year and I asked membership services to help me find alternative sits a d they did not help me. They told me to just find other sits on my own
I have and itâs Definitely Not worth
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It says you get 2 free airport lounge tickets, is that per trip, or per year?
Per year @HappyDeb - we have premium and used ours in the new Istanbul airport in April. They were good and would have cost more than the $45 upgrade fee.
Weâve had regular membership for seven years, and been sitting full-time for the last nearly four. Itâs worked just fine for us. We donât fly because climate change, so the airport bit wouldnât be of any value to us, and weâve never needed insurance or paid nights through cancellations. I agree with @ElsieDownie, home owners could think âpremium membershipâ means superior pet/home care - though actually, I donât think âsuperior hostâ when I see it on home ownersâ listings, rather âpaid a bit more to jump the queueâ!
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@systaran sorry to hear that youâve had a cancelled sit .
The insurance will cover you provided youâve met all the terms and conditions - such as
Alternative Accommodation must be not be further than 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the location of the original sit.
â˘a limit of $150 per night will be reimbursed
⢠Policy Excess- sitter pays first $100
⢠$1500 total limit
â˘THS must be notified of cancellation within 24 hours
â˘receipts must be provided for all expenses.
Please report back on the outcome of your claim - many have asked the question is it worth it ? To date Iâve not seen a reply from anyone who had to claim so it will be great to know how it works out for you . Also how quickly you get the money back .
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Per yearâŚâŚ
Welcome @Lucians - welcome to the forum .
For those who are thinking of upgrading to Premium , it would be really useful why itâs not been worth it for you- could you share your experience ?
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Yes please @systaran to knowing how the claim works out. The passes
were worth it alone @Silversitters for the extra we paid but havenât had to use the insurance yet. We changed our membership level when we had two costly International sits cancelled with no good reason, both by the same owner (with multiple homes). And yes please @Lucians as to why itâs not worth it for you? Thanks all. Ever wonderful forum input at work 
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It was worth it to us. We were cancelled by HOs last year for a 2 week house sit within 14 days of the start. We managed to find a replacement sit that covered all but 3 nights. You must do this on your own, THS does not do this for you. At the time, the excess was $25. I see that now this has increased to $100. After a lot of follow-up emails and some persistence, we were finally reimbursed for our 3 nights in an airbnb.
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