I just had a sitter ask me to pay for her airfare from NY to San Francisco. I was in dire need of someone since the friend
who was staying at my house suddenly wanted to leave and I’m already on
my trip. She asked this a day after she had agreed to do the sit. Is this normal?! I told her I would pay for half the airfare and then she cancelled (after I had made all my plans based on the fact that she agreed to come). I then wrote and agreed to pay because I was in a spot (I felt like I was being blackmailed- either pay for airfare or go back to looking while trying to enjoy my trip) Is it appropriate for sitters to ask HO to pay airfare?? Thank you.
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nope- not normal - I think that’s a violation of terms. @Jenny should be able to guide you on how to report to THS
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Hi @Robertag,
This is what is stated in the Terms and Conditions which that sitter is violating.
5.3. The following applies only to Sitters. You will:
5.3.1. not require or demand any form of payment for carrying out a Sit;
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Hi @Robertag
Please do contact our membership service team so they can help you with this. As others have pointed out asking for airfare goes against the THS T&C
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No, completely against THS Ts and Cs @Robertag - report her at support@trustedhousesitters.com pronto!! 
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@Robertag DEFINITELY not allowed! However, by now everything is probably arranged and paid for, you are already on your trip, sitter is probably already en route, so the situation is probably irreversible. I don’t know that at this point in time there is very much you can do about it, a shocking situation!
If the sitter is not already en route - do you have pets to be cared for and if not, is it 100% necessary for someone to be there asap? If not, you still can look for someone else, with your friends assistance, as it may not be immediately dire, though definitely stressful.
My reasoning is, if the sitter is en route, the damage is done and the airfare is paid. I would be letting them sit but report them to TH AFTER they leave, not before or during. If they get suspended or spoken to buy TH e.g., they will possibly pick up their bags and walk out so you will be back to square one AND out of pocket. If not, you can still re-advertise if no pets involved.
What a situation, and what the**** is going on with sitters lately! 
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Hi again @Robertag and thank you for bringing this to the forum.
As @Cuttlefish and @ziggy have mentioned this is a difficult situation. I want to assure you all that our Membership Service team has already picked this up and is in contact with both parties.
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It’s not normal at all. Did you contact her through the site, or did she contact you? I’m not sure if it is a violation to ask, but certainly against the spirit of things. I could see how this could come about if you asked the sitter, and she said something like “I would love to but last minute airfare is crazy so the only way…” However, if she applied for the sit KNOWING she couldn’t pay the fare, she should be reported to THS.
Mind you, it’s entirely possible with something this last minute, you might not have been able to find somoeone through THS this is not in any way normal.
It’s not the norm ; however if this sitter has been offered this by other Homeowners in the past ,
it may have created an expectation that this is normal for a last minute sit request when air fare may be high.
It was recently discussed on another thread that Homeowner paid for sitters ticket so it’s not unprecedented.
If a HO reached out to a sitter to ask for a last minute sit some distance away from where the sitter currently is, it would not be unreasonable for the unpaid sitter to ask if their travel costs will be covered - but ideally this should be discussed before the sit was confirmed by both parties .
@Jenny I notice thread this has gone off topic from the Welcome Guide so may need to be moved by moderators to a more relevant thread ? 
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she contacted me and asked for the house sit. I spoke with her at length on the phone from Mexico! I cant say for sure but I have a feeling that she knew about the airfare. She accepted another job with people who would pay the whole thing. I’ve replied to support already and told them about it
No she’s not en route. she cancelled the next day saying she took another house sit with people who paid the airfare I’ve been on my trip for 10 days already and have another 4 and a half weeks left. And yes of course I would never report anyone while they were staying at my house still! But she has been reported! Thanks
Hi @Robertag
I’ve started a new topic for discussing your concerns, to keep the other discussion post on track, and also to make sure your own concerns have visibility to others on the Forum.
We’re really sorry to hear about this. As mentioned by @temba and @Ksquared, this appears to be a violation of the T&C.
Have you managed to make contact with Member Services about this, as suggested by @Kelly and @Cuttlefish?
Thanks to @Ksquared for tagging me as well.
Jenny
Spot on @Silversitters - I’ve tidied up the Welcome Guide thread - and moved everything about this topic over to a new thread.
Appreciate the heads up on this 
Not long ago I would have been horrified to read this but, to be honest, with the latest revelation that THS is demanding that sitters agree to pay homeowners vet and maintenance bills with no guarantee of reimbursement, the whole THS system seems to be turning into a wild west style, who cares about any sensible rules free-for-all!
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THS terms say they are not involved in any agreements reached between you and the sitter and this seems to have been backed up in some responses in other threads so in theory if you want to pay for airfare that is allowed.
If you are desperate for a very last minute sitter I can see why you may be willing to pay for flights but the issue seems to be that they agreed to the sit and then only wanted their flight paid for. For me this is a red flag and I would say a calculated move. I would not expect this to be a reliable sitter and they may even be using THS just as a means to get a free flight.
I can see you have reported them. I hope THS look a little deeper into this person and their previous sits.
I hope you manage to find a reliable sitter.
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@cawosey - basically if any agreements are made between homeowners and sitters and it ends in disappointment or loss of money don’t expect any support from THS as they are only a platform for introducing homeowners to sitters.
The T&Cs prove this point.
No, that should not happen, report her to THS.
I’ve heard of HOs offering this for sitters they really liked and wanted to have return, but that was because they wanted to and offered first.
Sounds like this HS literally pulled a fast one on you. The spirit of it is super off and sheisty.
I know this has already been reported but the other thing no one has mentioned is make sure you have back ups to your backups.
Sounds like you have friends and family, there is TH, but I would also encourage you to have your dog registered with several local sitters that you have tested as well so that if you find yourself in a situation like this again, you have a whole list you can run down.
We just moved so are still building our list up for our new location but in our old locale…
- friends I could rely on
- local trainers we had previously worked with that I knew would take my dog in in a pinch
- TH
- registered with some local house sitting services
Every single one on my list has failed me one time or another so having multiple options is always good.
Great idea. I’ve already started with Rover.com for short sits but will look for more. thanks!