I personally think that if a HO wants to offer to help out with air fairs to encourage a good quality last minute sitter it should be entirely at their discretion. In the same way a HO might collect a sitter from the airport to save them local travel costs, loan their car for the sit (to save on car rental costs) give a tip or leave wine & goodies or a food voucher etc…
I think the main point that goes against the t&cs is if the sitter actually asks for transport costs. That might make the HO feel uncomfortable and put on the spot.
Last year I saw a sit on the Isle of Wight, UK, where the host actually mentioned that the ferry cost could sometimes be off putting. So- as a helpful incentive- she offered her own ‘locals’ special discount card for sitters to use to get a cheaper ticket and use of her car whilst there. I thought that was a good attitude.
Was it a last minute sit? It certainly will be if @crisp cancels this sitter & needs to find a replacement, but I’m not sure it was a last minute sit to start with (I may have missed this in @crisp’s posts though)
The sitter never mentioned airfares when confirming the sit 14/4/24.
I am in Australia and still have 2 weeks until departure date. I like to have my sit organised in good time. All’s good
They didn’t mention it then, because they wanted to wait till closer to the sit, so they could extort you. Such people don’t belong on the platform, IMO.
The only way to stop this sort of thing, is for the HO to ask to see the sitters flight confirmation if they are from overseas, before confirming the sitter.
@Chrissie That wouldn’t work since most sitters would not be willing to buy a flight for a sit that is not confirmed.
Yes that’s true, but I would want to see flight details very soon after confirming the sitter, if I were a HO.
@Chrissie I guess it depends on how far out the sit is booked. I tend to book ahead. If I book an overseas trip 6 months ahead of time, it’s too early to get the best price on a plane ticket.
@Chrissie I think it also depends on the level of trust. We’ve done several sits where we flew in including our very first sit for 1st time hosts. We always send flight details when we have them- to reassure hosts- but we have never actually been asked to send them.
Once the sit is confirmed we are committed and we are 100% reliable. We would not however book our flights till after the sit is confirmed. So the HO does need to have a certain level of of trust.
I think most sitters are reliable and committed, but unfortunately, not all as @Crisp has found out.
@Crisp Please do mention this snafu – factually, not how it made you feel – in the sitter’s review.
Please.
You will be helping future homeowners be aware that this could be an issue if they decide to invite this sitter into their homes.
In that case, I certainly agree that it’s very unfair of the sitter to ask for their flight to be reimbursed. If I would have a confirmed a sit (as sitter) on 14/4, I would have provided my flight details within a week. And good tip for next time: ask the sitter to send you the flight details. If they don’t do so within say 2 weeks, cancel them. Also any contribution to costs because…eg. HO lives in an area that’s expensive to get to, should be discussed BEFORE the sitter accepts the sit.
There’s no way indeed that it would be acceptable to confirm a sit, then wait 4 weeks, and then by the time the HO has no other choice, suddenly ask for contribution to air fare. If that’s the case, the behaviour should definitely be reported to THS
Definitely ask for some money for fuel. I did a sit where I drove 600 miles to get there, which involved 2 overnight stays in BnBs (and the same in reverse) to do a sit close to a national park which I’d really hoped to explore with the dog. Unfortunately, despite my asking the relevant questions in advance to ensure that I’d be able to do as I’d hoped, the home owners had been at best economical with the truth, and at worst downright misleading. It turned out that the dog was absolutely terrified of even the sound of traffic, and after a couple of walks with really worrying incidents, for his own safety and comfort I decided to stick to a couple of local walks that he knew and was comfortable with. He couldn’t be walked directly from the house, as although it was rural, the sound of farm machinery also scared him. Technically, I COULD have done as planned and taken him exploring, but based on the behaviour that I’d seen I really felt it would have been irresponsible and potentially dangerous to do so. I just had to ‘suck it up’ and face the fact that my walking holiday wasn’t going to pan out quite as planned, and instead clocked up around 200 miles driving him to and from his twice daily local walks over the course of about 16 days. I asked the home owners for a contribution towards fuel and they gave me £50. I’m not sure whether my request contravenes THS rules - I tried to post on this forum for advice about requesting a contribution towards fuel, but was advised to sort it out with the home owner directly. Having spent something in the region of £540 of my own money in fuel and accommodation costs getting to and from the sit, I felt justified in asking for a contribution towards fuel used specifically for the purpose of walking the dog.
2-weeks and cancel? I’ve never had an HO ask for my flight or train details. The sit I’m on now was confirmed in Dec for an end of April start. I didn’t buy my plane ticket until late Feb. This sit is the first stop on a 6-month trip. There was a lot of other planning to do before finalizing the start/end dates to have dates to buy a flight. And I like to watch flights and buy when I’m getting the best price (had I bought the ticket right after confirming I would have paid significantly more than I did). Transatlantic flight prices can vary considerably from week to week. Once I’ve confirmed a sit, I’m committed and will be there. If it’s confirmed far ahead of time, I don’t see a reason why I should pay more to buy a flight right away. I’d be happy to share my travel details once I’ve made those arrangements, but no one has ever asked.
Hi, not talking about sits that get arranged a LONG time in advance :-). Of course it takes time in such case to sort out schedules etc.
However the HO in this case had their sitter accept the sit on April 14 for a sit in May. Then I would consider it quite logical to make sure that the sitter actually has confirmed by end of April that they have a train/plane ticket OR a clear plan for how to get to your house (maybe they’re driving; fine as well; maybe it’s just a quick train ride away with no reservations needed, etc but at least ‘a plan’)
I will always inform the HO that I have booked a flight/train and when I’m arriving. That way, they know I’m not just leaving it ‘hanging in the air’ till last minute as happened with this HO
Yeah, this is an unfortunate case. The sitter should have checked prices before confirming the sit. But I think most sitters are reliable. I typically ask HOs what time they are leaving and what time they would like me to be there and then make my plans based on that time. If I’m flying overseas, I plan to fly a few days ahead in case of significant delays.
Do you include transportation costs? Ie plane fares?
The HO of my first sit on this tour of England was worried about me not showing up (they had had that problem before), so I bought the ferry ticket immediately after confirmation and sent them a copy.
And I had bought a flexible ticket so there would not be a problem in case something happened in the meantime.
You mean showing the cost of the ticket to the HO? No, if it happens to be on the copy, then fine but I might also just provide a screenshot of the ticket or likewise
Therese…does this include requests to HOs for transportation costs?