For those of you sitters who have arranged transportation with the homeowner, say, from the airport to the sit or public transportation to the sit, how and when do you bring up the request/possibility ? In other words, if I’m looking at sits in areas with no public transportation (and having no need or desire to rent a vehicle as I’d be staying on site for the duration of the sit), how do I gently ask if the homeowner is ammenable to picking me up at the airport, bus stop, etc ? Obviously I wouldn’t bring it up at the last second but it seems a bit “off” and presumptuous to mention it in the initial application.
This sounds to me like something that would come up quite naturally during the call/video chat with the HO.
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I was picked up a few times and it was always the host who offered
I usually say something along the lines of ‘I’m looking at transportation to your home. Can I confirm such and such is the nearest train/bus station?’ I have this conversation around 4 weeks before the sit. When they reply they usually say they will pick me up. However I never expect it and have had to catch a taxi sometimes from public transport.
I have found it’s very much a natural part of the conversation as homeowners realise we have luggage with us.
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I would think just asking how one gets from station to home would/ should open that kind of conversation. If they are hospitable it would be quite obvious to say something about it and/ or offer. If they don’t offer at that point that would probably be your answer.
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I only take public transportation when doing international sits. If I am flying in from another country I am almost always arriving at least a day prior to when I am expected at the house so obviously they wouldn’t be picking us up as we aren’t set to meet yet.
But there were some times we were flying in and meeting hosts immediately and they did offer to pick us up as they were located in areas where getting to their homes by public transport was not really possible. I think most hosts would offer in this instance, unless perhaps it was particularly far.
I have been sitting in the UK since March. Of the sits where we were arriving while the hosts were still going to be home, there were a handful of times people offered to pick us up from the train/bus station and we kindly took them up on it.
For the rest, there was no mention made and getting to their homes on foot or by public transport was very easy so we just did that. In a case like this, where we can easily get to their home on our own, I wouldn’t ask if they didn’t bring it up first.
Now in your case, where getting there on your own would not be possible without someone coming to get you ,or paying for private transport by car, I think it is okay to bring this up in the initial application if you think it would make a big difference in whether you would consider the opportunity. These sorts of logistical aspects are a major factor in people choosing the appropriate sits, especially something like this as depending on the distance and the area, getting there by car hire could be quite costly.
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Best to get all these kind of issues sorted out right at the start, so the initial video or phone call chat.
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I’ve had maybe one-third of my hosts volunteer to pick me up at the airport, train station, a city where I’d be sightseeing or a hotel. One host volunteered to pay my roundtrip airport shuttle costs ($80 USD) and pick me up and drop me off at the shuttle station (at a hotel) in their community.
If I wanted to apply for a sit and couldn’t arrange for my own transport, I’d mention it in my application, to save everyone time in case the hosts didn’t want to do a pickup / drop off.
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I would include it in my initial application. This would be because, I am assuming, that it would be listed as a sit for which a car is required. Therefore I would mention right from the start that I have no need of a car because I do not need to go anywhere while I am on the sit.
In my profile I mention that I do not use a car and have traveled extensively using public transport. I also mentioned that I have done sits up to five weeks in length in very remote places. I would repeat this in my application and ask if they would be amenable to collecting me from the nearest accessible point.
Some homeowners will say that they prefer you to have a car in the event that an animal needs to be taken to a Vet and I can understand this.
You also then need to consider how you will get your groceries, usually home owners stop off with me on the way home to allow me to shop for groceries. On a couple of occasions I was asked to send a list and they did the shop before my arrival.
In one instance, after I sit had been confirmed, the homeowner changed her mind because she was not convinced that I could survive in a isolated situation for two weeks. I did find this extremely annoying.
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@toreishi You can discuss this and other crucial logistics (such as specific arrival and departure dates) during the video chat. Such details are important when deciding if you’ll take the sit.
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Just ask - if in an area where transportation is a challenge, folks often offer. Sometimes, the HO will tell me they can’t and that I need to take a ride-share if there is no public transportation. If I am unwilling or the transportation to/from the airport will be too difficult (or expesive), then I withdraw or don’t accept the sit if offered.
My current sit, the HO offered to pick me up at an airport that is 90 minutes away if it would save me significantly on air fare but I was able to fly to a local airport - she is letting me use her car so I took her to the 90 minute drive airport and will return the car there when she returns.
I’ve had folks do blind airport car swaps on both ends of sits; I’ve had folks pick me up at hour-distant airports at midnight, too. Maybe I’ve been especially fortunate to connect with good HOs. 
Just discuss it before agreeing to the sit.
(Of course, sometimes best-made plans can go south - for example during the UK rail strikes of 2022 
. Then you improvise!)
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Our house is located in the countryside a couple of miles away from shops and no local bus service. We always make it clear that the sitter will need their own transport for shopping and in the event of an unplanned visit to our vet some 7 miles away. We mention this in the 1st paragraph of our listing and in the email and video chats. If we lived in a town then that would be different. So each home will have its own requirements.
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I don’t think there is anything wrong with bringing it up during a chat and/or before confirmation. Most of the sits I’ve done on my own or with my spouse have been accessible by mass transit. Some have been within 7 hours driving distance – usually shorter – from our home and we’ve driven. In one case, in another country the owners wanted to go over directions and let us know right away that they would meet us at either the airport or the trainstation. A bus would have possible but it involved transfers and would’ve taken about 3 times as long.
If they aren’t willing/able to pick you up and it is a costly taxi, and they aren’t willing to cover that or help you in any way, that tells you something.
You could ask for recommendations for local taxis etc and see if that nudges them into an offer. In our case when sitting in Jersey Channel Islands we’re ‘picked up’ in the doggy car when the HOs arrive at the airport for their own trip away- in other words they leave the car in the Carpark with key hidden then they go to arrivals. Meanwhile we’ve already landed on the plane they’ll be likely flying out on! So we use their car to get to their home. The dog is only on its own maybe 3 hours. We reverse the process at the end of the sit. It works well.
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Mine have always been discussed during the initial phone call
I only apply if I am planning to get myself to the sit. In the video/phone call meet I ask when I would need to arrive and mention my plans for getting myself to their home. At that point, if there is no public transportation option, they have offered to pick me up and/or drop me off.
I never ask.
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