Premium Membership Cancellation Insurance Terms

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

In case you bought premium like me and haven’t had to use the cancellation yet…and perhaps did not read the terms… And we all know lounge passes are a joke.
I just had a sit cancel for 4 nights starting this Sunday in Joshua Tree. No interest in staying in JT without a sit but stuck in accomodations there. Had no idea about the 20 miles limit and USUALLY stay in cities - this was an exception I won’t make again.

From my THS help chat ( including getting disconnected MULTIPLE TIMES and starting over many times.) Waiting for a call back that I am sure will never happen.
Agent from chat help transcript first disconnect after this:
"As you have our premium membership you may be able to make a claim on our sit cancellation plan.

This can help you cover the cost of alternative accommodation up to a value of $150 USD per night or currency equivalent. The total for the claim not exceeding $1500 USD or equivalent at the exchange rate applicable is shown on OANDA.com on the date of payment. Subject to a $150 contribution subtracted from the total reimbursed.

This does not include any travel expenses or other costs experienced due to the cancellations.

The currency the accommodation is paid in will be the currency the claim is paid out if accepted by the adjusters.

Importantly, if the cancellation does not result in a financial loss on your part or any loss can be avoided by changing your plans, a claim can not be made. Where financial loss is unavoidable, we will ask you to provide evidence.

Unexpected cancellation must occur less than 14 days before the agreed sit start date or during the sit, but before the agreed end date.

Cancellations due to government-imposed regulations, such as Covid-19 travel restrictions are not covered in this plan.

You will need to find accommodation within 20 miles of the location of the cancelled sit and book and pay for that accommodation.

You can then submit a claim to us, by providing your accommodation receipts including dates of stay and details of when and why the sit was cancelled. This can be by providing screenshots of messages between you and the owner, on-site inbox messages or personal emails.

Please ensure that check-in/out dates are visible on the receipt, along with the accommodation address.

The Premium membership would have needed to already have been in place before the sit was cancelled; therefore, we are unable to consider any claims where the upgrade of membership was made after the sit was cancelled.

Should the upgrade and cancellation fall on the same day then this will need to be clarified by timestamps of the cancellation and upgrade and any claims processed will be at the discretion of our partners.

We are unable to offer any pre-authorisations and claims can only be made after you have booked and paid for the accommodation. It is then passed to our partners and is paid at their discretion and as per the terms of the plan.

All successful claims are subject to a $150 contribution fee, normally deducted from the settlement from our partners.

Please have a thorough read of our plan terms.

Please forward us the relevant information regarding the cancellation and any receipts of payment so we can move forward with submitting your request. Please note that this does not confirm the claim has been approved, as that decision is in the hands of our partners and as per the terms of the plan."

(Agent name removed as per posting terms)

2

We’ve just had the opposite experience and positive proof of the value of having premium membership @WheresBabZ We have always used the lounge passes successfully & now the cancellation insurance too. Lounge passes to date have saved us $154 in BKK and $119 in Istanbul and we will use in Qatar soon. We had a 6 day sit cancel two weeks ago within 3 days of it starting. It was Bayram/Eid in Turkey which is not good news as an expensive time and sits here are scarce. Contacted THS support. Super helpful, very responsive. Yes they advised to read all the Ts & Cs but we did and they applied. Found accomm, submitted the bill, screenshots of the HO cancellation, screenshots of no available sits in SW Turkey for our dates & also of the map between sit and hotel accomm (16 miles). Roll on only a week and an update was sent and then a email with claim approved and payment in process. $750 of the $900 it cost us for the 6 night gap. Offer of TL into our Turkish account or GBP into our UK one. Really can’t fault that in anyway whatsoever, all insurance has small print and this seems better than expected. It paid out what it promised :raised_hands:t3: As an aside the membership upgrade only cost $45 on a BF offer #verygladwehadit

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3

Lucky you. My customer service experience was beyond poor with all the chat disconnects. Haven’t had a call back as promised. Never got a lounge pass no matter how or when I ask. Fortunately business class seats and loyalty gets me in along w Priority Pass. Have much better experience with other platforms. I’m getting tired of hearing THS has a small team doing the best they can. Only when you need them. Which isn’t often. But that’s when we need them. Let alone their review process and rules.

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4

Never had a problem getting and using my lounge passes, about to use one again in Barcelona. No problem getting into lounges. Passes have always arrived via email same day as requested, usually within hours. Also have had 100% positive responses from support, always well within 24 hours. I think you may have just been unlucky or had phone connection issues when trying to connect, don’t know. :person_shrugging: You posted the same on another topic so you might like to read my other response there

Topic…Host cancelled sit three days before it starts.

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5

Not had the same but know it’s been an issue for some members connecting. You normally just email the lounge pass request with the date, flight, destination and full names of passengers and they come back the next day. Hope you get some help soon @WheresBabZ :hugs:

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6

What do you mean by “And we all know lounge passes are a joke.”?

We used ours last year and loved them.

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7

Yes I’m Aware. Also not available in all airports.

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8

@WheresBabZ You’re right they are not in every airport. THS works with loungpass.com and you have to select a lounge from their list (which says there are lounges in 350 airports). My main airport in the US is Chicago O’Hare and the list does not include any lounges in Chicago. So, I have used the passes for layovers in Dublin and in London. I’ve always received the passes within 24 hours and had no problem using them.

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9

As I said I am aware. I travel full time. It is not a benefit that works. I’ll reevaluate the premium now that I have experienced the poor support and completely t&cs. I don’t understand why they care where you stay if they’re limiting to $150/night anyway??? Big city no issue. Learned my lesson no more outside city sits. This was first and last.

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@WheresBabZ I think with any insurance you just have to know what is covered. I agree that it’s overly restrictive, the 20-mile thing is ridiculous and $150 a night is too low for most areas, especially when you are having to get accommodations at the last minute.

I also agree that member support is abysmal. THS needs to hire more people and then train them to actually provide support.

However, last summer I had a 10-day sit in Switzerland cancelled 4 days before the start date. I was already in Europe and had another sit scheduled after. With some difficulty, I found hotels within 20 miles (had to split between two hotels because there were no hotels within 20 miles available for the full 10-days). I paid $200 a night, so $2000, and was eventually reimbursed $1500. It was a huge hassle and I had to keep following up with member services, but I did finally get the $1500. I do think the extra cost of the premium membership was worth it.

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11

That’s really tough for you and rather odd as I am also a huge supporter of premium. Have only ever once not been able to get into a lounge and it was in my own « home » city end of year. Like others here, I also have lounge benefits as a perk with other credit card memberships and also use those. I travel a lot too and they are a truly welcome treat.
My experience is and has been quite to my satisfaction as you can see here on a very recent cancellation the day before the sit
.

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12

@WheresBabZ thanks for highlighting the T&Cs of the Premium Plan for others to be aware of it .

The restriction to within 20 miles could definitely cause problems in some locations and some times of year so it is something that sitters need to be aware and not assume that they be covered .

Having the unfortunate experience and related stress of two curtailed sits ( which were back to back ) - the sit cancellation Plan provides us some peace of mind . However we are fully aware of it’s limits and that it won’t cover all of the related costs .

When the sit cancellation Plan is our Plan B we do a little research into the alternative accommodation that is available in the 20 mile zone before committing to a sit. This isn’t restricted to hotels and includes AirBnBs which would be of more benefit to us - (with access to cooking facilities so we don’t have the expense of eating out ) .

We don’t rely on Premium as our only Plan B we also think about cost of last minute travel to another destination/ replacement sit - friends and family or returning home .

We have used the lounge passes successfully in a London airport. However , I wouldn’t pay for Premium membership just for this perk alone .

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13

This part is just ridiculous! If the insurance kicks in for sits cancelled within 14 days of start date, who’s going to travel to within 20 miles of the sit location if not already there? Also, on rural sits, it’s not going to be easy finding last-minute, available accommodation, within that 20 mile radius!

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14

This is my take on this and just my own strategy in managing my life. If you have not yet traveled to the sit site, you have 2 weeks to find another sit or to 1. stay home if you maintain a regular abode or 2. Find alternative accommodation. The cancellation policy is meant to assist those already in situ.

A person who is nomadic, as I am, need to be prepared for the what if’s. Such as have other resources. We cannot depend on home and pet sitting to be our « home » 24/7 and we certainly cannot depend on others to provide for us. We have to be smart and responsible for ourselves.
Even a person with a home, owned or rented is wise to prepare for the eventual upsets that happen be that catastrophic or just some unexpected occurrence.
At any given time, anything can happen. Loss is part of life. Life itself has no guarantees.
We have to learn this and accept that.

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15

We too are full-time sitters, currently on a sit in the south of France.

Our next sit is some 250 miles away, closely followed by another back in the south. If our middle sit was cancelled within 14 days of the start date, and we could not find another sit (there are very few available in France, at the moment), we certainly would not travel to within 230 miles of the cancelled sit, in order to make use of any insurance cover.

This is why we choose not to have premium membership. If things go wrong, we’ll sort things out for ourselves. We currently only sit in the UK and in France, so maybe this makes a difference (lots of alternative sits in the UK and we are camping in between France sits, by choice).

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16

Exactly my point. We would make other plans. Unless of course it makes financial sense.
We have to weigh what will be most beneficial.

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17

Thanks all for your comments and thoughts. I am also a solo nomad. I’ve dealt with lots of things that go wrong while traveling. Sure lessons learned on this one. My point was to be sure others were aware of 20 mile limit (ridiculous) and support issue I experienced.

I am between sits as I mentioned. Spending the summer in CA. Palm Springs then San Diego for the rest of summer and Fall roadtripping in my car. There is no “home” to retreat to on purpose and I book sits geographically for a reason.

As I mentioned Joshua tree was a. Filler between long sits 3-4 week sits and I won’t apply or sit in remote locations again in case something happens.

In general for many years I’ve had amazing sit experiences and this is the first last min cancel in years.

I was shocked by the support experience and don’t understand the 20 mile limit.

I’ve got a place to stay until the next sit starts in San Diego. It’s been a great 3+ weeks in an amazing dream home with most adorable easy dog in PS and hosts are just the best. Already booked for more at their request.

Wishing you all safe travels and nice homes and fun animals wherever you are.
Cheers
Barbara

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18

Good journey and well done.
Thank you for coming back and sharing.
Stay well

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19

All good news, Barbara, safe travels.

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Yes exactly my point. Not useful really.