We were standard level members for years, and in general, that was fine.
Some situations weren’t ideal.
Two or three incidents were no fault of the HO: (weather, flight delays, etc) and it wasn’t a big deal for us to adjust, leaving a day earlier or staying a day or two later.
BUT … 2022-2024 we have experienced increasingly inconsiderate behaviour.
VERY rare: we’re pretty good at spotting Red Flags.
One HO switched dates (start & finish) several times after we’d accepted the sit and even after the sit started. Ultimately it meant 1 day less at the start, 2 days less at the end. That HO didn’t leave a review but made false comments to us: IMHO, wanting to scare us from doing a poor review about them.
A second situation: Irresponsible HO behaviour led to a sit cancellation.
We were stuck in an expensive city during a holiday, scrambling.
Found a solution but it was stressful.
We switched to Permium Membership in 2023 and it has been VERY worthwhile.
First of all, once in your year of membership (whatever your specific Anniversary Dates are) you can request Airport Lounge passes.
We already have passes from a couple credit cards and love them.
Bottom line: if you are sitting in an airport for over two hours? The price of admission is generally better than hanging in uncomfortable airport seating and paying crazy airport restaurant charges.
Getting one set of passes annually from THS for free? Just that covers most of the difference between standard and Premium membership.
MORE importantly: peace of mind.
IF you are in a situation where a sit is cancelled (or for HO, sitter cancels) you aren’t stranded.
We had that happen and I have to give a HUGE shout out to the Trusted Premium Customer Care team. From start to finish they did amazing hand-holding, explained procedures, and led us through the process.
That service, helping guide us, was phenomenal.
Bravo to the team and if you’re wondering if the Premium is worth it?
Personally, we cannot imagine not having the peace of mind Premium provides.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
We already have lounge access through our Amex Platinum, so that particular perk isn’t really a draw for us. We’ve been Basic Sitters for years and never had any issues or hiccups that made us consider upgrading.
For us, the Basic plan has been perfectly sufficient, and we’ve never felt the need for additional coverage. That said, I can see how Premium might offer peace of mind for others in more unpredictable situations.
Glad it’s working well for you, though!
I thought the same for years.
BUT - dealing with two inconsiderate HOs whose actions caused big disruptions in our plans, changed our minds.
BTW, we don’t have unlimited lounge passes, but between my husband & I we have 14 free ones annually & are on plans that provide us discounted access to more.
The lounge passes are a nice perk.
The peace of mind is - to coin a phrase - priceless.
Probably worth it when you are sitting full time (or at least have many consecutive sits on a trip) and are using planes to get from sit to sit.
In the case that I would have a last-minute cancellation/date change by the HO, I might need to rebook tickets (ferry, train), or stay home, or return earlier, or do something else.
Pietkuip - IMHO the upcharge to Premium for anyone who does several sits a year, especially if those sits are a significant distance from where they live, is worth it. The difference in cost is the equivalent of one night hotel in most touristy areas. Once we got messed around by a couple HO we realized seemed silly not to upgrade. BUT I realize not everyone thinks as we do!
Hmmm, are you secretly on THS’s payroll to promote Premium? 
Jokes aside, I feel like the phrase “silly not to upgrade” and “I realize not everyone thinks as we do” (so obviously are not that smart as you?) might unintentionally come across as dismissive to those of us who have different solutions. Everyone’s circumstances and priorities are unique, and what works well for one person might not necessarily work for another.
There are people who prefer to insure themselves against every possible eventuality, and others who choose to save their money instead. We personally only have three insurances in total: private liability insurance, private health insurance, and an unavoidable car insurance policy that only covers the basics. We’ve been living like this for over 40 years and have managed to escape ruin, whether mental, physical, or financial, very well so far.
Fatamorgana - Sorry you read so much into the note which was only intended to express my appreciation for how much we’ve discovered we benefit from having upgraded to Premium after many years of the Basic Plan.
You have your style and we have ours and the thousands of members of THS probably represent 1000s of different perspectives.
Mine is just one.
BTW I have read posts about this issue which suggest the posters didn’t “get” the benefits of Premium which is one of the reasons why I chose to post this, because our experience (again, after years as Basic Members) has been excellent.
Another reason is that there seems to be a LOT of bitching about THS on this Forum and I don’t get it.
The Customer Care team has always been really helpful to us - regardless of our membership level - and we feel this platform has given us wonderful experiences we would not otherwise have experienced so I’m hoping to balance out the negatives with a positive.
I’ve read several posters mention that they were going to sign up but saw so much negativity on this Forum decided not to, that seems a shame to me.
I believe in the win/win here and we’ve certainlly experienced it.
A single night would not be worth claiming, with that deductible of $150.
One should assume that THS and their insurer are making a profit on this service. I am thinking about insurance in the same way as @Fatamorgana : I don’t take insurance for risks that I can absorb myself.
Pietkuip - Well, as I wrote in the OP, we’ve adjusted one, two, three nights when unexpected things came up and have no problem absorbing that ourselves.
My concern arose because of increasing issues on the platform. The THS community has gotten very big: inevitable we’ll cross paths with people who are not considerate. And that can have unfortunate impacts.
Peace of mind: I like it, but as I also wrote above, lots of perspectives on this!