Are you going to quit, change how you sit or what? I’d be interested in hearing (on one thread) what folks have planned.
Personally, I canceled auto-renewal and my membership won’t expire for a while, between paid fees and referral bonuses. So ahead of booking fees kicking in for me, I plan to pursue sits in places where I want to potentially repeat sit, so I might establish relationships with likeminded hosts. Then if things work out, I can drop my membership and sit without THS.
I already have some relationships like this with hosts, but there are other sits I’ve done where I don’t see myself visiting repeatedly, even if the sits went well.
This approach would work for me, because I’ve evolved into doing only say five or six sits a year and doing more nonsit travel. And even if I stopped sitting entirely, I’d still be able to travel quite a bit.
I’ve switched off auto-renew, and after 7 years of sitting via THS and a full set of 5-star reviews, I will certainly be looking for alternative platforms. It’s less about the money, and more about the principle for me.
The recent changes have made me question what I’m really looking for when I sit, and whether the way that THS operates still matches up to that. In the past, I’ve completed some truly life-changing trips via platforms where members work several hours each day in exchange for board and lodgings. These experiences have always been the sort of thing where the more you put in, the more you get out, so perhaps it’s time to look into that sort of exchange again.
I’ve also been day-dreaming about how difficult it would be to put together a platform which charges no membership fees, and acts solely as a meeting place for sitters and home owners, with the only catch being that members need to have been personally recommended - and invited by - another member in order to join.
It would grow slowly - initially by me reaching out to the lovely home owners I’ve sat for over the years, who in turn may wish to invite other sitters who they’ve used and been impressed by. But when you’re not looking to line your pockets, slow growth is good.
I’ve got the graphic design skills - any web developers out there?!
Pretty similar to you @Maggie8K. I took off auto renew and was offered a 20% discount off my basic plan to stay. This plan is not available to new members and the price hasn’t changed since I joined in 2013. I will probably renew but have no plans to pay any booking fees. As others have said it is the principle and how it was rolled out.
I have built up a network of contacts, both hosts and sitters. The sits I had scheduled for January, April, June and September have been cancelled by the hosts and we are still doing them but off the platform.
I see THS as simply a matching platform. I have no interest in their lounge passes, support or ‘insurance’. I really don’t need any more reviews to prove my worth.
I don’t need to sit but I choose to sit and I will also take more holidays without the time restraints and responsibilities of home and pet care.
@Maggie I’m staying, as long as they continue to guarantee no increase in membershp fees as long as I stay on auto renewal. I have the frozen fee confirmed by email from membership services. If that changes, I’m unlikely to stay as, at today’s rate, basic membership would increase for me by 70% (I’m a 10-year member). It’s not the cost, it would be the reversal of their current approach to freezing fees for classic/legacy members. I am likely to only do two or three sits each year and would be open to doing them off site as I have lots of reviews. Otherwise I’ll just begrudgingly pay the booking fee. I would also add wording into my profile to explain that I am open to off-site bookings and that current references are sits done with TrustedHousesitters hosts.
THS is by far the biggest and most successful homeowner and sitter matching service in the world.
As a Premuum member we are unaffected by the fee and even if we had to pay it we aren’t going anywhere.
I suspect most who plan to leave ultimately will take a look around at the competition or go at it alone and even the loudest complainers will quietly renew their memberships here after a short hiatus at most. .
I’ve put quite a bit of thought into this, and this is my plan:
My basic membership expires just two days before the new booking fees take effect, iow, no booking fees for me this coming year should I renew.
I have a confirmed sit scheduled for January, though I wouldn’t hesitate to cancel it if necessary.
I have already registered with the two new petsitting platforms currently under development.
In the meantime, I intend to maintain my membership for one more year (I may leave much earlier though), but I shall be treating it as (like I am treated) a strictly business arrangement. That is … take the best and leave the rest.
p.s. should my membership was due for renewal after Jan 7, I would absolutely not renew it
@becca I like your thinking about the vetted invite of sitters and hosts. Day dreaming is a good thing…
@maggie8k We are not big international travelers. We have been doing trips in the States and taking our kitty with us, which has made traveling more enjoyable.
We did just return from France and had a great sitter stay for a little over two weeks. It’s actually a lot of work pre/post having a sitter stay, I find…
The annual membership and the booking fee are not cost prohibitive for us - it’s the principal of the booking fee and lack of services and support when sits go bad, so what exactly is the fee for…?
We also have other options if we did want an in-home sitter for that rare occasion, so that’s a factor as well.
And there’s more of this type of stuff coming from THS to be sure…
We turned off auto renew and have until June 2026 to decide. We’ll probably not use THS over that time, so….I don’t know right now….
I will though be taking screen shots of my two profiles for posterity…
I disabled auto-renew and I’ll be leaving when my membership expires. I’ll submit a DASR (Data Subject Access Request) to retrieve all my data and then following this up with a GDPR Request to Delete, with this all my data has to be irretrievably deleted. THS is based in the UK and that’s where the data is held. THS is obligated by UK law to comply with these requests. Any member can request the same, regardless of where they reside, the data is held in the UK and that’s what matters. I have plenty of hosts I can get return sits with and I’m moving to another platform that will be launching. It won’t have anywhere near the hosts or sitters that THS has, but that doesn’t matter to me. I sit dogs for fun, to explore new places and meet new people. I don’t do it because I need somewhere to either live, or work from. The private equity investors have sucked the fun from my membership. They make it plain they are a matching platform and I equate that with Match or Tinder in the dating world. Imagine having to pay a fee every time a date was arranged.
I have premium as both a sitter and a host. My renewal date is a long time off. I think I have one of those deals where I get two months if I keep it on so I will. Honestly, the world and things change fast, so I have no idea if I’ll renew or if the company will still be here. (Possibly the card on my renewal doesn’t work so I’d have to change it anyway.)
These discussions and the feelings about the cancellation plan have made me doubt everything but I’m not surprised at the corporate money grab. Because my renewal is a long time off, I can keep looking at other sites and make a decision at some point to regsiter with another site if things slide downhill here.
There is a lot I will do for a great sitter. I will clean every nook and cranny of my home. I will leave them a nice bottle of wine if appropriate or some other beverage and treat if not. I’ll make sure to have plenty of coffee and tea, shelf-space and fridge space, and deal promptly with any issues that arise, but if they ask me to pay their fee or hint I should they are not sitting in my home. If the fee is wrong for thee, then it’s wrong for me. I am unlikely to agree to take the sit offsite so that a sitter can avoid the fee as I would lose the protections (such as they are) that I’ve paid for.
For 2026 I have 3 sits booked and 3 more bookings imminently pending. THS won’t be realizing any booking fees from those and I have some paid non-THS sits in the mix as well. Overall, I don’t think I will pick up any more than that for next year. I am strongly thinking of actually downgrading my membership tier. I feel a bit gleeful that they will actually make less money from me.
It’s disappointing that a booking fee has been introduced but overall still very much worth it for me to continue with THS. My experiences have been so positive over the two years I have been sitting that I think it’s great value for money.
Cancel on my renewal date. I have more than enough solid reviews and firm contacts to keep me going. It’s a lifestyle choice for me, not a necessity to travel. I do other things for travel which offer free accommodation, such as residential English Language Schools in Germany, Poland, Hungary. In fact it was on one of those that I met a lovely Australian lady who introduced me to this site. I also became TEFL qualified from that.
We have had a fantastic time of sitting for some wonderful hosts and their gorgeous pets. We have received support from THS when it was really needed. So for us, we enjoy the security of the platform from THS and for now will continue on our journey. This said, we like so many others were appalled and frustrated by the new booking fee which was a very unjustified fee on both sides. So for now we will sit tight and watch . . .
We have cancelled our THS membership auto renewal . We were already planning to do fewer THS sits in 2026. We will be continuing to house and pet sit. We already have several paid ( repeat) sits booked in.
Prior to the THS booking fee per sit announcement , we were undecided whether to continue with just basic THS membership or not to renew .
We had turned down several paid sit invitations to honour our last THS sit - a month long sit over the Christmas & New Year which we were looking forward to ( having confirmed it 8 months in advance )
When that was cancelled only three days before the start date (and coincidentally on the same day as the booking fee announcement ) our decision was made easily.
We will continue house sitting ( paid ) but we won’t be renewing our THS membership .
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time with THS but the model is no longer working for us .
@dma this comment has really stayed with me. Why would a sitter in the U.S. pay $12.00 to sit locally…? This is such a good point. And so short sighted of THS.
We are not impacted by the booking fee as our next renewal is years off because of referrals. We have almost 100 5 star reviews already, so will be happy to sit off platform if requested by the homeowners. We only apply for super desirable sits in expensive destinations and will continue to do so as needed. However, well be actively looking at other options/platforms as alternatives because we simply dont trust THS to do the right thing any more. As we are full time travelers, well also be looking to establish a home base and build our credits on non-sit exchange platforms like Kindred and Home Exchange…less responsibility but similar trust based relationships. And, as a content creator and affiliate with all of the big platforms, we’ll be toning down our support of THS and doing our best to promote alternative platforms, both established and emerging. And no more referrals - we dont need the extra months and the bad taste in my mouth won’t let me.doi it without lots of riders.
