I have been officially invited to sit for a lovely pet.
Family lovely too, they have booked their accommodations for the holidays, but not the flights yet.
Not wanting to put them under pressure, I asked if they have any idea of when the flights will be booked. I have been told that prices are crazy at the moment and they’re waiting for them to go down. They’re not sure of when this happens, but they could wait up to a month.
What would you do?
It depends on your circumstances?
Do you also need to book flights to get to the sit ?
Does this sit need to fit in with specific dates to work for you ( e.g. vacation time from work or Another confirmed sit ) ? Is this a sit that you really want , or one that you have done before ?
What would be the impact to you , if this sit was cancelled or the dates changed ?
It sounds to me that they want to see prices come down but will book either way before they need to leave as they have accommodations already booked. I know people that do this. They never cancel a trip just trying to get the best rate. Do you get the vibe they will cancel if prices don’t go down. They are probably experienced travelers who do things this way.
I don’t pursue sits with hosts who don’t have firm dates.
During video chat, I make clear in a conversational way that I won’t make travel arrangements till I receive in writing their departure and arrival times, as well as their welcome guide (regardless of format). That’s to avoid miscommunication and other problems.
If you decide to wait for them, what happens if flights or other costs turn out to be too much for you?
I find it odd that they book accommodation without flights. If accommodation is fully flexible rate they can cancel it without being charged anything, HOs can also cancel sitters.
I don’t think that the owners are being fair to you. They cannot keep you dangling on a string for up to a month.
I was in this position once where we tentatively agreed to the sitting but it was never confirmed. They kept looking for flights, I only had to drive there, but in the end the sitting never happened. As it wasn’t confirmed then I could continue looking for sittings.
I have carried out dozens of sittings where the owners had to book flights. Apart from the example above, they all booked the flights within a few days of the sitting being confirmed. I then booked our flights to suit all parties.
If I were you, I would ask for them to unconfirm you so that you can look for other sittings
Thank you for your message @Silversitters I appreciate your questions.
Every year in the last few years I travel to Ireland and I spend three months during the Summer. That means that I drive all through France and then sail on the ferry to Ireland. During the time I spend in the island, so far I’ve got a few sittings to cover more or less the entire period with a few accommodations in between.
In the previous years I booked a flexible ferry ticket in advance prior to booking sittings. A couple of times I lost some money when I amended dates as if the fee on the amended date is lower than the previous one, it is not possible to get a refund.
This year I’ve thought of going with the sittings being booked first and then purchase the ferry ticket accordingly.
If I went for this sitting, the current ferry ticket would be very high, being €500 just for the way out.
I applied for another sitting in the same area and a few days before this one, but haven’t heard from HOs yet. No other sittings booked anyway.
I hope this makes the scenario a little bit clearer.
I think that too.
They say that at the moment they just have the accommodation booked and will definitely book those dates for the flights.
As the prices are just a bit crazy at the moment, they say that it could be another month or more before they book. They can’t say for sure.
They understand that I am not comfortable with this though, but these are the dates they will definitely be travelling they say.
They say that they would have no problem either if I did need to stay a day or 2 longer either side either, if that would make it a bit easier.
They are nice on this prospective and I understand that they are new to THS, this is just the second sitting and their first one was very short and didn’t have to travel abroad.
There is still some uncertainty though.
Thank you @Itchyfeet
I haven’t confirmed the invitation yet.
I wouldn’t confirm until they have a flight. I would keep looking. I would take something else if it was firm.
You could let them know that you’re happy to sit for them BUT until they book their flights you’ll be looking for other sits . So that they understand that you won’t just be idly waiting for them (and potentially missing out on other sit opportunities.)
There are circumstances where I would consider confirming a sit even if the host didn’t book their travel yet, therefore creating firm dates that matched with the listed dates.
But generally speaking I would not book a sit if the hosts told me that they still had not booked their travel and especially if they may not do so for at least a month.
While there are no guarantees with any booked sits as far as whether it goes as planned, there are measures sitters can take to minimize the risks of problems.
And in this circumstance I would see a higher risk of cancellation which could cause a lot of issues.
And there is a possibility I would have to cancel the sit if they ended up changing the dates and it didn’t work for my schedule any longer–for example if they moved the start date later, creating a gap in my schedule where I would probably end up having to pay for accommodation– unless it was a sit I really really wanted to do or I didn’t think I’d be able to find a suitable replacement –I probably wouldn’t be interested in taking on such an expense,
Especially as a full-time sitter who may have sits booked before and after already, it could make filling the dates more challenging as it could limit my options as to where it is feasible to go in between.
I think in this instance if you were to want to cancel, it would be reasonable.
6 posts were split to a new topic: Difficult experience with a sit
Hi @ariela I am sorry to hear of your current predicament. I have passed this across to the Membership Services team who, I can see, are currently assisting you.
If it’s a tour, which typically includes accomodations, then it’s very typical to book the flights later.
@Mokina, we have faced unbooked pet parent travel dates a few times.
Like @Silversitters, we assess each situation on a case-by-case basis. Is the housesit spectacular or everyday?; to what degree does it suit our travel plans?; how difficult would it be for us to edit initial travel dates?; is host willing that we arrive one or more days early and/or leave one or more days late from housesit dates?
As we have gained experience then we have become firmer in approach and less keen to create needless one-sided uncertainty. Our typical stance is now that we will formally confirm a housesit only when host has booked their trip. During period in which housesit has been offered but confirmed then we continue to assess alternative listings.
Unless there’s compelling appeal to listing or high host flexibility on arrival/departure date then we’d thank host for invite-to-sit and advise them that we are interested in sit but would confirm only once their travel plans are booked. Sometimes this may mean host finds another housesitter, and we’re ok with that.
I recently had a similar experience. I had booked the sit months ago. It was on the way back east from CA, 3 weeks in AZ. A few weeks ago, I sent a message if she knew her schedule since she thought she might add a day on the end, which I was prepared for. Suddenly she was asking me to arrive earlier, I said I couldn’t as I had a month long sit that ended the day before. Then it became 3 days after the initial sit was expected to end. I couldn’t do that. It ended up two days after the initial sit was expected to end. So be prepared for this type of back and forth.
@Jenny or another Moderator, is it possible to start a new thread for @ariela’s issue as it’s confusing having theirs mixed in with the OP’s question?
I don’t think we’ve ever had flights booked when a sitter has accepted an invitation to sit for us. Like your host, we book sits many months out and hunt for decent air fares which can take awhile. We’ve not had any applicants withdraw on learning our flights aren’t booked and we’ve not failed to book good flights at opportunistic prices.
I wonder. If you don’t trust what a host tells you about their flight plans, why would you trust anything the host tells you?
This is so individual :
Consider the repurcussions of ALL possibilites on your life - schedule, finances, other sits, etc. If you can live with not knowing and not locking in YOUR time, it is your choice. If you need for any reason the security of solid dates, this might not be the sit for you.
I personally would not accept a sit without firm dates if flights or long or complicated travel are involved.
If a sit is driveable, I would condsider a few days of flexibility if my schedule allows.