Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
11
Tips for Saving Money on Accommodations
Accommodations are one of the biggest day-to-day expenses you'll have. Cutting that cost down
can have the greatest impact on your budget. You can always spend a night on the train, follow the rule
that the more beds in a room, the cheaper it is, or try to stay with your grandmother's friend's cousin to save
money. But if those don't appeal to you, here are some other ways to save money:
Hospitality Exchange
The best way to save on accommodations is to not have to pay for accommodations—and a hospitality ex-
change does exactly that. Hospitality exchange services connect travelers with locals who offer a free place
to stay—no strings attached. Sometimes it's a bed, sometimes it's a couch, and sometimes it's literally just
space on the ground.
These sites work by having users sign up, create profiles, and connect with one another with the expecta-
tion that one day, those who will be hosted will pay it forward and host someone else. You don't necessarily
have to host anyone in the future, but most people find the experience of being hosted rewarding and do want
to host someone else in return.
There are four major hospitality exchange organizations:
Couchsurfing
(couchsurfing.com): Founded January 2004, this is the largest exchange, with
more than 3 million members in seventy thousand cities. Membership is free and you create
a comprehensive user profile about yourself (like Facebook, except public). Other users can
leave public reviews and recommendations on your profile. The majority of users on this site
are in their twenties and thirties.
Servas
(joomla.servas.org): This is the oldest hospitality exchange in the world. Servas was
created in 1949 and is actually recognized by the United Nations. Unlike Couchsurfing, par-
ticipation in Servas requires two letters of reference, a membership fee, and a personal in-
terview with a local Servas coordinator. After the interview, the traveler gets a “letter of in-
troduction” that's good for one year of travel, and a list of hosts in the country the traveler
is visiting. There are about thirteen thousand members in Servas, who are primarily baby
boomers and senior travelers.
Hospitality Club
(hospitalityclub.org): Founded in 2000, Hospitality Club is the second-
biggest hospitality exchange, with around 450,000 members. Membership is free, but to re-
gister, a member must provide his or her full name and address, which gets verified by a team
