So, beginning today, in addition to a standard, One Year, Annual Membership, we are now offering a “Quickie” two month option for just $10.

I’m hoping that this will cut down on the continual complaint from members that some of their inquiry emails go unanswered. Unless these short, two month members chose to renew, their listings will disappear from view at the end of 60 days which means they will no longer be receiving unwanted contacts which they most likely choose to ignore.

This much shorter Membership option will also benefit people who never intend to become dedicated home exchangers, but simply need a one time home exchange to attend a specific event.

In this price structure update, we have also eliminated the Lifetime Membership option. It initially worked well, but with the passage of time we have found ourselves dealing more and more with Lifetime Members, who, despite repeated reminders from us, have failed to keep their listings current.

We will continue to email reminders to all current Lifetime Members whose listed home exchange dates and other published details are not current, then at some time in the future, we may be forced into a decision to hide any listings that remain “unloved”.

One great way to score free flights without tediously collecting frequent flier miles is to get yourself bumped off of the flight on which you are booked.

While getting bumped won’t make your current flight free, it will traditionally score you a free ticket you can use at a later date of your choosing.

Getting bumped is such a popular money saving strategy that there is a definite art and science behind it. Remember that you may not be the only person on your flight hoping to get bumped. It is important to follow the guidelines listed below to increase your chances.

- Book your flight with the intention of getting bumped. For instance, you may want to choose one of the first flights of the day, knowing that you will be able to get on a later flight after you are bumped and still reach your destination.

- Always ask if the flight is overbooked. It may be a good idea to call your travel agent the night before the scheduled flight to inquire. Always ask the gate agent if the flight is overbooked as soon as you arrive and let him or her know you will volunteer to be bumped.

- Always pack a flight schedule for your departure and destination airport. Be sure to get a schedule that includes all airlines, not just the one on which you are booked.

- Always arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes prior to scheduled departure. Try to be the first one in the check in line. Being the first in line will ensure that you are the first on the list of volunteers to be bumped.

- Before you agree to be bumped, be sure that the airline will offer a free ticket or other significant compensation. Individual airline policies vary, so be sure you know what is being offered.

- Some airlines offer vouchers in $100 increments, according to the time you must wait for another flight. For instance, a one hour wait entitles you to a $100 voucher, two hours means you get $200, etc.

- Before accepting your free ticket or travel voucher, let the gate agent know that you need to be sure of your arrangements for your current flight. Always make sure you are holding a confirmed reservation and boarding pass for a later flight before signing the agreement and accepting the free ticket.

- Tell the gate agent that you want a guaranteed, confirmed reservation on the next flight to your destination.

- If there are no guaranteed seats available on the next flight, inform the agent that you want a guaranteed seat on another airline.

- Use the flight schedule you packed to choose an alternative flight and airline.

- If the wait for the next flight exceeds two hours, ask the gate agent for meal vouchers. Most airlines make these vouchers available, but they do not always offer them without being asked.

- If you get bumped from your next flight, you could score another free ticket. It pays to be flexible any time you are flying on a budget.

- Remember there are no hard and fast rules everyone must follow. There are some regulations, but each airline sets its own policy with regard to bumping policy and compensation.

- The bumping rules are generally different for international flights, so be sure to ask the airline about their policies before volunteering.

For instance, while the traveler with only one bag is free to hop on the inexpensive city bus and pay as little as one dollar to get into town, if that same traveler is loaded down with three or four bulky suitcases, it is likely that an expensive taxi, and a potential fare of $50 or more, may be the only option.

This is just one example of how packing light can help you keep your travel budget under control, but there are many more examples, all borne of experience. In addition to saving money, traveling light makes sense on so many levels.

For one thing, you will enjoy your trip much more if you can just head straight out of the airport, without that long wait at the baggage claim.

Packing properly is an important consideration for the budget traveler. Traveling on a budget means traveling light. The more unencumbered you are by junk you don’t need, the more chances you will have and the less expensive your travel will be.

For instance, while the traveler with only one bag is free to hop on the inexpensive city bus and pay as little as one dollar to get into town, if that same traveler is loaded down with three or four bulky suitcases, it is likely that an expensive taxi, and a potential fare of $50 or more, may be the only option.

This is just one example of how packing light can help you keep your travel budget under control, but there are many more examples, all borne of experience. In addition to saving money, traveling light makes sense on so many levels.

For one thing, you will enjoy your trip much more if you can just head straight out of the airport, without that long wait at the baggage claim.

Traveling light also makes getting around town, from the airport and to the hotel, much easier. Carting a lot of luggage around unnecessarily is a waste of time, money and energy, and most seasoned travelers have learned not to pack too much.

Over packing, however, is a frequent mistake for the first time or inexperienced, traveler, and we are presenting the following list of tips for keeping your packing, and your budget, under control.

- As you are laying out all the things you want to take on your trip, separate them into three different piles the essential pile, the maybe pile and the non essential pile. Then put the non essential, and half of the maybe pile, back in the closet.

- If you possibly can, try to get everything that remains into one bag that can be carried on to the airplane. If you are unsure what constitutes a carry on bag, be sure to check with the airline.

- Do not pack any items that can be purchased inexpensively once you have reached your destination. Be sure, however to pack items that may be more expensive in a tourist area. One example of this, of course, is camera film. Film is often two or three times as costly in a tourist area, so if you have extra film at home bring it along.

- Keep the amount of clothing you pack to an absolute minimum. Choose clothes that can be combined into a variety of different outfits. Keeping the clothes you pack to a minimum is especially smart if you know you will be dong a lot of shopping, and buying a lot of clothes, once you arrive at your destination. Why cart your old clothes halfway around the world if you can wear your snazzy new clothes instead?

- If your vacation is a long one, do laundry while you are away instead of bringing a suitcase full of extra clothes.

- Always pack some versatile clothes. For instance, a pair of swim trunks or shorts can double as sleeping attire. T-shirts are equally versatile and comfortable.

- Pack a collapsible bag in your suitcase. This bag can be used to carry souvenirs and other purchases on the return trip.

- Be sure that all your luggage is clearly labeled with your contact information and name. Avoid putting your street address on luggage tags, however. It is best to use a post office box or a work address.

- Always place any items you need and cannot immediately replace, such as prescription drugs, eyeglasses, and important documents, into your carryon or purse.

- Place all travel documents, maps and printed itineraries on the top of the suitcase, or in a separate zippered compartment, so they will be easy to find.

- If you have an extra pair of eyeglasses at home in a drawer, you may want to bring them along, especially if you need glasses to read signs, find your way around, etc.

- Pack them in a hard sided case and place them either in a purse or a separate compartment of the suitcase. Eyeglasses can be difficult, time consuming and expensive to replace while on vacation.

- And finally, consider packing an extra wallet, with one or two credit cards but no cash, into a separate compartment in your suitcase.

- The purpose of doing this is so you will have emergency funds in the event your regular wallet is lost or stolen. If the credit cards in the suitcase are lost or stolen, they can be cancelled immediately and you will not be liable for any fraudulent charges.

Over packing, however, is a frequent mistake for the first time or inexperienced, traveler, and we are presenting the following list of tips for keeping your packing, and your budget, under control.

- As you are laying out all the things you want to take on your trip, separate them into three different piles the essential pile, the maybe pile and the non essential pile. Then put the non essential, and half of the maybe pile, back in the closet.

- If you possibly can, try to get everything that remains into one bag that can be carried on to the airplane. If you are unsure what constitutes a carry on bag, be sure to check with the airline.

- Do not pack any items that can be purchased inexpensively once you have reached your destination. Be sure, however to pack items that may be more expensive in a tourist area. One example of this, of course, is camera film. Film is often two or three times as costly in a tourist area, so if you have extra film at home bring it along.

- Keep the amount of clothing you pack to an absolute minimum. Choose clothes that can be combined into a variety of different outfits. Keeping the clothes you pack to a minimum is especially smart if you know you will be dong a lot of shopping, and buying a lot of clothes, once you arrive at your destination. Why cart your old clothes halfway around the world if you can wear your snazzy new clothes instead?

- If your vacation is a long one, do laundry while you are away instead of bringing a suitcase full of extra clothes.

- Always pack some versatile clothes. For instance, a pair of swim trunks or shorts can double as sleeping attire. T-shirts are equally versatile and comfortable.

- Pack a collapsible bag in your suitcase. This bag can be used to carry souvenirs and other purchases on the return trip.

- Be sure that all your luggage is clearly labeled with your contact information and name. Avoid putting your street address on luggage tags, however. It is best to use a post office box or a work address.

- Always place any items you need and cannot immediately replace, such as prescription drugs, eyeglasses, and important documents, into your carryon or purse.

- Place all travel documents, maps and printed itineraries on the top of the suitcase, or in a separate zippered compartment, so they will be easy to find.

- If you have an extra pair of eyeglasses at home in a drawer, you may want to bring them along, especially if you need glasses to read signs, find your way around, etc.

- Pack them in a hard sided case and place them either in a purse or a separate compartment of the suitcase. Eyeglasses can be difficult, time consuming and expensive to replace while on vacation.

- And finally, consider packing an extra wallet, with one or two credit cards but no cash, into a separate compartment in your suitcase.

- The purpose of doing this is so you will have emergency funds in the event your regular wallet is lost or stolen. If the credit cards in the suitcase are lost or stolen, they can be cancelled immediately and you will not be liable for any fraudulent charges.

Discovered and popularized by cash-strapped European teachers in the mid-50s, home exchange is the simple free-accommodation vacation idea where two people from different places exchange homes for a period of time. People caught up the idea right away.

Huge hotel bills simply disappeared for these people living in each other’s homes. In their borrowed homes, they cook and do their usual daily business as if they are in their own homes, when in fact they are on vacation. Travel budgets are cut more than half and the average guy enjoys his vacation like the rich guys do.

Other advantages begin to emerge, too, as this type of travel became popular through the years. Now, there are home exchange groups with their own websites who specialize in facilitating these exchanges more smoothly than before.

Where usual tourists are served with expensive hotel food (on top of their expensive accommodations), home exchangers get to cook their own favorite food in their exchanged houses. Where usual vacationers are herded along through their hectic destinations (“four cities in seven days” tour packages), the home exchanger strolls down a historic boulevard leisurely chatting with some neighbors or new friends.

There are other perks as well. Many stories were swapped as well with these house swappers, as they are called sometimes. Some were funny, some were quaint, and some were feel-good love stories. People on vacation meet all kinds of adventure but home exchangers are more susceptible.

Some stories, even in their brevity, paint some memorable encounters. Here are some of them:

“There is something addictive about taking the place of a ‘native’ family in a different culture. You are immediately living a life, not being an exploited tourist. The hints they leave: ‘Don’t go to the market on a Thursday, go about 1.00 on a Friday when they have all the bargains’; ‘The best and cheapest restaurant is…’, ‘If you want to see our country at its best then go to…’; People couldn’t be more friendly and helpful. ‘My friend will take you to…’; ‘If you need any more information then ring my friends and they will come round’, ‘My neighbors will give you a typical meal from the region and take you to see the best view in our area’”.

“At our Boston exchange…we waited a week before realizing we didn’t know where to empty the kitchen garbage. We looked on the back porch, in the garage, in the front yard, everywhere we could possibly imagine, but couldn’t find the garbage can anywhere…We finally gave up and called our exchangers.

‘The garbage? We don’t empty the garbage. We store it in the basement.’ Turned out that our exchangers…eliminated their garbage service in favor of a serious recycling program. They store it and take it to the dump once every month or two.”

“Having completed two big trips, we reconciled ourselves to a final few days in Reykjavik. Almost half the population lives in the capital and on Friday and Saturday nights, we joined residents to drink coffee in mellow little shops, dance in all-night clubs where the joyous atmosphere felt like a high school dance, and dine on the national dish, which is a really terrific steamed hot dog served with two kinds of mustard, fried and raw onions, and remoulade…Five dollars: a dog and a Coke.”

“A family from Big Sky, Montana, arrived at their Caribbean exchange home to find a 42-foot sloop complete with a captain and first mate. New Jersey exchangers got much more than they bargained for when they spent six weeks overlooking Hong Kong harbor, their meals served by a live-in maid.”

Sometimes, our most-carefully planned home exchanges bring us other things totally out of the blue. Thankfully, most of them are full of pleasant surprises. Who wouldn’t want that?

Similar situations have arisen before over the years and of course we never provide non-members with the contact information of our paying members. But—when I am approached by people who blatantly inform me that that are listed on free sites or on classified advertising websites, I must admit I’m seriously worried for them.

By deciding to participate in a home exchange they are already saving hundreds, probably thousands of dollars, pounds, euros, whatever. Are they really being prudent to then save themselves the price of a legitimate home exchange organization membership by opting to advertise free?

Think about it rationally—a membership with ExchangeHomes.com costs a mere $39. This is the fee that all of our members pay, but the critical fact is, because they have paid, all the personal contact information they provide us with HAS BEEN IRREFUTABLY VERIFIED. They are who they claim to be and their address exactly matches the one they have listed. Credit card companies will not accept charges from anyone whose details differ even in the slightest way from what they have on record.

On the other hand, when you advertise on free sites or in classified ads, how do you know that people responding to you, are who they say they are, living where they claim to live? In my book it takes a big leap of faith to entrust your home and probably your car to someone who you “met” on a free site.

Of course I reference ExchangeHomes as an example because it’s my home exchange company, but the reality is, there are plenty of home exchange companies out there. Go with any of us rather than risk your home and peace of mind.

ExchangeHomesBlog and ExchangeHomes.com are delighted to announce a brand new alliance with BedandBreakfast.com. With summer now over and Christmas beginning large on the horizon, what better gift idea can you think of than a BedandBreakfast.com Getaway Gift Card – Get Free Shipping as well!

I try to be extremely careful who we forge alliances with because I don’t want this blog to appear to be “spammy”, but I honestly believe that the notion BedandBreakfast.com is promoting is an excellent one. Bed and Breakfast is a concept that runs very much on a parallel with home exchange: it’s eco-friendly in that it doesn’t further the growth of concrete monstrosity hotels and allows you to lodge in a situation that’s closer to the heart of the location.

Bed and Breakfasts can also work hand in hand with a home exchange vacation in that you can utilize a B&B on one or two short trips away from the home exchange “base”. Buying one of their Gataway Cards in advance of traveling will make paying for your stay a breeze.

Purchase is also extremely easy—they have an 800 toll-free number, or you can buy online and print out a paper version instantly, or they will happily send you a plastic version, shipped free and usually by Fed Ex.

So, following this line of thinking, ExchangeHomes.com has recently restructured its memberships to include a 6-month option.

Below is a detailed chart showing the new ExchangeHomes.com membership prices.

Click Here for details about the Multi Club option

Cost of each additional home listed is as follows:

Once you’ve paid your Membership Fee, there are no further costs or charges.

To explain: A one (1) year Home Exchange Membership, with ExchangeHomes ONLY, listing one (1) property, will cost you $39.00.

Listing two (2) properties will cost you $54.00. Broken down: $39.00 for your first listing, plus $15.00 for your second listing.

Listing one home with the Multiple Club option will cost you $45 for the first home, plus $17 for each additional home.

We GUARANTEE that if you don’t arrange an exchange during your first year’s Membership, we will extend your listing for a second year completely free of charge! Click here for more information.

Payment Options

Our SSL Secure Server capable of up to 256-bit encryption combined with the strongest identity authentication standard available today, allow you to use your credit card online to pay for your membership with complete confidence.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. We also accept PayPal.

If you would prefer not pay by credit card or PayPal, we also accept checks, money orders, and traveler’s cheques. The only stipulation being that they must be in US dollars, drawn on a US bank

   Or, log in as normal to your Member Admin to RENEW

© ExchangeHomes.com – All rights reserved

I know the immediate reaction to that statement—well, that’s just sour grapes, coming from a home exchange company owner, but I assure you that’s not the case. For their own safety and security, I cannot emphasize enough that home exchangers need to find their exchange partners via an established, reputable home exchange company—ANY company, but preferably one charging a fee, no matter how small.

Why is that important? Because paying a fee immediately authenticates the personal information provided by whomever is purchasing the membership. These transactions are usually managed by one of a handful of very large credit card merchant account providers, NOT as most people imagine, by the home exchange companies themselves. Each transaction is verified by mega-million dollar programming, hence fellow home exchange members can be absolutely confident that the personal information associated with the listings they are viewing is absolutely genuine.

In the highly unlikely event of any problems, the home exchange company will have 100% verified records of every member on their books, a fundamental reassurance you can never achieve when you seek out home exchange partners via classified ads.

The very idea of home exchange means you will be saving hundreds, probably thousands of dollars—even more if a car exchange and pet minding are included. So, why would anyone be so niggardly as to begrudge often much less than $100 to join a genuine, upfront home exchange membership club with all the reassurance that provides? There are dozens of clubs for you to choose from, some, such as ExchangeHomes.com have been in business for 20+ years. Pay the fee and join one or more, I promise you won’t regret it, it’s a solid investment!

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved

Throughout the month of February new ExchangeHomes.com members can sign up and list their home exchange for just $9.99. That’s right, a huge 78% saving on our regular listing fee.

To be absolutely fair, we are including all current and expired members in this Valentine’s Special as well. Renew your ExchangeHomes.com Membership for one year during February and you will be charged a mere $4.99. It doesn’t matter if you have weeks or even months remaining—renew during February and the year you purchase will be added to your current membership.

Similarly, if your ExchangeHomes.com Membership has expired and you haven’t got round to renewing—renew during February and it will cost you a paltry $4.99.

Don’t forget—your Membership with ExchangeHomes.com also entitles you to a Multi-Club Membership!

Join 4 worldwide home exchange clubs for the price of one

Thanks to our cooperative arrangements, a one year multi-club ExchangeHomes.com listing can optionally be displayed on three other international home exchange clubs’ websites working out out at about $2.49 per club a year, or about 20 cents a month per club. Multi home exchange club members are able to access and contact other members on all our partnership clubs’ sites to inquire about and arrange a home exchange. This provides you with access to listings on 4 home exchange sites for the price of one. All our partner clubs’ members who take advantage of a multi-club membership will be able to contact listings on ExchangeHomes.com as well as on their own home exchange sites.

The clubs we have cooperative arrangements with are:

* Global Home Exchange (Canada)
* Echangeimmo (France)
* HomeForSwaps (UK)

IMPORTANT: First you need to sign up, then, from your Admin Panel you add your Home Exchange offer and pay the $9.99 fee to activate and display it.

She reminisced and said that she had first joined ExchangeHomes.comwhen she was 52 years old and her husband had been alive. Together they had taken part in home exchanges all around the world. Her husband had died in 2002 and after a hiatus of a couple of years she had resumed home exchanging in 2005.

This year Laura had exchanged with Mexico, but she had found the flight taxing and subsequently she had undergone knee surgery and recovery has been slow and difficult.

She felt she had no recourse other than to cancel her listing with us, or at least put it on hold.

Our conversation jolted me into thinking: ExchangeHomes.com first began promoting home exchanging back in 1986 and in the intervening years we’ve accumulated an impressive band of Lifetime and renewing members who’ve been with us for 10, 12, 14, 16 plus years just like Laura. It really is a sad thought they many of them may soon find that traveling is no longer a pleasure for them.

Our policy is to give them a couple of days—maybe they feel they need to spend some more time working on their home exchange listings first—then we email the potential members and gently remind them that until they commit to paying the necessary listing fee, all their efforts are in vain because without activation, their listings will remain hidden from view.

Three of these people have astonished us with their replies. They explained that they have already paid a listing fee to join another club, hence they felt that we should include their properties on our web site free of charge! One person in fact, all but demanded that we release his listing for all to view and went on to detail his opinion that ALL the clubs should join together and publish each others listings.

This attitude amazes me; I’ve heard similar stories from other clubs. ExchangeHomes.com isn’t a charity, we too have bills to pay and a living to make. Maybe the people now expecting free memberships with second and third clubs should have researched their first choice a little more closely before committing to them because each of them cited lack of success as their reason for turning to us.

© Copyright ExchangeHomes.com. All rights reserved.

The program featured two ExchangeHomes.com members: Member 25493 from Santa Cruz, and their home exchange partners: Member 26013 from Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

The comments of both sets of members was absolutely typical of true “Home Exchangers”, appreciating and taking full advantage of their stays in their exchange partners’ homes.

Do take a look …! To start the video, click the arrow in the center of the screen. Be patient, it may take a short while for the video to load.

This video is the © Copyrighted property of ABC Television.

Well, I’m going to make it a whole lot easier for the next 50 members who join, by giving them a copy of Home Exchange Academy. When the author, Athena Ricky wrote this eBook, she was already the veteran of more than forty home exchanges. Home Exchange Academy was first published on the Internet early in 2007, so that figure is most likely even higher.

To be fair, I’m also offering a copy to the next 50 ExchangeHomes.com Members who renew. It doesn’t matter if you still have some time to run with your present home exchange membership, your renewal will be programmed to take effect from your last current day forward.

Looking at our online listings, I know there are a great many that could benefit significantly from Athena’s coaching. A large portion of Home Exchange Academy explains exactly how to set up, word, and illustrate your listing to your best advantage. How to get the most “bang for your buck!”

Finally, I’m also offering a few copies to any of you out there interested in submitting a story about your own home swapping experiences, be they hilarious, amazing, true to life, educational—if it’s something we can use in our newsletter or blog we’re waiting to hear from you.

To email your story to us, please visit This Page on the web site.

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved

Right away it became evident that these free memberships were (as I suspected they would be), a disaster waiting to happen. Our programmers had written code to very stringently control how many contacts they could actually initiate with listing (paid) members. Initially they were allowed just five contact emails in any 24 hour period, but after just a short time this was amended to a total of five for as long as they remained Associate Members. We also began asking Full Home Exchange Members to actually give us permission to allow email contacts from Associate Members.

Immediately the two tiered system launched it attracted a high volume of Associate (free) Member sign-ups. In fact, during the six month trial more than three thousand free members joined, and we were swamped checking the authenticity of the personal information the provided. I felt we had to do this to replace the otherwise standard validation of information which is part of the payment process.

A frightening proportion immediately had their memberships canceled because the names and addresses they entered were pure gibberish, but an equally scary number provided what appeared to be authentic names and addresses—until they failed validation.

Eventually enough became enough. In order to protect our Full Members we were spending hours every day administering dozens of Associate Members. As of the beginning of August the Associate (free) option was removed.

Of course there were hundreds of completely genuine free members who signed up, but as I saw it, the risk was just too great. Since we first began (back in 1986) we’ve never had a report of theft or malicious damage and I wasn’t prepared to have that record destroyed. Also, a huge percentage of those free members were already paid members of other home exchange clubs and were directing our members to check out these listings.

They were expecting us to act as “feeder pages” for xyz.com (not a real url).

Anyway, the plug has now been pulled on Associate Memberships. I believe we gave it a fair trial, but it’s not for us.

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved

Perversely, the replacement title they used was obviously inspired by my subsequent post: Home Exchange vs Vacation Rental – and the winner is …..

The majority of bloggers are highly ethical folk and wouldn’t dream of plagiarizing someone else’s work. Clearly skam08livejournal doesn’t fall into that category. I haven’t included a live link to his / her blog because Google interprets such links as being recommendations. This is definitely not the case!

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved.

Recently I’ve become more than a little concerned by the number of of postings encouraging potential home exchangers to bypass the multitude of home exchange clubs now available to them and instead seek home exchange partners via CraigsList or CouchSurfing.com. The latter site is fundamentally a hospitality exchange network, it’s especially popular among students and young people in general traveling the world, but neither is a substitute for a good, reliable, established home exchange service.

In all the years Exchangehomes.com has been in business (22+), we’ve never received a single report of theft or vandalism or malicious damage. We’ve very occasionally had to deal with a situation where a member was let down at the last minute, but in all but two cases the cancellations were caused by accidents or totally unexpected illnesses. Each time we were able to “put out the word” via this blog, our newsletter and even specialized mailings to members in the area to which the let down family was planning to travel and were usually able to locate a suitable alternative.

In fact, on one occasion we were even able to help while we were living in California by doing a last minute swap ourselves with a family from Bristol.

The point of all this is to illustrate the very important fact that when you join a good, established home exchange organization you are essentially paying for much more than simply publishing you home exchange requirements. All of the “for fee” clubs offer a Customer Service and if they are anything like Exchangehomes.com they will pull out all the stops to help in an emergancy. On the other hand who is going to help you if you have an issue with a potential CraigsList home exchange partner?

Last year and already this year we’ve been contacted by folk who were under the impression that they had reached firm, committed agreements with people they had found via CraigsList, only to have them either cancel at the last minute, or even more despicable, simply cut off all communication. One had even changed his email address and phone number.

I fully expect a lot of people will interpret this post as being “sour grapes”, but that’s not the case at all. I believe I’m justifiably proud of the good reputation generally enjoyed by home exchanging and it concerns me when I see a very definite possibility of that reputation being compromised. Other clubs should feel the same way as well. By choosing not to stay in a hotel or rent a vacation home, potential home exchangers are already saving themselves a substantial chunk of change, so why begrudge the comparatively small fee charged by a reputable home exchange organization?

That fee even covers a full year’s membership and with just a little forward planning, several home exchanges can be arranged before it expires.

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved.

As it’s been used, a few minor glitches have surfaced, but nothing our programmers haven’t been able to swiftly fix. Members were emailed 24 hours in advance, warning them that the change-over was imminent and visitor logs show that throughout yesterday they were visiting in droves, curious to see what’s new.

The major new feature is with memberships. We are now offering two levels:

1. Full Memberships—paying the normal fee to display their own home exchange listing
2. Associate Memberships—where they provide their personal contact information to join, then initiate contact with Full Members.

Introducing this second level of membership is something we’ve resisted for several years. We honestly were very reluctant to make the transition, but eventually pressure of opinion left us with little choice. A great many rival clubs have made this option available for some considerable time and members and visitors were often very blunt and forthright in their perception of our caution.

However, as we’ve structured it, it’s not now a situation where any unmanaged visitor to the website has been given free rein to contact our paid members indiscriminately. First, they must provide their personal information and join as Associate Members, plus, every time they log on we record their IP address.

Full Members will ultimately have a choice whether or not they wish to pursue discussions with an Associate Member. Should they choose not to, I hope they will explain their decision to the Associate Member and encourage them to list their own home.

Briefly, other upgrades / new features are:

• Unlimited photographs, now displayed in a much larger format
• Member Feedback rating previous exchange partners
• Saved favorite searches
• Saved favorite listings
• Members can now save unlimited email templates in their Admin Area for later use
• Fields have been completely revised. Many new ones added and a few old ones removed
• Members now log in with their email address and password. Gone are the old VH plus 5 digits log in.
• A much more intuitive listing presentation, that lays out the information in an easy to read format
• Plus many more minor features

All the old tried and tested features, of course remain:

• Quality listings in the most popular areas of the world and over 60 countries
• Complete Member Privacy — none of their personal contact information is ever shared with anyone
• Toll free customer support at 877-256-3323
• Email support available 24/7. Most emails are replied to within an hour or two
• All Listings can be updated by their owners 24/7
• Members can send and receive email contacts from within their listings 24/7
• Our “Detailed Search” provides very targeted searching with multiple search criteria
• All Members can receive email notifications of new Listings from their selected destinations
• Reverse search—Who wants to come to me?
• Sample forms and agreements are available for all Members to use
• All Members and any visitors who elect to sign up, receive our bi-monthly newsletter

Since I began writing this post, we have unfortunately, received our first negative feedback on the new website. A gentleman complained that he isn’t happy having to scroll through the screen of photographs now they are displaying in a much larger format. He was used to the old way and he says it preferred it. Which just goes to show, you can’t please all of the people all of the time!

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved.

“Faye” quickly explained that she is does not belong to ExchangeHomes.com. She is a member of club whose name I won’t mention, which, she stated, has so far done nothing at all to assist her. But what concerned Faye equally was the fact that they had also (at least to the point when she contacted me), done nothing to forewarn their members in general of the dangers posed by this company.

It would appear that Faye’s club is almost certainly one that’s had its listings stolen by AllHomeExchange. She assured me that it’s the only one she has ever held a membership with. I asked her if she’d ever posted on any travel related forums, notice boards or chat sites. No, she definitely had not.

Approximately a month ago Faye had received a solicitation from AllExchange informing her that they had added her listing to their database and inviting her to log on to their website and validate it. She had unwisely assumed that because AllExchange had her listing as well as her personal information, they had to be affiliated with the club that held her membership. After all (she said), it hadn’t crossed her mind to think that her information had been obtained illegally. Why should it?

She had followed their directions and while on their website noted their proclamation they they were the world’s leading company with 21,000 listings. Inexplicably, even though she already had a free listing with them, she had signed up for another year and provided them with her credit card information.

Faye’s original home club doesn’t communicate with its members via a blog so she frequently reads the ExchangeHomesBlog as well as several others, all related to home exchanging, and it was through these sources that she eventually learned of AllHomeExchange’s illegal behavior.

I asked Faye if she’d contacted her bank to report that her payment had in fact been coerced out her by means of Internet fraud. She replied that she had called and explained that she had paid for a membership she now did not want and they had advised her to contact AllHomeExchange, explain this to them and request a refund.

Clearly she needed to explain her situation in much more detail to her bank. I provided her with a list of pertinent details she needed to bring to her banks attention and also a list of home exchange blogs etc. that had taken the trouble to cover and warn their readers about the potential danger of their dealing with ANY company that spams them with completely unrealistic claims of free memberships.

Hopefully Faye’s bank will now treat her claim as a genuine challenge against an illegal charge against her credit card. If she achieves a satisfactory result I’ll post about her again.

© ExchangeHomes.com All rights reserved.

In part three I will cover a major change to the web site that will allow registered members (both Full and Associate) to rate any member with whom they have already completed a home exchange. This can be accomplished in two different ways:

1. Members will find a link in their Admin Area which they can click to begin the process
2. Each listing will contain a link “Rate This Exchange”.

After a listing has received rating feedback it will available within 24 hours for other members to read and consider when making choices. Both positive and negative feedback will always be published.

The rating will actually consist of a series of questions pertaining both to the exchange home and how you found your own home upon your return. Each question will ask you to rate it on a scale of one to ten, ten being highest. In addition you will be able to include your own comment in a text box.

We feel this new feature will become a significant tool for members evaluating likely home exchange partners and we hope all of you will not only use it yourself, but also encourage your exchange partners to do likewise.

Links to previous posts covering the upgrade—

• Membership Changes
• Membership Changes – 2