I would love to hear about your experience with long-term home exchanges. I’m not referring to reciprocal exchanges, as those are straightforward. Instead, I’d like to ask about exchanges for a month or more using guest points.
In your experience, does the guest point value of a home remain the same for both short-term and month-long stays? Or have you received discounts or noticed different principles applied when calculating guest points for long-term exchanges?
I would truly appreciate any advice or insights from your own practice.
I have swapped for points a month in a ski resort this winter and of course I didn’t ask for any GP discount nor was it offered to me by the host.
From my point of view, starting to consider that longer exchanges should involve a certain number of point discounts is akin to seasonal rentals, which often offer discounts for staying a month or more instead of just a week. All of this is gradually steering us toward an Airbnb-like mentality and moving us away from the original principles of solidarity, equity, and collaboration among equals on which home exchange was originally based.
I already struggle with the idea of assigning a point value to a home, because in my opinion, exchanges should be based on the number of nights, not on introducing long-stay discounts into the equation. To me, this only increases the commodification and the economic value perspective of homes, which, on my opinion, has nothing to do with the principles of the collaborative economy that gave birth to this concept.
I don’t really agree with you, I think reducing points is more a matter of making the exchange possible or not. Many members make their home available on certain periods because they’re staying elsewhere and aren’t necessarily on an exchange themselves but they wish their home to be occupied. Recuperating points for themselves isn’t always a priority. Not having back to back guests can be a real advantage too.
Hi @SusanJbrn, from my perspective, there’s a big difference between what you’re saying: that, as a host, you might want someone to look after a pet, water the garden, or simply not leave your home empty when you could earn GuestPoints for future trips. In that case, I completely understand offering your home for fewer points or even for free, since they’re acting as house sitters and it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.
What I don’t agree with at all is the idea of starting to treat this like a vacation rental model, where longer stays automatically mean lower prices. That would mean long-term exchanges should come with a reduction in GuestPoints, which I strongly disagree with. And I believe that was what was being suggested at the beginning.