Reciprocal exchanges: with or without GuestPoints?

English Forum Community 🤔 Q&As: Ask the community
1

Hello everyone!

One question that often comes up in our community is: Should GuestPoints (GPs) be used for reciprocal exchanges?

Which is totally a fair question! Let’s say my home is worth 200 GPs per night, and yours is worth 150 GPs. If we decide to do a reciprocal exchange, there’s a difference of 50 GPs per night. What should we do?

At HomeExchange, members have the flexibility to decide:

  • You can finalize the exchange by transferring the GP difference to your exchange partner.
  • Or, you can both agree that the “value” of the homes isn’t what matters—it’s about the opportunity to enjoy each other’s homes. In this case, you can set the GP difference to zero before finalizing the exchange. (This is what most members choose to do.) If you’re unsure how to do this, check out our guide: How do GuestPoints work for reciprocal exchanges?

Pro Tip: You can save time by enabling the “For a reciprocal exchange, I want my home to be set at 0 GP” option under your calendar.

If you prefer not to use GuestPoints for any reciprocal exchanges, you can activate this setting ahead of time. Once enabled, all your reciprocal exchanges will automatically default to 0 GPs. To find this option, go to My Account > My Home and look under your calendar.

We hope this explanation has been helpful! Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have.

:collision: New (May 2025): Reciprocal exchanges without GuestPoints by default

Since May 2025, following numerous requests from HomeExchangers, all newly registered members of HomeExchange, as well as all members whose listing is less than 80% complete, now have their home set by default to 0 GuestPoints for reciprocal exchanges.

This means that by default, these new members indicate that they do not use GuestPoints for reciprocal exchanges. Of course, they can change this setting as they wish.

As for all other members of the platform, we are still studying the best approach: should we, for everyone, set the default to 0 GuestPoints for reciprocal exchanges (again, while allowing each member to change this setting as they see fit), or not? What should be done if both exchange partners have different settings? These are questions we are still considering.

We’ll keep you updated, of course, but in the meantime, we recommend checking your settings now on your calendar :slightly_smiling_face:

3 Likes
2

If you want your home at 0 is there any guarantee they will put their home at 0 if you check this box? I don’t check that box because if someone proposed a reciprocal exchange I would expect at that time to discuss no points will be exchanged.

1 Like
3

Where do you set your points to zero?

Gbcarch98

1 Like
4

It’s great to have For a reciprocal exchange, I want my home to be set at 0 GuestPoints = YES by default.
So much more in the Homeexchange spirit.

5

image
image1181Ă—525 47.4 KB

2 Likes
6

I agree. When I wasn’t a member for long, I had a reciprocal swap and I saw points being taking from our account. They weren’t much, but I was very surprised. Only later did I find out about the setting to zero.

2 Likes
7

Normally I’m looking for houses within my “guestpoint range”, also when I’m looking for reciprocal swaps. Sometimes my home has more GP, sometimes the other home. But what I like most is the spirit behind reciprocal changes: let’s change our lives for some time, tell me what you like about your home, so that I can dive into an alternative life in your country. It would make me a bit sad, when someone would count the points against each other, although there might be reasons for it.

4 Likes
8

Hello everybody,

I live between Milan and Como, in a little city called Saronno. I have a wonderful 2 bedrooms apartment ready to host anyone eager to get to know the area, from the 21 - 28 of June 2026. I’ll swap it for guestpoints. You can get to Milan city centre or Como in about 20 min, either by train (every 5 min there is a train to Milano Cadorna) or by car. Malpensa airport is 30 minutes away.

Follows the link to my place:

See you soon,

Chiara

1 Like
9

In the HomeExchange community, the debate over GuestPoints (GPs) for reciprocal exchanges touches on the very core of the platform’s philosophy: monetary-style precision versus the spirit of hospitality.

As of 2026, the platform has moved toward a more automated, “0 GP by default” approach for new members, but for veteran members, the choice remains a manual—and often philosophical—one.

The Two Approaches to Reciprocal Value

  • The “Exact Match” Logic: If your home is 200 GP and your partner’s is 150 GP, the system naturally calculates a 50 GP/night “debt” that the partner pays to you. This is often used when there is a significant discrepancy in home size or amenities.

  • The “Pure Exchange” Logic: Most members believe that a reciprocal exchange is an even trade of lives, regardless of the home’s “market value.” In this case, both parties set the GP value to zero to ensure no points change hands.

3 Likes
10

I would mostly say it’s an exchange day for day but I know there may be situations where that doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe one or two people go and the reciprocal house is much larger and they bring alot more people with a much bigger cleanup after the guests leave. That though is up to the people exchanging I think. There are things you can do to make it easier on the host with the larger place. Both exchangers have to decide if that works for them.

1 Like
11

It’s home exchange, not some kind of airBnB. We prefer reciprocal exchanges (often non sim) and we never experience any exchanger thinks about a points difference. Who cares when you can just live in someone else’s house. It’s every time again a gift people give and we love to give it back.

1 Like
12

Hi all,

We are very new to HE and have just hosted 2 families in February half term which went very well. We have 4 more families booked in to stay at our home over Easter and in the summer but I am struggling to find people who will let us stay with them!

I have messaged about 20 people who all had available on their calendar for the week I am looking for but have only found accommodation for August not our week in July.

I just wonder if I am doing something wrong? We are a family of 5 with teenage/ young adult kids and we would take great care of people’s homes and hope to be out exploring most of the time.

I would be really grateful for advice if I am doing something wrong and how many people your have to message on average to have a yes response!

Many thanks,

1 Like
13

Hi Rachel,

Firstly welcome to HomeExchange! I’m sure you’re not doing anything wrong :slight_smile: It is great that you are hosting because you will now have a few reviews for that. However it can take a while to find your first exchange as a guest, as you don’t have any reviews as a guest yet. It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg! The number of requests will vary hugely depending on lots of factors such as where you are looking to stay, is it a very popular destination, is it a very popular time of year to travel there…and so much more. Just also be sure to send very personalised messages. You could also set up alerts using your Travel Wishlist - this way when a home becomes available for GPs in the area you are looking for then you will be emailed.

1 Like