A retired couple has found a clever way to save money while traveling by taking advantage of free accommodation around the world.
A couple is said to have saved a lot of money on their vacation thanks to a travel trick. This is reported by the “Sun“. Scottish woman Jane MacDonald (65) and her husband John (68) used the clever use of a home exchange platform to organize 33 completely free stays in the UK and abroad for themselves over the past four years.
Accommodation for 0 euros: How pensioners Jane and John save on vacation
The couple take advantage of the opportunity to swap their home in the Scottish Highlands for stays in other homes around the world. Sometimes the swaps take place simultaneously, other times they use what is known as the “guest points system”.
Guest points are there so that if you find accommodation that you would like to stay in but the host does not want to swap with you, you can pay them with the points. The host can then use the guest points to stay somewhere else as a guest in the future. Due to its popular location, the pensioners’ house attracts interested parties mainly from the USA and Canada, as the “Sun” further reports.
Home exchange model also becoming increasingly popular in Germany
In Germany, too, more and more people are using the home exchange model for their holiday planning. This includes Marie and Jan Andrzejewski from Wißmar, as the “Giessen Advertiser” reported. They have been participants in the global platform “HomeExchange” for a year and, despite initial scepticism, are convinced of this holiday concept.
They have already had positive experiences when they made their house available to a family from France while they themselves were on holiday on the Baltic Sea. This summer they want to go on holiday in a house in the South of France while another family will live in their own four walls in Hesse.
What to consider when exchanging houses
Anyone planning a home exchange should, according to “Geo” Before the exchange, conclude an exchange agreement. This is to ensure that all exchange partners are adequately insured in the event of an emergency. The exchange platforms usually offer sample forms that help you not to forget anything important.
Once a potential exchange partner has been found, the contact details should be checked. Lisa Hödgen from the Brandenburg Consumer Advice Center also advises informing neighbors and landlords, especially for longer stays, as she told “Geo.”
Holiday problem
A woman from Great Britain had to cut her vacation short at passport control at the airport. The reason for this was a passport regulation that she had not taken into account when planning her trip.