FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

If this is a private hospitality club, why is there a fee to stay the night?
It is not a fee. The money you pay to your host (or collect from your guest, as the case may be) is an honorarium which is meant to cover the expense of having an extra person or extra people in the home. It is for things such as the expense of washing sheets, the extra water that is used in the shower, and the extra breakfasts that must be served. It is very much the same thing as everybody chipping in for gas when people carpool.

Why does the honorarium vary from country to country?
The honorarium is meant to reflect the costs of having extra people in your home. Naturally, this varies from country to country. The honorarium is always shown, and should be paid, in local currency.

If I don't have an extra bed, can I still join?
Yes. If you don't have an extra bed, you can list your home as having floorspace for visitors. While some people need a bed to sleep in, many travellers are more than happy just to have a warm, dry, safe place to spend the night. The important thing is that you let potential guests know what type of accommodations you are able to offer. The most important thing is that you are able to offer a private place for your guests to sleep in.

If I am not able to host when somebody wants to stay with me, what do I do?
If, for whatever reason, you are not able to host at a particular time, all you have to do is decline the request to stay with you. You will not have to explain or give any sort of reason. (Although you are able to do so, should you so wish.) We of course assume that people who join are genuinely interested in both hosting and visiting others. Please note also that we keep track of the number of times that people decline requests to host. In extreme cases, we may contact people and ask them to confirm that they still wish to belong to Welcome Traveller.

If you are not able to host at a particular time, we ask that you try to find bed and breakfast type of accommodation for the person who has contacted you. The "substitute host" should be a person that you are able recommend as a suitable host to people visiting your part of the world. The substitute host does not need to be a member of Welcome Traveller hospitality club.

What assurances do you offer about the hosts in the place that I want to visit?
The only assurance that we can offer is that we encourage people who use the network's resources to give us feedback. In the unlikely event that complaints are consistently made about a particular guest or host, we will contact that person and speak with them about the situation, respecting the privacy of all other concerned parties.

We reserve the right to remove delinquent members from the network.

What do I do if/when I move to a new house?
Simply go to the Basic Information Update page and update your information. Your new information will be reflected in our database immediately.

What if I forget my username or password?
Go to the E-mail Password page and enter your e-mail address. Your access information will be e-mailed to you.