Hospitality exchange is a very popular option for travelers on a budget. Although staying in a stranger’s home while the host is present may not appeal to all travelers, it is a viable option, especially for people traveling to many destinations. The vast majority of hospitality exchangers are under 30, but people of all ages participate in hospitality exchanges. Hospitality exchange emphasizes the building of global communities, as well as the accommodation aspect.

There are several websites that specialize in hospitality exchange; in addition many of the home exchange sites have hospitality as an option. The two biggest hospitality exchange clubs are CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club. Both clubs are free and have extremely large memberships: CouchSurfing over 129,000 and Hospitality Club over 213,000.

CouchSurfing has a very active membership. Message boards are well used. An accounting of how many members are online at any given moment continually averages in the hundreds. Safety is stressed by the use of a verification and voucher system. A reference section allows for couch surfers to comment on their stay. CouchSurfing has a nifty device that records the percentage that a member replies to enquiries. Nice idea for one of the home exchange clubs to incorporate.

Hospitality Club is similar to CouchSurfing, although I do not like the layout as much. A nice security feature is the inclusion of the member’s passport number as a requirement during contact. The passport number can be stored on the Hospitality Club web site. It also seems to have a very active community.