Bartering has become fashionable. Your couples, your clothes, your books… and now, in some version you to London and me to CaliforniaOffering your home for you to enjoy a week’s vacation at someone else’s home seems to be gaining more and more popularity in Aragon. Because there are 435 families participating in HomeExchange in the province, a cheap way trip traveling the world swapping houses, and visits Zaragosa increased by 9%, compared to last summer by users looking for vacation homes.
But where does the trend of changing homes for the holidays come from? 30 years ago That an American company founded by a group of professors who wanted to make exchange more affordable created this kind of experience to travel the world. First, “It was done through a mailing catalog where houses were offered because there was no internet”explains Pilar Manrique, spokesperson for HomeExchange in Spain.
As the internet emerged and the way we communicate around the world became more fluid, home shopping became more widely known. “When it really became a trend, it was a French company that invented the point system for exchanging between users and bought the American company in 2008”speaks of the speaker.
With this French-American merger, HomeExchange was born, a free registration platform where users will exchange their homes for a weekend, a week or even a month. A very economical experience for travelers, because “A flat rate of €160 per year is available for all desired exchanges.In addition to a cancellation insurance service and potential damage to the home,” says Manrique.
The only requirement to participate is to suggest a house. And they are not worth cheating, because the company makes sure that every single one of their offers is genuine, “We verify members’ profiles, identities, pictures are of a real house…”, reassures the worker because “everything is based on trust” for the company.
After the profile is saved and the property is published, the user can start searching for the place he wants to travel to. “It works like any travel page, it has a search engine where you enter the place you’ve traveled, the number of people and the date you want to go”Manrique explains.
The spokesperson mentions about exchanges that there are two types: opposite“where users change their homes that don’t have to be at the same time” and not mutual “user goes to someone else’s house, but not his own”.
In case of choosing a non-reciprocal swap, A new point system called GuestPoints. Each registered house is given a point value per night based on its features (terrace, garden, number of rooms). even reduce trade between them to zero”.
But do not panic, because the points completely free. And how are they obtained? “The way to get GuestPoints, In addition to what is received at registration, it happens through exchange,” he said. the more visits a home has, the more travel points it gets and the more choices you have.
a small community
Lorraine and John They are a married couple with their dog. They tried this method of travel five years ago. And they haven’t changed since they tried. “This is very good for us because we save on costs and also, We are more comfortable when we go on vacation because we have a pet.“, explains Lorena. This small family of three has already traveled throughout Spain and parts of France during this time, citing the woman who said, “Our first exchange was a town in Burgos.”
Their favorite thing in this system is “how nice people are”. Being a small community on HomeExchange, they’ve even built up their custom (albeit less and less): “Every time someone comes to our house, they bring us typical things from their land as a kind of gift to welcome us, and we leave them things like wine or oil from here”.
Although they are not the only ones delighted with the new way of traveling the world. Emma and her partner have been traveling with the platform since 2013. “We have three kids and it’s the best way to go on vacation because a way that fits our lifestyle very well“. And that is, traveling with the little ones means carrying a cot, toys, or returning to the hotel when they are tired… “It’s okay when we go to a house we choose according to our needs, it’s perfect”, she assures the woman.
The most enriching part of the experience for Emma is, “philosophy that children learn”, because “I’m not going to a hotel where they do everything for us and learn to respect other people’s stuff”. Also, one of the parts they enjoy the most is traveling unexpectedly, “often they write to us to exchange with places we didn’t plan to go to”, which is something for her. “It’s great because that’s how we see places we would never otherwise visit.”
About those who decided to spend the holiday in ZaragozaEmma assures it “There is a lot of demand, especially on weekends,” he said. That is, those who “come to know the city, pass by to get to other places, or even come to enjoy the Pilar festivities on their own” are visited at home. . As for the origin of the users, they are not only Spanish, but also “A lot of people come from Europe, especially France, Italy and Portugal,” the woman says.
From the looks of it, exchanges are very fashionable. In particular, like Elena, “those who water my plants”.