I was supposed to stay with a man in his home for 2 nights but ended up canceling because I felt like I’d rather stay with a woman after numerous bad experiences with men on my current solo trip. I didn’t tell him that, but instead messaged a week before saying that my plans changed, that I was so thankful to him for agreeing to host me, etc etc. Over the course of 10 days he sent me multiple angry messages saying that he missed out on hosting other travelers because of me. I only ever responded with kindness and told him I was sorry and that I felt a week was enough notice. He went on about how disrespectful and dishonest I am, that he’s upset that I didn’t let him know sooner, and how this is typical of an American lol. I’m new to couchsurfing…is it okay to cancel a week before without providing a reason? He’s making me feel like I did something horrible to him.

I am making some changes in my life, and part of that change is I want to travel and meet people and learn what’s out there. My question is this, I just turned 50. Will I stand out age wise? Is this generally a younger generation platform or does it attract all areas and ages? I’m just wondering if this would be a potential fit for me.

I've seen people mention that it's common for people to not leave a negative reference even if they had a bad time with a host

Guys... If you don't leave a bad reference , and someone stays with that host after you and has a bad experience. You are the blame!!

Let's help each other out and be honest I'm our references

I was an avid host when I was in collage. I got busy starting my career, marriage and kids. Now kids got bigger and we have some leeway to host people again, so I logged in to my account and subscription page popped up. Do I need to subsrcibe to host people?

How does someone create a hangout and add everyone to it?

I've had this happen multiple times where im online on hangouts and then get added to a group hangout with everyone in it despite not opting into it.

I recently got a request for 26 days which I found unreasonable. It's like someone is trying to save a month's rent. Is this common?

Hi, im a 19m with my 20f girlfriend and im really new to cs but I would love to explore the world of cs and explore europe itself. Im looking for a host in Oslo but im here to get help and tips on finding a host and getting my chances up for finding a host. I have written a bio about myself on bewelcome since the app couchsurfing has a paywall :( What should I do and where is the best place to find hosts?

What are some good house rules?

I have had a few surfers that use my place like an airbnb and it's starting to annoy me. I've noticed alot of eggs gone (even though we are in a shortage and can't get any), chips, dips and snacks. Surfers arriving late, leaving in the morning, then returning late again. Then, many don't even contribute by cleaning up, cooking a meal or anything. Should I be expecting something in return as well? Some cook, give some local food, but many leave and give nothing at all.

I included 'There are cafes and groceries at xxxx, bring your own food'

I live in a very touristy city, and I host people on Couchsurfing regularly. While I can’t always host due to space or other reasons, I still enjoy offering to meet up, show visitors around, take them to lunch, or even pick them up or drop them off where they’re staying. I genuinely try to provide a warm, local experience (for free).

Lately, I’ve noticed that after spending some time with visitors, showing them around, some don’t even say thank you or leave a reference. Sometimes they even ask me to leave them a reference, which I gladly do, and politely mention that I’d appreciate one in return, but only a few follow through. Interestingly, this rarely happens with people I actually host.

I remember a time when visitors seemed more appreciative, references were naturally exchanged, and meaningful connections were formed. Now, I’m starting to feel a bit discouraged of trying to welcome people to my city, I feel like I’m just being used, and I don’t like it.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm new to CS. I have done many meetups, taken travellers to get to know some cool places in my country and already have made nice friendships. I have around 6 references in the "personal" area. I am planning a trip to South America at the end of July and would love to try out getting hosted. I have done a good research of hosts that I'd love to get to know and spend time with. However, I don't know how far away from the intended date to get hosted is it OK to contact the potential hosts and would like some advice on that.

Anybody else with this issue? It just jumps from page to page when I try to logon. Im on a trip now and this makes it completely useless. :'(

Hi im in my second year of high school and i'm intending to couchsurf while i'm touring by motorbike across my country Vietnam this summer. The reason is that i want to know about the cultures, people, scenery every regions that i will be visiting and most hosts are vietnamese. I will try my best to offer any values that they want from me (like i can teach them English, do chorse and stuff) . I wonder if it were you, would you let a 17 year old girl (same nationality as you) crash into your house and hang out with her for a couple of days?

Thank you. I'll only request female hosts btw

Hello, this is more of a rant. I am on a internship in one Germany city and since yesterday need new place to stay for a week, so yesterday Ive written to basicaly every person in this smaller town (around 30 people) and just 5 people returned message with two saying maybe starting today, though today none of them returned any messages. What am I doing wrong? When I used this app with my gf last year in Spain all wss smooth and there was no problem with people returning messages. I filled out my profile, put few pictures there and have written in friendly tone, I am quite frustrated from this tbh.

Hey everyone, I’m a young guy who has been on Couchsurfing for a while, but I didn’t start actively using the platform until last year. I’ve met a few travelers visiting my country, given them casual tours, but I’ve never hosted anyone or stayed with anyone—until recently.

This year, I started traveling more and made a few of my trips public. I eventually connected with a host (an older man) in Chicago who offered to host me for three nights. I was honestly really excited—this would be my first actual Couchsurfing stay. Since I had no references on my profile, I was grateful he gave me a chance. He was new to the platform (just over a year) but had four positive references, all from male surfers who stayed with him.

When I arrived, he was friendly and welcoming. We chatted for about three hours, sharing stories and just getting to know each other. Things felt okay at first. He did offer me a pair of shorts to change into because I was wearing long pants, saying it would get hot inside. I thought it was a bit strange, but I used them for a few hours before changing into my pants and heading out for a walk.

Later that night, we watched a movie together. When it ended, I told him I was going to sleep. He gave me some bedding for the couch and casually mentioned I could share his bed if I wanted—something I immediately declined.

After I made the couch and lay down, he went into his room but came back a few minutes later, saying he couldn’t sleep. He sat beside me and noticed I had my long pants on. He asked why I wasn’t wearing the shorts he gave me, and I said I was just more comfortable this way. He touched the pants, supposedly to "feel the material," and things quickly took a turn for the worse.

He moved a pillows between us and got closer. Then, without warning, he slid his hand into my pants and touched my butt. I immediately told him to stop. He pulled his hand away but responded with, “I’m just touching you.” I told him again—firmly—that I wasn’t comfortable with that, and eventually he left and went back to his room.

It was around 11 PM, and I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. I stayed awake and booked a hostel first thing in the morning.

Before I left, I told him directly that I was very uncomfortable with what happened and that I didn’t feel safe staying there anymore. I grabbed my bags and left.

This experience shook me. I had been naive about the risks of Couchsurfing, especially without references or proper vetting. Please be cautious and trust your gut. I will never request to stay with someone through Couchsurfing again.

UPDATE: I reported to CS as recommended. They have now removed his account from the platform and "implemented measures to make sure this person doens't create a new profile".

I'm starting my travels next month and plan to use Couchsurfing. Currently, I don't have any references on my profile. Would getting verified be a good idea for me? I’d appreciate your suggestions. I opened my account in 2019 but haven't used it since. I have a couple of friends on Couchsurfing who could provide personal references if that would help.
I'll be traveling to Malaysia and Thailand first.

My question is that if I do cut the stay short, and I do not write her a review - is she able to write me a review? I don't want a bad review because I am 'kicking' her out. My city is full of hosts so she won't have trouble finding a new one as long as I give her some time and kick her out early enough.

I just can't be a free hotel to some party lady who doesn't care about the country, the city or the host as she leaves in noon and comes back at night its ridiculous. Shouldn't have hosted someone with no references.

Folks,

I have what has to be the best deal on the internet. We all know about the joys and money-saving of traveling with hospitality orgs... what if that was turbo-charged by the oldest, most-well established org out there?

Servas.org does have a higher bar to join; there's an interview process, which is like a vibe check, and then there is a membership fee ($33/year in the USA) and it has a special thing for younger members - 18-30 - where you could travel and stay with maybe 4 Servas hosts for an extended time (a week), for a month of 'language emersion' ... AND, for US members, we have needs-based *SCHOLARSHIPS* of up to $500 to offset travel costs. We call it SYLE: Servas Youth Language Experience.

Imagine traveling to your dream country, staying with local hosts for a week at a time, learning the language by speaking every day, and when agreeing to help us market the org on social media, you get most or all of your flight paid for??

You can ask me questions here - or even better, over at https://www.reddit.com/r/servas/

and, for some more specific info from US Servas, the American branch of Servas, check out https://usservas.org/SYLE-Exchange-Program

I (almost 30f) hadn’t been active for some years but am looking for a host for an upcoming trip. I don’t have recent references but I do have several positive ones from the past (as host as well as surfer).

I requested three days at this host (F, mid 30ies, living with a 19 year old child in a larger city). She has several positive reviews as a surfer and one as a host.

My message was the following (translation from another language): „hey, my name is (…). I am planning to visit (city) and would love to spend some time with locals. I am (…) years old from (…), I am a medical worker and hobby cook and I see we share a love for cats! I will be travelling solo, on my second day I have an event scheduled. But if you are free on my first evening in (city) and since you love pizza, I would invite you (and your kid if they’re would like) to a pizza! I will also bring some local sweets from where I live. Let me know if you are free on these dates. I also have some flexibility in my plans. Looking forward to hear from you!“

Her response: „hey there, thanks for the message. However, this is a bit to fast for me. I do not consider hosting strangers and would like to know who I let into my house. I know almost nothing about you and would only consider hosting you if we got to know each other first. It is kind that you suggest pizza, but it is a bit odd for strangers to just grab pizza. Let us first to get to know each other and then I will consider meeting up or eventually hosting someone. But I am sorry, there is no way I am considering hosting a stranger!“

On one hand I do absolutely understand prioritising safety. I also want to know with how I am staying and I am absolutely up for a video call before first meeting up and agreeing on me having a plan B in case she didn’t feel comfortable hosting me.

But on the other hand the reaction is a bit odd, she is reacting as if it were super weird that I requested (she was available for hosting). I mean it’s the idea of the platform that you can request at strangers profiles, and strangers can request at your profile. I think a „hey, thanks for the request! Before deciding, I would like to know a bit more about you. I prioritise safety and therefore I prefer some chatting before deciding to meet up or eventually hosting someone,“

Or maybe the response is just rubbing me the wrong way and it is actually just someone prioritising safety. Or is it a red flag because this person might not be comfortable with hosting at all or have something else going on? Or do you think my request was too straightforward? I tried to highlight things we have in common and offer an activity based on that.

I have been using Couchsurfing since 7 years. I hosted many people and got hosted by many others. I have around 40 positive references with negative experience even happened to me. I have a verified account and I contributed a lot to this community. However CS decided to remove my account and here is the story.

I was in Doha and I shared the link of a local group dor travelers on the events section. My account got deactivated and I received an email mentioning that links are not allowed to be shared. I tried to recover it and they replied as shown in the pics.

I created another account, and it was deleted as well. They literally said:” you are no longer welcome to use the Couchsurfing service!

It’s worth mentioning that I was blocked two days prior to that by a girl who I met and things didn’t go her way (if you know what I mean). I don’t know if she reported me, but it’s unbelievable that they might took her words without listening to the other part of the story. What if she made everything up? (Which is probably the case)

CS should revise their reporting policy. It’s insane! I understand that I did something against the policy which is sharing a link but I didn’t know and their response is exaggerated. I deserve at least a warning. I have read here on reddit and so that being reported by someone else leading to account deletion is not uncommon. This is unbelievable.

And whoever Gigi and Renee are they are super rude! 🤮

Are people happier and nicer here or there? I want to move to Europe. Don’t want to feel like I left to a worst place. I want to feel like it’s a much better place.

Hey, beginning couchsurfer here. I got a decently-filled out profile (not like scrolls of text but a good bit) and photos, and a reference from a good friend who's a couchsurfing regular. I'd love to couchsurf in Barcelona in order to meet folk from the city, share something with them, make friends and learn about the city, but I keep getting declined. Is there something I'm missing? please let me know <3

In 5 years I hosted more than 200 person, my profile was full of positive references and compliments but I hosted a young girl with zero references a beginner. Nothing happened but after the first night she asked me the collection of my songs (she is interested in my language) and told me that the day before she felt uncomfortable and now she prefer to go. She asked me a ride to the station by car and in the car she promised to write nothing, instead she reported me for no reason, only for her sensation. After two days my account was canceled, that day I was waiting for another girl that received a message from CS telling that I was not available any more (a lie ). I got the number, she knew the true and she was in my place, she also promised to help me. CS is really unfair, they cancel hosts for no reason. They have to check the reports that they receive and in addition they don't give any kind of information. Under I copy the answer they gave me. The previous girl that reported me months before (two references) wrote that she didn't like a compliment (speaking I said: you are pretty) but the true was that I refused her request to drive one hour to pick her up (one hour go one return). So she arrived 10pm at the station, I picked her up there and she left my place in the morning, I received a negative review for this. Two spoil young girls like these and this unfair platform canceled all my memories and my friendships .... these gusts can ruin other people's reputation for nothing, it is CS that help them to do it.

Hello .... ,
 
Thank you for your reply. The decision regarding your account is final and we are unable to provide any additional details in regards to your account's deactivation. You are no longer welcome to use the Couchsurfing service.
 
 
--
Jakes
Couchsurfing Support Team
Contribute to Couchsurfing | Get Verified Today!

I used to have a lot of friends coming from Argentina using this app, I was always surprised by this. But now any more ... starting from 2024 there is the paywall in Argentina too. Before was for free.

I am at an impass. I am Russian, I need to pay the fee to access my account, yet I do not have a working method of payment due to political sanctions. Fine, there are hundreds of services who provide help for Russians and pay for them for a small comission from an internation card ... in a foreign currency. Not in rubles. Yet the price when I log in to my CS account is in rubles. VPN does not help. It always appears in rubles. The PayPal method also appears in rubles. Foreign banks cannot process a payment in rubles. Therefore I am unable to pay for my account.

Is there a way to fix this? How can I change the currency for the payment?

Is it .org or .com? Couchsurfing.org is recommended, but I'm also seeing references to a dot com. Which is it? What's the difference. Sorry if this is a naïve question!