IMPORTANT REMINDER about GTI Home Exchange Site Based Messaging System

Whilst full details of the changes have been posted within the Site Administrator's Message in the Members' Area on the web-site: it appears that some members may have have missed the details about these changes, as some messages remain recorded as UNREAD in Members' personal Admin Areas.

Site based messages between members

For your security, and to protect your privacy, all contact with other members is now done from your member area. Your sent and received messages are stored there in folders (Inbox and Sent messages). Your on-going correspondence with each member is stored separately for easy reference. Please note: as all contact information you entered on your form (email, phone, fax, mailing address) is hidden, you choose when you are ready to provide contact details to another member.

New message alerts by email

Whenever there is a new message for you (a reply to a message you sent or a message from another member), you will receive a brief email, with the subject line, New Home Exchange message for you from HExxxxx, to alert you to log on to your member area to read and reply to the message.

A few new message alerts may end up in junk folders by mistake and so it is important to skim through all mail in your junk folder before deleting it if possible. It's tedious but, until there are better filters that can sort all legitimate messages from the masses of unsolicited mail, there may be a few 'good' messages that need to be rescued from your junk folder and moved to your in-box. If you can't check through your junk folder, be sure to log on to your member area regularly to check and read any recent messages you may have overlooked.

Home exchange offer messages

When first contacting a member with your exchange offer, use the form at the bottom of the member's listing. If you have compiled a standard exchange offer message and saved it on your computer, you can copy and paste it into the form and then personalise the message before sending. The subject line is already completed and includes your User ID so the member can easily find your listing. When you have finished your message, click Submit. As soon as your message has been sent, you will see the member's User ID under the Recently contacted list in your member area. You can save a record of up to 20 messages sent at a time and delete any you don't want to keep by clicking the 'x' beside it.

Home Exchange Academy

Having previewed a copy of this new e-book on Home Exchange written by Athena Rickby, 25 year veteran of 40+ home exchanges, I found it to be well written in a clear, concise style and with very useful content for prospective home exchangers.

As Athena herself says: "From my personal observations, there is a host of potential home exchangers who continually "window shop", but always hesitate from joining a club at the last minute because they suffer from the "what if" syndrome. Home Exchange Academy goes to great lengths to allay their unfounded fears. Also, a great many of those that have committed to joining a club never make use of that membership fully. They enter some information initially, then seemingly forget all about it. They don't realize there's so much more they could be doing to attract interest and invite inquiries."

Other books published in the past tend to have leaned towards promoting one or other of the major clubs to the exclusion of the competition. Athena's book is impartial and she merely hopes that her book will help other home exchangers make better use of their club memberships.

To give you a taste of what the book contains and how useful it could be to novice home swappers, here is a list of Contents:

Introduction 6
What Is A Home Exchange 8
Who Exchanges Homes 9
Bonus Features 9
My Own Experiences 10
How Home Exchanging Began 11
Selecting Your Home Exchange Club 12
The Major Differences 13
How their members are contacted 13
Paid Memberships or Free 15
Directory Based Clubs 15
Points System / Full Service Clubs 16
How Do You Find A List of These Clubs 17
How On Earth Do You Decide 18
Clubs' Home Pages 18
Membership Fees 19
Clubs' Published Contact Information 19
Listings' Published Start and End Dates 19
Some Clubs' Inflated Membership Figures 20
Hiding Your Contact Information 21
Privacy Policy 21
Listing Demographics 22
Additional Customer Support 22
Guarantees 22
Evaluate Your Selections 23
Test Them! 23
Call their Customer Service 23
Send questions to their email address 24
The Adventure Begins 24
A few tips 24
How should you set up your listing 25
Illustrate your listing with good photographs 27
Children and pets 28
Your location 28
Your own Home Exchange Web Site 29
Contact Between Members 30
Receiving Inquiries and Replies 32
Declining Inquiries 33
Your listed email address 34
Developing likely inquiries 34
References 35
A Written Agreement 36
Car Exchange 36
Sample Car Exchange Agreement 37
Payments 38
Pets 38
Watering Plants 38
Clarification 39
It's A Matter of Trust 39
Perfection rarely happens 40
Sample Home Exchange Agreement 42
The Next Step 46
Preparing Your Home 46
Family Treasures and Irreplaceable Items 47
Your Insurance 47
Pets 48
Your Home Exchange Book 48
Sample Home Exchange Book 50
Warning 60
My Ten Golden Home Exchange Rules 60
General Tips and Advice 61
In Conclusion 65

For anyone contemplating a home swap for the first time, this book has a wealth of information and valuable references. To obtain a copy of the Home Exchange Academy e-book from Green Theme International Home Exchange the cost is just GB£10.00 or Euros 14,50. GTI Home Exchange members based in the USA may obtain the e-book direct from Athena's Home Exchange Academy web-site.

Caveat Home Exchanger

It would appear from the number of home exchange clubs now in existence that the home exchange sector of the travel industry is expanding, but with this expansion we would encourage you to be even more diligent when selecting your home exchange partners. Whilst the great majority of people participating in home exchange are conscientious caring people and their home exchanges are entirely successful (as evidenced by the many testimonials that we receive), the world is not perfect and there is always a small minority who will spoil things for others.

Points that have recently come to our notice to beware of are:

Abuse of listings information.

As we mention in our Welcome Message when you join GTI Home Exchange, solicitations to members of any other kind other than home exchange or for any commercial purpose are strictly forbidden. If you should get an enquiry from anyone who appears to be promoting another home exchange agency or other commercial venture, please forward this to us for investigation.

Inaccurate or vague description of location of exchange property

Occasionally people may choose to be economical with the truth and deliberately vague when locating their exchange property. If you suspect that this is the case early on you probably will not wish to follow up this exchange possibility, but if it is in a location you really want to visit, you might. If the vagueness about their 'precise area' continues when you are getting nearer to confirmation of an exchange arrangement, be sure to obtain their exact address before you confirm, locate them on Google maps, and check out if they are anywhere near any well-known landmarks or places of interest that you may wish to visit.

Once you have the exact address you can also check out the neighbourhood for levels of crime in the area. Search for crime and the name of the exchanger's home area on the relevant Google search engine.

Home Exchange Switch

As you know, at GTI Home Exchange members are allowed to list 'rental' ONLY as a supplementary alternative to 'home exchange'. The system is not intended for the advertisement of commercial holiday rentals, for which we provide a completely separate site, Holiday Homes Direct. If you make an enquiry in response to a listing which appears to match your co-ordinates in terms of length of exchange and dates, which immediately receives a negative answer to an exchange offer, but suggests a rental proposition instead, or even directs you to a commercial rental web-site, please let us know. The situation is most likely to arise in relation to listings which are for second or vacation homes. At GTI we do not wish to restrict the listings of second homes as this gives more flexibility for non-simultaneous exchanges to take place. However if we receive a number of complaints about the same listing which is suspected to be guilty of the 'home exchange switch' phenomenon, we will investigate.

If you feel that the 'rental offered' option should not be allowed at all on home exchange clubs web-sites, please add a comment to this post and let us know your views.

The objective of this post is not to put people off home exchange, but to increase the confidence and mutual respect between Green Theme International Home Exchange and First Home Exchange Alliance members. To help us in our endeavours to make home exchange as safe and enjoyable as possible for participants in the future as it has been in the past, please take the trouble to complete our Exchange Feedback Form after your exchange. We look forward to hearing from you.

Handy Home Exchange Hints

We have come a long way since the days when members joining GTI Home Exchange received directories containing worldwide home exchange offers and pages of advice on how to arrange a successful exchange which they could browse over at leisure. .

With the move to the internet as the base of operations, some things such as easy communication with prospective exchange partners have become much easier, as has our ability to provide more help and guidance to members. As much as we try to avoid falling into the trap of providing information overload, it is inevitable that the more we try to improve our service, the more sophisticated the system becomes and therefore the more guidance is necessary to enable members to make the most of the facilities available to them.

When I received an email earlier this week I realised that for some members with little time to spare in their busy lives, it is all too easy to miss that vital piece of information that could make setting up their home exchange so much easier. Davina wrote: "Hi, we have a house swap arranged for August - this will be our
first swap. Our guests will be coming from USA. Can you give us some tips on what we do to our home etc to make their holiday enjoyable. Thanks Davina"

Davina had obviously missed our Exchange Guidelines which are available by clicking on the menu link in the Members’ Area.

Similarly, when a new member joins, the Administrator’s message in the Member Admin Area may seem daunting, but it is there to help and I would advise a new member to try to spare a little time to read it through.

I hope that the web-log topic headings on the righthand side of the GTI Home Page will also attract attention to the subject of Handy Home Exchange Hints. America’s Fine Living TV web-site magazine includes a reference to GTI Home Exchange: Advice and Recommendations on taking a Home Exchange Holiday in their Fine Living Essentials articles, Introduction to Home Exchange, Selecting a Home Exchange, and Home Exchange Guests. Thank you Fine Living.

Learning your Home Exchange Partner's Language

Learn to speak the Language to make the most of your Home Exchange

GTI Home Exchange takes pride in being a multi-lingual home exchange agency and encourages members to use their language skills when communicating with each other. If you are prepared to make an effort and can learn just a little of your exchange partner's language, it will make all the difference to the rapport that you can build up whilst getting to know them and making your home exchange arrangements. The BBC provides some excellent on-line language learning videos with methods and materials which not only rapidly improve your language skills, but what's more, actually make learning a language fun. The courses include videos, quizzes, games whilst at the same time helping you to improve your vocabulary and grammar along the way. Take a look!

Home Exchange Enquiries by Email

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again!

A recent message from new member Sue in New Zealand HE18885, who was concerned at not receiving replies to her email enquiries, has prompted me to address the problem of non-response again. It is so disappointing for a new member who is all enthusiastic to join the home exchange community to find that she is not getting any replies, not even a kindly 'No thank you, we've already arranged our exchange', or 'We cannot venture so far this time'.
HE18885

If you don't have a valid email address in your member profile, then you won't get full use of your membership and you may be the one who is missing out! Check and double check your email address to make sure it is correct. Login to your member area on the GTI-Home-Exchange.com site, go to your own listing and send yourself a test email to make sure everything is working and that email is getting through your own SPAM filters and email protection. Sometimes we find that what members are using to keep out junk mail restricts legitimate email, or they have their level of security set too high.

Also, please check your SPAM and BULK email folders regularly, especially those who use EARTHLINK, HOTMAIL, YAHOO or BT YAHOO, just in case your ISPs spam filter is being over zealous. Some services are very tough on email, and there could be many times when a member has sent you an email which ended up in your bulk email folder but you won't have any idea unless you CHECK there regularly. As our contact enquiry form is sent via the server "mail2.ramesystravel.co.uk" check whether this is being flagged as a spam address and blocked.

And finally, if you suspect that your messages are not getting through using our email contact form, try sending your message via the member's email address hyperlink beside the member's name which uses your own email server to send the message and put their address in your "safe" contacts. Unfortunately this does mean that you will not have a record of the enquiries you have sent in the Recently contacted List in your Member Admin area.

Sue, who has been experiencing an email problem, now uses the alternative Email mode and just lists the people that she writes to in her safe contact list, just in case they had previously been scanned and deleted by hot mail. As she says,"At least I have had an acknowledgement now of my enquiry from another member."

So do be positive, we cannot allow spammers and the like to spoil what has been a wonderful contact facility for arranging home exchange holidays.

Keeping your Post safe while on home exchange

Royal Mail Keepsafe Service

House swapping is one of tourism's booming trends, thanks in large part because of something it can offer which hotels or B&Bs will never be able to - it's free. And people taking part have a fairly good idea that their house will be looked after while they're away.

But occasionally for the more reluctant home exchangers, a comment that is sometimes expressed about embarking on a home exchange is: "I would be okay trusting someone to look after my property. But what about the more personal things...Such as mail? The "strangers" could open any mail that comes through the post box. . . !!"

Therefore I thought it might be useful to mention that in the UK at least you can pay Royal Mail to hold mail at the delivery office until your return home. This service is known as Keepsafe.

The service can be set up within five working days. You have to tell Royal Mail when you want the service to end and they will deliver to your address on that date. If you return early from your trip, you must send a written cancellation note. Your mail will then arrive with the next available delivery. You can use the Keepsafe service for up to two months. If you are moving business or home temporarily for a longer period, try the Royal Mail Redirections service .

Can any members in other countries please tell us what similar services are provided by the mail service in their country?

GTI Home Exchange Member Registration and Payment Process

As banks and Merchant Service Providers work ever harder to maintain the security of on-line transactions, the processes are inevitably becoming a little more complicated for purchasers.

At Green Theme International Home Exchange we believe that some prospective members might be deterred by the complexity of the payment process (we know that this has happened in a few cases) and are therefore providing below some assistance on the new authentication services which are being offered to people using VISA cards.

As we currently understand the situation, for your additional security Visa provides authentication services on the following cards: Visa, Visa Delta and Visa Electron. These are additional Security checks: using the three additional security code numbers provided on the reverse of the card, and also a password which you create with your own bank, which refers back live to your own bank/card issuer before allowing the payment to proceed. This additional payment process is called MasterCard SecureCode (MCSC) or Verified by Visa (VbyV). If you are already enrolled for MCSC or VbyV, it is important to ensure that Javascript is enabled on your computer. Pop-up killers should also be disabled before you proceed to allow the authentication pop-up window to display. The cardholder checks their details
including a Personal Message which assures them they are dealing with their issuing bank. The cardholder enters a personal password agreed with their issuing bank before selecting the Submit button to complete the membership registration.

You may use the MCSC or VbyV authentication step if you are already registered for it, or if you wish to enrol for it. But to avoid loss of transactions in the early stages of the introduction of authentication, WorldPay provides cardholders with the option to make a purchase without authentication/enrolment. This is to assist those cardholders unfamiliar with the enrolment/authentication process to continue to make a payment. So .....

If the cardholder closes the pop-up window in error, does not wish to enrol for authentication, or is unable to display the pop-up window because of software problems, they are still able to register their GTI membership and make a payment. If this is your situation, select the third option, ‘I do not want to enrol or authenticate using Verified by Visa, and click ‘Continue’ so that the transaction will be sent for authorisation and processed as a normal transaction.

We hope that this information will help the few people who have been frustrated by the payment procedure and deterred from completing their membership registration.

Finding a Home Exchange listing by Member ID#

Hi there,

Yet again I am frustrated by not being able to find a listing using another member's ID #! I have been having difficulties since signing up last year-is there something else I can do other than looking through all the ads!

Thanks,

Alison Schreiber, HE17386

Hi Alison

I am very sorry to hear of your frustration in not being able to find another member's listing by their ID number. If you are in your own Member Admin Area having logged in with your email addrss and password, and then click on the link Message from the Administrator, you will see that I have attempted to include useful pointers in navigating and making the best use of the site, including the following information about listings and finding a Member's listing
by Member ID#.

Searching the Listings

You can search the listings from your own Member Area, by clicking on the
hyperlink "Property Search". This takes you to the Basic Search page where you enter the appropriate information, ie Search by Continent, State/County/Region, or City and click on the Search Button. The Search results will bring up Summary Listings with just a short summary of the exchange offered, and a thumbnail picture (if the
member has added photos to their exchange offer). Then if you click on the live heading link of a Summary listing, you can bring up the full listing which will display the name and contact details of the member.

If you wish to carry out a more Advanced Search, from the Basic Search page click on the link 'Detailed Search' towards the top left of the page, which will take you to the Detailed Search page which carries a number of Advanced Search options to limit your results further. (Beware adding too many alternatives at once, as you may then get zero results!)

To find a particular listing by its HEXXXXX ID number: there are two ways of achieving this. Either click on the link Find Member by User ID from your own member area, or if already on the Detailed Search page, scroll down the list of Advanced Search options. At the bottom you will find the box Search by Member ID. Enter their HEXXXXX (the HE is essential and no spaces between) to bring up the full Member listing.

Making Searches Easier

Those countries which currently have the largest number of listings (Australia, Canada, England, France, USA) are sub-divided by state, province, county or region. When you do a search and choose one of these countries from the drop down list, you can either search for listings in the whole country or limit the results by selecting from the drop down state list which will appear.
Note: just as only countries where there are current listings are shown in the drop down list, so too only states/counties etc which have members listed will appear in this drop down list. This is to help make searching easier as there is nothing more frustrating than getting zero results!

I think in view of your comments, at our next upgrade I willendeavour to see if it's possible to make the Search by Member ID# made more visible and also to clarify that it is necessary to include the HE prefix before the number with no spaces between.

Please don't hesitate to contact me again if you have any more problems with navigating the site.

Very best regards
Kath Botterill

Home Exchange - Getting started

As this is the time of year when many new members are joining the home exchange community, I thought that it might be appropriate to list a few of the basic procedures for setting up and enjoying a carefree home exchange:

1 Sign up with a reputable home exchange agency. (Compare membership prices too:
Green Theme International Home Exchange charges just £21 for 12 months membership; HomeLink a massive £115, Intervac £65 to register on-line; and HomeBase Holidays £29.

2 Use the site’s search engines to find suitable properties to swap with and start making offers preferably by e-mail. Alternatively, wait for offers to come to you, but you can really only afford to do this if you live in a tourist hotspot. Far better to be proactive and really seek out the exchange you want and contact your prospective exchange partners straight away.

3 Draw a short list from your responses, not forgetting to send a polite refusal to those you have eliminated from your quest. If references are available for those on your short list, do not hesitate to take them up once you feel that you are near to finalising an exchange arrangement.

4 Once you have committed to an exchange arrangement, exchange full information by email, so that you really feel you are getting to know your exchange partners.

5 Draw up a pre-swap agreement, with details of what to do if something gets broken, who pays the bills, whether cars are included in the swap and whether you are expected to look after any pets. Sample agreements, one short and the other more detailed and therefore perhaps more suitable for long-term exchanges, are shown on the GTI Home Exchange web-site at pages:http://www.gti-home-exchange.com/englishcontract.html and http://www.gti-home-exchange.com/GTI%20Sample%20Extended%20Home%20Exchange%20Agreement.htm

6 If possible agree to book your air, train or ferry tickets on the same day, then send details to your exchange partner proving that you have. This will reassure both parties that financial commitments have been made and that neither plans to pull out.

7 Contact your insurance companies and let them know your plans. Take out any extra insurance if necessary.

On the whole, insurance companies are pleased that your house will be occupied while you’re away — it makes burglary less likely. Most insurance companies have a relaxed approach to home exchange. Direct Line says that as long as the company is notified in advance and agrees that the incoming occupants are a “like-for-like” risk — pro-fessionals swapping with professionals, for example — property and contents will be covered for the duration of the exchange, even if incoming swappers damage or even steal items in your home. Others, including Churchill, will continue to cover all losses incurred as a result of forced entry.

Similarly, most car-insurance firms will cover a new driver for a nominal charge, providing they are told of plans in advance. However, some people do find they have difficulty particularly with adding cover for drivers from the USA. A site which you may find useful if you find yourself in this situation is: http://www.moneysupermarket.com/motor/

8 You're almost ready. Finally, clean and tidy your house, lock particularly valuable items away and put together a welcome pack of information about the house and the area. Before departing for your holiday, leave keys with a neighbour who can greet your visitors. Even better, arrange to overlap with your swapping partners so that you can meet face to face.

GTI Home Exchange Renewal Plans

Question

Dear Kate

Thank you for your renewal reminder, but owing to changed circumstances I am not able to renew immediately. But I have just one query, why is there so little difference between the GTI Home Exchange new membership rate and the discounted renewal rate?
Sher

Answer

Dear Sher,

Thanks for responding and advising us of your current situation. Your long-term loyalty GTI Home Exchange over previous years is much appreciated, but regrettably if we were to increase our discount for renewing members, we would then have to increase our annual subscription for new members. The success of home exchange depends on growing a wide and varied membership and we therefore aim to keep the cost to new members competitive and affordable.

I hope that we shall have the pleasure of welcoming you back soon when your situation is different.
Regards
Kath

Response received from Sher

Dear Kate,

Fair enough, I quite understand your point of view, and as soon as I'll have something more permanent to offer on an exchange basis, I'll be only too glad to join gti-home-exchange again, as I really greatly appreciate its quality, services and contents, and I'm looking forward to being part of it all again - all the more so as a new membership doesn't even cost more than renewing an old one!

Personally I've had 2 happy experiences, with Barcelona and Bristol, and I keep telling everybody around me about you, but it seems that the Swiss are a bit hesitant (or scared?) about letting anyone into their precious houses...

Thanks a lot for your speedy reply anyway, and all the best for 2006!

Sher

Preparing for a successful Home Exchange

Feedback from a successful home exchange between Ireland and Switzerland pointed out not just how nice the area was, but what a difference it makes if the exchange home is well prepared for its visitors. “We just want to let you know that this one (HE11260) is such a wonderful exchange – Everything about this home exchange is wonderful, The House, The Area, The Country. They go to such trouble to leave such organized details. We had a wonderful holiday”.

Below is a list of recommendations for preparing your house for your exchange partner. Think of it as a “What I would like when I get there” list.

Neighbours to welcome if possible

Basic food stock – milk, bread, coffee etc. and other necessary items such as toilet tissue, bath soap and cleaning supplies.

Note as to where main items are stored, and what storage space has been provided for your exchanger. Make space in dresser drawers and cupboards, and leave empty hangers.

Provide plenty of clean towels and bedlinen for your guests.

Directions to local shops and restaurants (with personal recommendations if you wish).

Emergency Telephone numbers: plumber, electrician, doctor – hope never to need them.

Notes on how to use appliances, and their idiosyncracies ie if washing machine door sticks (don’t kick it). If your exchanger does not speak your own language well, simple diagrams can help clarify instructions.

Store any valuables or lock them away somewhere safe.

Prepay your bills before you leave.

Do basic regular maintenance such as mow lawn, clean pool before departure.

If a car is part of the exchange agreement, leave copies of your car insurance and registration.

Leave clear instructions for pet and plant care.

Ask post office to hold your mail for you until you return.

The list could be endless, but use your own judgement. It could make all the difference.

For home exchange advice in your own language: German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, or Dutch, click on the appropriate link below.

Tips zum Haustausch
Exchange Advice and Forms
Consejos & Formularios
Conseils et Formulaires
Consigli e suggerimenti
Exchange advies en formulieren
The Oberserver Pick of the Season - 20 journeys to change your life

"Know before you Go" Campaign

The United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office web-site is the definitive place of reference for those seeking information before travelling abroad, and we are sure that anyone planning to travel abroad, whether from the UK or elsewhere, will find helpful advice here.

Know Before You Go is an awareness campaign aimed at encouraging British travellers to prepare better before going overseas. Use this area of the website to help plan your trip overseas.

NEW! Short Breaks

Check out our top tips for planning a short break holiday overseas. This
is the lastest targeted mini-campaign as part of "Know Before You Go".