Couchsurfing can create great memories and make you save a lot of money during your travels. Even though it is often working well for me, the success of finding many hosts is not coming without effort.
So how to write a good Couchsurfing request? Read this article and find out!
You should read the article: click here to see how to create a great profile on Couchsurfing first, to already have the basics done.
What is Couchsurfing?
Couchsurfing is a platform where you can find people who would like to have you as a guest in their home for free. For travelers to meet other travelers and to just have a cultural exchange.
In some countries the application costs some money, in many third world countries it is still for free.
There are also other applications like: Be welcome, Trustroots and Couchers.org which are basically the exact same as Couchsurfing but for free and not so much money focused. Still due to the amount of people I am mainly using Couchsurfing, but this article is helpful for all other platforms as well.
What is important before you are writing a Couchsurfing request?
Before writing a request to a potential host.
- Write a request not longer than 3 weeks in advance, many hosts prefer being a bit spontaneous.
- Don’t request for too many nights, it helps to send a request for a maximum of 4 nights, of course you can request longer, but the chances will decrease finding a host.
- Use filters to find a good host, I will write more about this in the next section.
- Have a good profile.
- Know the exact time you will be in town.
This is important before even writing a Couchsurfing request, because it will save you a lot of time, if you follow this.
How to find a good Couchsurfing host?
In Couchsurfing you can use filters, in order to find your perfect match.
I use my filters always the same:
- Active last week
- Having references
- Putting my exact date in and the amount of people I am with
- I also put “Private Room” because most of the time it is very easy for me finding a host, so I just put my priority first
You should put the filters the way you feel like, it is also possible to filter by gender and age, this is helpful for women especially.
Check the references and filter there if any bad references happened and also check the pictures in general. There are many weirdos who see Couchsurfing as a dating application, which it is not! This is easy to see, most popular are men who are shirtless and prefer to host only women, this gives you some warning signs at least.
When you are not so sure, if you would feel safe with a specific person, don’t risk anything and pay for accommodation, it is always better to not risk your well being.
What are good signs for a good host
- Many good references
- Pictures with other people
- Many informations in the profile
- Last time active: today
You should check for that for sure, in order to give you a better feeling.
How to actually write the Couchsurfing request?
Actually there is no wrong or right, because everyone is different. There are few things which are good to know beforehand.
- Nobody likes to be used as a hotel
- Mentioning the name
- Sometimes there are keywords in the profile, read the profile and find the hidden informations
- Don’t copy paste to everyone. Write about some similarities from you and your potential host
- When you are traveling with a friend or partner, mention it and even better if they would have a profile as well
- Tell them roughly about what your plan in the city is and also maybe invite your host to the plan, if possible
The most important thing is to actually read the profile. Very important are the sections which are about the host and about the living situation.
There are some situations which you could for sure avoid, by just doing this. It is a great platform and the black sheeps are possible to avoid.
Also your chances of finding a host will increase with more quality requests, instead of writing several requests with copy paste.
Whenever you have any question feel free to contact me, or write a comment.
Leave a Reply