Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Four Overnights in San Francisco for $80 ?

My wife and I recently visited the beautiful city of Adelaide in Australia, toured the vineyards of the Barosa Valley and paid only $80 for our four overnight stay.  We paid the same amount for four nights in San Francisco while neighbours stayed a month in Melbourne and spent only 4 nights in a hotel.  Sounds impossible? Not really.  The Affordable Travel Club makes it possible. 

This is how it works.  As members of the ATC we receive an on-line list of other members around the world who have agreed to host or be hosted.  In our case, we emailed members in San Francisco and Adelaide and enquired if they would be willing to host us.  They were more than happy to extend such hospitality.  Generally, the overnight ATC fee is $20, although in cities like Paris it could be $30 per night.  This includes breakfast!  In most cases more than breakfast is offered, such as a glass of wine in the evening or even a BBQ dinner.   Of course the possibility always exsists that we might get an unexpected call or email asking us for hospitality. 

It is expected that you will not overstay your welcome.  Arrangements for a single night to four nights are reasonable.  On a rare occasion you can arrange to stay longer in which case a more generous fee than the usual $20 can be offered.   In our experience we have nothing than the most pleasant memories of our stays with friends of the ATC.