GuestPoints were created to enable non-reciprocal exchanges, when members cannot find someone to come to their home on the dates they would like to travel. For example: imagine that a German couple wants to come to your home, but you wish to travel to Italy, not Germany. Without GuestPoints a simple reciprocal exchange would not be possible in that case but with GuestPoints the German couple can come stay in your home in exchange for GuestPoints. You can then use these GuestPoints to stay in a home in Italy. GuestPoints exist to compensate for the hospitality of a host.
Thanks to this system you are able to organize two types of exchanges on HomeExchange:
- Reciprocal: I host the person whose home I am staying in (I am both the host and the guest)
- Non-reciprocal: One member of the exchange (either me or my partner) is not interested in going to the other's home, in which I offer a pre-determined amount of GuestPoints per night for his hospitality (I will either be a host or a guest thanks to the GuestPoint system)
Each home is assigned a value in GuestPoints that is calculated automatically by our system. More information in this article: What is the value of my home in GuestPoints?
You can earn GuestPoints in several ways, however, most GuestPoints are earned by hosting other members in your home. You can learn more about how to earn GuestPoints by reading this article: How can I earn GuestPoints?
The transfer of GuestPoints is done automatically at the time an exchange is finalized. If you are organizing a non-reciprocal exchange, GuestPoints will be used. If you are organizing a reciprocal exchange, you can decide to finalize with or without GuestPoints. If you finalize with GuestPoints, the difference in GuestPoint amounts per night of the two homes is taken into account.
Related article: Do GuestPoints expire?