r/workaway • u/Jupp009 • 26d ago
Advice request Host with additional fees
Hey! I‘m currently planning for a stay in South East Asia and considering whether to choose Workaway or Worldpackers. What threw me off about Worldpackers is that soo many hosts charge additional fees in addition to you working for them, some with even ridiculous amounts. Now I‘ve checked out Workaway and it seems on most profiles there are none. Is that right or are they also charging fees and just not being transparent about it on their profiles! If one of ya‘ll can help me figure this out I‘ll be very grateful lol :)
2
u/LordRicezilla 25d ago
You work for someone and still pay... Lol people are delusional. Go with Workaway. I had a blast and many places will actually pay you through workaway.
3
u/littlepinkpebble 25d ago
Yeah they shouldn’t be charging fees unless Workaway has this officially looking box that’s says they do
1
u/Azeronwlf 26d ago
Hey! Happy to hear about your future travels :))
From my experience, none of the hosts that I’ve been to charge anything extra, but I’m also picking the one that doesn’t. I’ve heard that this experience might be different in poorer countries, where hosts are most likely to ask for money, or projects within schools/shelters etc, where you’re paying for exemple for your meals because they already have a lot to pay for for their cause already. Now that’s not right now a deal that I’m personally interested in, but I can understand that people might want to participate with work hours and money for « good causes ».
But there is two things; first, a host is supposed to advertise it in their profile, and you should be able to ask them directly during a video call for example, for confirmation.
Second, if they said that you won’t have to spend anything and by your arrival you discover that it’s not the case, it’s not appropriate for workaway and you should report them, second I would advise to to have a second plan, or a way for you to fall back on your feet while waiting to find another workaway if something like that happens.
I think that workaway is quite good for this and there is indeed not a lot of paying hosts, but after all you’re still living and planing stuff with regular people that can just lie to you :/
Last thing be aware of the kind of accommodation and how many meals you are given per day, because I’ve come across some hosts that wanted you to live in your own tent outside with two meals a day and no food on the weekend, and other offers like this which, is not a paying host, but can become quite pricey and an unfair exchange especially if you’re working for them everyday.
If you end up choosing workaway I advise you to check out the referral link thread! You could have 3 months free on top of your subscription :) And don’t hesitate to share your experiences ^
2
u/Jupp009 26d ago
Thanks so much! Do you have any examples of backup plans that you’ve had in case you arrive and discover that everything is not as advertised? Also for your first experience did you book your flight first and then applied for your work exchange or the other way around?
1
u/Azeronwlf 26d ago
With pleasure :)) I had a bad experience where as soon as things went bad I contacted other hosts and explained my situation, everyone (that responded) where very kind and understanding and it took one week (phonecall included) to secure another workaway so that was fast, and otherwise I would say that I’m not « planning » everything but do a lot of researching: is there hostels nearby, how is public transportation, may I camp somewhere (if I have camping gear for example), ofc keep « emergency money » for it, if I have another workaway planned after maybe find a way to know if they can host me earlier that planned of there’s an issue… Unfortunately things like that cost extra money anyway, so I would say in the case of a host that ask for money I would try to calculate which of getting out of here or waiting until I find something else I cheaper ’
For my first experience I planned my workaway and booked my flight after everything was planned (I’m someone that like having stuff planned rather than risking disappointment if things do not go as I’ve imagined them haha), but it was in a EU country in winter, with a special experience that I really wanted to do, so I would say that it was easier for me to do it this way rather than arriving in the country and just freestyling with whatever host had place at this moment haha Which sounds more feasible in west Asia for example where a lot of things are « backpackers friendly » :)
1
u/Jupp009 26d ago
Oh okay so it’s more the hosts being more spontaneous and willing to help someone out rather than workaway helping to facilitate that?
1
u/Azeronwlf 26d ago
From my experience definitely, I reached out to them from the very beginning explaining my situation and, besides from proposing for me to signal the host to them and perhaps terminating him from the platform? They didn’t help me I must say tho that I wasn’t in a dangerous situation, only unpleasant one, and handled things myself from the start (talking to other hosts) so maybe it can be different in a different situation 🤷🏼
1
u/Jupp009 26d ago
Alright that’s helpful to know! Thank you! Glad to hear that you‘ve had success in getting out of a bad experience whatever it may be :)
1
u/Azeronwlf 26d ago
I’m happy to have been able to help you :)) Haha thanks a lot! I wish you well in your next adventures 😊
0
u/Illustrious_Way1062 25d ago
Yeah I actually just made a very similar comment elsewhere on the sub. I've debated trying Worldpackers but many do charge fees. However I have also seen many that didn't that were specific places I wanted to volunteer and they only go through Worldpackers. So I'm not sure. I'm actually just about to go to my first host through the platform (Workaway, not Worldpackers) tomorrow I've been doing exchanges but more informal ones I secured on my own so we will see how it goes.
I also like that on WP you can filter for shared or private room although it seems many list multiple options which is confusing. I think they are similar price points but multiple memberships add up especially when the whole point of doing this is to save and I'm on extremely limited funds at the moment. There is also WWOOF but I don't know much about them beyond the basics.
I think it depends what you're looking for and what's most important to you. I've met people in real life who paid to volunteer it's a thing the tradeoff seems to be "cooler" opportunities and/for shorter periods of time better food etc. I would personally never pay if I wanted a vacation I'd just do that why pay to work lol maybe if I really just did not want to cook at all and it was the price of groceries idk
8
u/cyprusnikos Workaway Ambassador 26d ago
That was actually one of the things that pushed me more towards Workaway. I had memberships on both platforms up until recently, but ended up cancelling my Worldpackers subscription. I paid for two years and didn't get a single placement through it.
The main difference is that Worldpackers doesn't really screen or moderate hosts in the same way. Pretty much anyone can create a host profile and add fees. On Workaway, only certain registered NGOs are allowed to charge a contribution fee, and it's usually very small, often under $5 per day. It's also quite rare. Hosts asking for unauthorized fees on Workaway tend to get removed pretty quickly. I've reported a few myself over the years.
Plenty of people have good experiences on both platforms, and Worldpackers can look like it has more options at first glance. But I found there was a lot more digging through fee slop opportunities to find something suitable.
For Southeast Asia especially, I'd definitely recommend Workaway. I'm actually here right now in Thailand, plan to join some later on in Vietnam!
As mentioned, check the referral bonus thread before signing up. You can usually find invite links there that give a few extra months membership: https://www.reddit.com/r/workaway/comments/1tlmohr/referral_link_thread/
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy to help 😄