Travel warning – how you could be DEPORTED for using accommodation website

By Kevin Colleran On Jul 19, 2022

LOOKING after pets is one of the more creative methods people use to cut their costs when travelling.

By using websites like TrustedHouseSitters, travellers can stay in a home for free in exchange for feeding pets while the homeowners are away.

An Australian woman was kept in detention at LA airport for five hours by immigration officers for using the website TrustedHouseSittersCredit: Getty

However, an Australian woman has revealed how she was recently deported from the United States while trying to use the site because it went against ESTA rules.

Madolline Gourley has saved an estimated £16,000 on accommodation by using the site in recent years, and has even started a blog about her travels as a cat-sitter.

However, her most recent experience saw her denied access to America, with immigration officers preventing her from leaving the airport.

Speaking to Traveller she said that she was interrogated twice during a five-hour stint in detention before being put on the next plane back to Australia.

I'm a travel expert - I get free accommodation while holidaying and you can too

I’m cabin crew & paid to travel the world - here's how I always look fresh

She said: “One officer asked a series of questions and said what I was doing went against ESTA rules because homeowners would need to pay for someone to feed the cat if it wasn’t for me.”

On the US Department of State’s website, it states that: “The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables most citizens or nationals of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.”

A spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told Traveller that visitors entering the US using a visa waiver are banned from “any type of employment or getting compensation for services rendered”.

Madolline argued that the messaging needed to be clearer as she didn’t consider what she was doing to be employment of any kind.

She said: “No money is provided to me and no contract is signed. Not exactly employment. The website operates on an exchange model.”

My neighbour has cut down LOADS of my tree - I’m absolutely fuming

I turned my drab caravan into dream space using Ikea bargains & saved thousands

This traveller revealed how she uses a similar website to find work in exchange for free accommodation.

This expert also stays for free in lavish houses to keep costs down as she travels.

The woman's experience saw her denied access to America, with immigration officers preventing her from leaving the airport — The woman’s experience saw her denied access to America, with immigration officers preventing her from leaving the airportCredit: Getty Images – Getty

For all the latest Travel News Click Here

For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TheDailyCheck is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected] The content will be deleted within 24 hours.