Each home has a number of points attributed, called "Guestpoints". Members can either do reciprocal exchanges or non-reciprocal exchanges with guestpoints. They earn points by hosting other members, and they can use those to stay at other homes. In order to finalize a reciprocal exchange, members need to activate their annual membership of US$220 (or€160 in Europe) per year,[3] for unlimited exchanges.[4] As of December 2022 homeexchange.com has >100,000 members and over 450,000 homes in 133 countries.[5]
Ed Kushins first came up with the idea of starting home exchange service service back in 1992, after he and his family made their first home exchange from Hermosa Beach, California to Washington D.C. On this trip, he learned that staying in a home as opposed to a hotel was not only more comfortable, but offered a more enriching "living like a local" experience and was a lot more affordable. The HomeExchange club would be later be launched that same year, and was able to be navigated using a mail-ordered, printed directory. However, it would not become a web-based platform until 1996, when e-commerce was rising its way to popularity. [6]
It is currently unknown what the site originally looked like on its launch date, since web.archive.org was only able to trace it all the way back to 1998, despite the site being found in 1996. [7]
In 2006, HomeExchange.com got featured and promoted in the romantic comedy, "The Holiday", produced and directed by Nancy Meyers.[8]
In March of 2017, GuestToGuest merged with HomeExchange.com, and since 2019 continued under that name. GuestToGuest's founder, Emmanuel Arnaud then became the CEO of HomeExchange.com.[9]
In March of 2023, HomeExchange.com purchased their competitor, Love Home Swap.[10]
