In the post-COVID era, the Couchsurfing website/app isn't as big as it once was due to the paywall. However, as of March 2025, the cost of a Couchsurfing annual subscription is only: AU$22.43 (around €13 or USD$14) - less than the cost of a hostel for one night in a European city, so if you couch surf once a year, it's still worth it! 

I strongly recommend downloading it and using the app, especially if you're doing long-term travel or are after a local experience. 

Here are some tips for getting people to accept your stay, for being a better couchsurfer, and for making your profile more visible. 

Read the Hosts Bio and Write a Personal Response

Most people who have been on Couchsurfing for a while have a "codeword" hidden in their bio so they can tell if you've read it or not. A common line you may see is: I don't reply to effortless messages. Mention the word "monkey" in your message so I know you've read my bio.

I actually use a template message that has the core things I can offer (what activities we can do together, what I'm in the city for, why I enjoy couchsurfing over hostels) and I customise this message to everyone I send it to. It takes a little bit more time, but I usually only message 3 or 4 people per city with personal messages - as opposed to the 20 or 30 people that everyone else seems to message with their one liner copy-and-paste messages!

Tell Them What You Can Offer

If you're hosting someone on Couchsurfing, usually you're looking forward to having a friend to hang out with. What do you have in common, after reading their bio? Are you offering to cook for them, to watch a movie with them, play a board game, go to the pub? Will you bring a bottle of wine? Read their bio and suggest why you'd be a good host. I get so many messages that say "I'd love to explore the city with you" - that's nice, but I live in this city, and I don't really want to go explore all the tourist sites with every couch surfer who stays. 

Be Specific About Your Arrival Time and Your Flexibility

The best messages say "I'm arriving in your city between 1pm and 5pm, but am flexible to come to your place at whatever time suits you." The worst are "I'm arriving on Saturday and I'll message you and let you know when I've arrived." It's really annoying waiting around the whole day for a couch surfer who may or may not show up, and it makes it hard to plan your own day. Usually whenever I go on a hosting hiatus, it's after I've had someone mess me around the whole day and not show up. 

I've stayed with people after a long hitchhike, and in this case I'll usually say "I'll be in your city by 6pm at the absolute latest, maybe a bit earlier if the hitchhiking goes well. When are you home, and when would be convenient for you?".

It's Not a Hotel

You'd be surprised how often hosts get messages saying "I just need a bed and a shower. Couch is ok but bed is preferable. I'll leave early morning and you won't even know I'm there. Thanks." Hosts aren't usually on Couchsurfing to offer out free hotels. We're on there for friendship, connection, and giving back to the community. 

Travelling for a Specific Event?

I often get requests from groups of friends who are travelling to my city for a specific event, festival, concert, gig, or show. Sometimes this is a single person travelling, but often it's larger groups. Very rarely do I get a request worth my time. If you're travelling with a group of 4 friends and you're going to an event, I can expect that you're going to come back very late and probably wake me up when you arrive. You may be drunk or intoxicated, you may be loud, you may be messy. You'll certainly be tired the next day, and before the event you'll be busy getting ready. None of this sounds like a fun house guest for me. 

However, the groups that I have taken have been the ones who've offered for me to join them! I had one group of 8 stay with me while going to a festival near my house. They offered to pay for my entrance ticket ($200) in exchange for the accommodation, which worked out great because I had a group of friends to go to a festival with, we all were loud and noisy together when we came home, we all partied and danced together, I knew a lot of the local performers and vendors and could introduce them to fun people, and they would have paid almost ten times as much to find last minute accomodation for 8 people on the weekend of a major festival. 

Got No References, and Getting No Replies?

If your Couchsurfing profile is brand new and you have 0 references, you're less likely to get accepted by people as there's nothing verifying that you're a safe person, good company, or someone fun to let into their home. You can however get personal references - simply ask any friends (new friends or old) whohave Couchsurfing to leave you a personal reference. Or if you're not getting accommodation references to start with, you can also use the "Events" or "Hang Outs" feature to make friends with other travellers in the region, and then do personal references for each other from there. Once you've got 2 or 3 references, it becomes infinitely easier to get accepted.