Thoughts On Budget Traveling

Hello! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Source

Lately, I've heard a lot of great stories about Couchsurfing. Not only can you crash on someone's couch, use the kitchen and the bathroom, but also will you have a local who will tell you where to go or even show you the places him/herself (for free!). It puts together surfers who travel (on budget) and want to see the World through locals eyes and hosts who want to meet international people without having to leave home. 

One of the disadvantages I see in Couchsurfing is the lack of privacy, not only because often you will be literally sleeping on someone's couch or on a spare mattress in the same room, but also will your day depend (often) on theirs. You might be lucky and find someone with whom you come along perfectly, but maybe you don't connect with each other, or have totally different expectations. If you are worried about this - shall you just go to a hostel? Maybe. But hostels are no longer the only option available for budget travelers - now there is Airbnb! And with *now*, I mean already since a few years ago. Why had never anyone told me about this before?

Airbnb is an online service allows anyone who has a room or property available to rent it out. The concept is somewhere in between the Hostels and the Couchsurfing - you have more privacy and freedom, but still have the tips and tricks from the local host. In contrast to Couchsurfing, you do pay a price for your stay in Airbnb - The price ranges from budget to scarily luxurious. Luckily, can you choose from a broad search criteria, specifying not only the location, but also the maximum price, if room or property or certain amenities, among others. 

While searching for accommodation for New York in January, I came along a lot of impressive apartments - some really affordable, others simply amazing. Now my questions is:

How do you know if the apartment is for real?

• Common Sense. As much as I wanted it to be true, it's hard to believe that I could rent a 80m2 modern apartment in the Upper East Side for only 120 USD - Too good to be true. 
• Feedback. In Airbnb (like in Tripadvisor, Hostelworld and Couchsurfing.org), customers can give feedback on their stay (and hosts can give feedback on their customers too!). This is already a good point. If one of these great apartments Upper East Side apartments has no feedback, be suspicious. 
• Check out the Hosts Profile. I feel much more comfortable if I see someone's face, rather than if I only see another picture of the apartment. Also, you can see his/her response rate - if it's low, the host might not be taking this too serious. 
• Don't make offline payment. According to Airbnb, you are secured as long as you book and pay through Airbnb. Even though we all know that the website will charge some fees for this, I'm sure they're worth paying to avoid finding out that your apartment has a fake address and your host has disappeared with the money. 

Has any of you tried Airbnb or Couchsurfing before? Which is your usual accommodation if you're budget traveling? Any recommendations on lodging in New York?