Start clearing your sofa this instant.

As social networking extends its tentacles across the travel world, yet another site has sprung up linking the owners of spare beds, rooms and sofas in different countries. Afflicted by a nasty dose of textitis, 1bed4u.com currently covers Europe but plans to embrace budget travellers across the planet. You simply list your accommodation and its availability, and can then search what's offered by fellow subscribers. For €5, you get the details of three potential hosts. Feedback from visitors on the site dictates your place in the accommodation pecking order.