We used CHI for our first au pair. They are cheaper, but they have a MUCH smaller footprint in this area and our au pair has to travel really far for her monthly meetings, plus pay her own way at those meetings. And the orientation is on-line only. We are likely switching this year, and I feel better knowing that our next au pair will have an in-person orientation, a larger network of support that is closer to us, and more interesting monthly meetings to attend.

Not to sound like an advertisement, but AuPaiCare has been great. We have been lucky with 3 APs and our LCC is involved if we need her (only once, and even then, not really). The fees are significant, but not the most expensive. Pool is big enough that re-match is probably not too tricky.

If you go it alone, does your AP get health care? Travel to your home covered? LCC support? (Can't say I'm convinced that the training on arrival is worth anything. )

I am on my 4th au pair. Numbers 2 and 4 are good friends/colleagues back home with the first AP. They came to visit (while I had numbers 1 and 2.) and everything clicked so I just found the cheapest agency. All 4 of my APs were either pre-school teachers or nurses (or finishing their training) back home (including number 3, who was from another country) and wanted to better their English for a better job back home.

Single mom with daughter here which they seemed to prefer -- no family complications. Small home, no perks, lots of freedom. 45 hours per week while I teach high school. No weekends or nights. Easy peasy "matching." Number 4 has split schedule now that daughter is in school, plus 2 Saturday mornings per month.

So i recommend if you love your AP to get her friends to visit, if they too have any interest. Extra points if they work in education or nursing. I only considered age 21+. No guesswork on either side this way. No false expectations.

Hi looking for a family that has used CHI so they can bemefit $300 from referring. Anybody interested?

Yes, we used Expert Au Pair this year and our agency costs were lower - $6500. We used Au Pair International the last two years and their costs were similar ($6500), but they added a new web interface this year and increased fees by $500. Many will complain about the issues with rematch when youre with a smaller agency due to a smaller rematch pool, but we've liked the boutique feeling of working with a smaller business. We did have a rematch the first year, and had to wait for an out of country au pair, but luckily had family to help for 3 weeks (yes, we were able to get an out of country person in under 4 weeks). We were able to match through Expert- they have fewer profiles, however, still a few good ones. For us, $2K less in agency fees gives us more flexibility to put that money towards the au pair directly.

Yes, Expert will recommend that you can post your own profile through a 3rd party website. Again it means more "heavy lifting" for the host family to find candidates, but it's a trade-off for the lower fees.

I think CHI is the cheapest at $7400 for a year. www.chinet.org
Sarah is a great community admin.. always reachable!

Anonymous wrote:Cheapest way is to prematch with an Au pair then go with Expert Au Pair out of Florida.

The big agencies all cost about the same after everything.

While true, good luck if you go to rematch. Tiny agency, slim chance of a replacement, No refunds, no payment plans for protection. There are other agencies with lower costs than the big 3 that have better support and service.