Hostelling International USA

Hostelling International-USA (HI-USA)
Hostelling International USA (HI-USA) is the trading name for the legal name American Youth Hostels Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization based in Silver Spring, MD. HI-USA is an affiliate of the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF). The IYHF has a network of nearly 4,000 hostels in over 70 countries around the world and is known as Hostelling International (HI). HI-USA members have access to all hostels in the worldwide HI network.

• HI-USA operates a network of nearly 80 hostels in the U.S. These hostels must meet or surpass international quality standards set by the IYHF.
• An HI-USA membership is valid for a full 12 months from the date of issue and provides HI-USA members with a variety of benefits, including the member rate at HI hostels, free publications, basic travel insurance and thousands of discounts worldwide.
  
  Membership is free to all youths under the age of 18, $28 for Adults (18-54 years), and $18 for Seniors over (55+ Yrs). Lifetime memberships are $250. Memberships for non-profit groups of 10 or more are free. There are currently about 80,000 HI-USA members in the United States, with over 7,000 of them holding lifetime status. Throughout the world, there are about 3.2 million Hostelling International members.
  
  
• There is a common misconception that hostelling is only for the young. The fact is, hostelling is for people of all ages. While roughly 60% of our members are between the ages of 20 and 34, nearly 15% of our members are seniors aged 55 and older.
• There are currently 31 local HI-USA councils in the U.S. working to carry out the HI-USA mission at the community level. These councils offer programs, activities and other services to assist local members. Currently, there are nearly 5,000 programs and activities that bring travelers and community members together to promote the discovery of local communities, cultures and the world.
• HI-USA is committed to sound environment practices, with hostels in numerous states certified as "Sustainable Living Centers," teaching everyday energy and resource conservation.
• HI-USA's Web site, found at www.hiusa.org, allows members and non-members the same access to a wide variety of information and services covering HI-USA's entire network of hostels. The site currently averages between 7 and 9 million hits and about 50,000 unique visitors a month.

Laura Warrell, Associate Director, Administration
617-718-7990 ext. 13
lwarrell@usahostels.org