[ikonst]

For me, it greatly depends on the location. At locations where hostels are readily available and cheap, I had easy time couchsurfing, e.g. Mexico, and had a very good time (that was last summer, 2014). In SF, yeah, good luck, and better be a handsome girl/guy (and maybe get some unwanted advances).

Though, actually, back in 2010 I did find a CS host in Brooklyn, NY within maybe 5-10 requests, so YMMV.

Israel, I've been told by my guests, is very easy.