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I just read and implemented @Annet3176 excellent idea on an automated message regarding travel insurance (mine posts 24 hours after booking), although I hope my message is neutral on the topic, just letting them know it exists and that they might want to consider it.
Airbnb often prompts the Host to send a message a few days before the check-in, which I also think is a good idea just to re-assure the guest that the Host is not flaky, that they have a real reservation they can rely on and reminding them of our guidebook.
But other than that I canât think of any other meaningful messages that I could write that arenât a waste of the guestâs time since everything else is âin the systemâ as pre-booking details, post-booking details (House manual)
Am I missing something? What suggestions do you have?
I am pessimistic about guests reading anything these days. However, at the very beginning of my automated confirmation message I remind guests that they must check their Airbnb message thread for important questions and check in directions. This seems to have helped a little.
If the first message I received from my host was about travel insurance Iâd probably skip reading anything else from the host until the week of arrival. No matter how you word it I would take it as spam.
If the first message was a thank you and you will hear from us again X days before with directions and checkin information Iâd be happy. And yes, remind them to turn on notifications.
Yeah, Iâve done that. So I wonder why I need or whether it would be advisable to send another message AGAIN. Yet Airbnb prompts me to do so. Plus, I do really about renegade hosts that cancel bookings to get better deals or whatever. So the I wonder whether it might be a good practice a few days before check-in to say hello.
It is not my first message BUT from playing with the insurance website, it looks like guest have 10 days after booking to buy the travel insurance so canât wait too long.
I think people are interesting. Hosts all over yell, âwhy do i lose money when the guest cancels, they should have travel insuranceâ but then balk at educating the guest that the insurance is available.
I read everything I could find on the Airbnb website about travel insurance. The information is available to the guest on the Airbnb website but it doesnât appearAirbnb includes the information as part of the booking process.
If we hosts donât want to take a financial hit when a guest cancels snd there is a tool available, we should use it.
Sure we can think Airbnb should educate the guest, but there are many things Airbnb could do but they donât.
As a guest, I donât appreciate being educated by the host other than about things that are specific to their property. If their house will not have AC available during my trip then sure, I want to know. If their property doesnât map correctly on Google maps, so people tend to get lost on the way there, helpful directions are warranted.
I travel a lot. I know all about all sorts of general travel related things including travel insurance. A message from the host about travel insurance just makes me thing the next three will be about stuff like signing up for their friendâs tour of the local hot spots or making dining reservations at their brotherâs restaurant. For some people those would be useful. But I donât need or want those type of messages, so I tend to junk them.
Just a warning that sending spam about other things you may want your guests to buy will dilute any important messages that directly affect their stay.
I booked some Airbnbâs this fall and if I remember correctly they do have a link to travel insurance information on the booking page. It was a link farther down on the page. But at this time it just gives info and you have to leave the site to actually purchase a policy. Maybe they will move it up the page and integrate it more they way airlines tickets and concert tickets are now, where you have to actively decline it in order to complete the purchase.
Exactly. I donât want to stay with needy hosts with their long lists of rules and over-explained everythings. Iâve been able to identify them easily in their listings and itâs never going to get to the point where they send me unwanted messages after I booked.
I must be hungry. I read that as âscallions onlyâ.
I donât think you are. I have quite a few saved messages, but thatâs a different thing. Because I know that I get the same info requests often, I have saved messages I can use. (How far away is the airport? What does a taxi cost to the cruise port? Can I rent bicycles nearby? That sort of thing.)
But I automate nothing. The usual for me is this - the guest books (I use IB) and I send a quick âthank you for booking / let me know if you need any info / look forward to seeing youâ message.
Then itâs perfectly normal for us to have no further communication at all until the day before check-in. As I have guests booking well in advance, that period could be a year. But theyâve nothing to say to me and Iâve nothing to say to them during that space of time.
I am mildly irritated as a host when guests message me asking about questions that can be answered by reading the listing but thatâs part of my job so I answer in a prompt and friendly manner.
As a guest, I have never seen any reason to contact a host between booking and check-in day (or the evening before) so Iâd be annoyed to receive automated messages.
I donât do this. A guest has enough to think about when theyâre making a trip - airline tickets, car rental, dog-sitters, etc. so to me, sending an automated message (or a genuine one) seems superfluous. I often donât agree with Airbnbâs suggestions but Iâve been in the STR business longer than Airbnb anyway.
random image? Seals are cool. Otters are more better cooler.
