Airbnb Message Templates: 9 Messages From Booking to Checkout

Automate these nine: booking confirmation, pre-arrival questions, an upsell offer, check-in instructions, a welcome after arrival, a mid-stay check, a checkout reminder and a review request, plus a no-show nudge you send by hand. Give AI your facts, draft each message with one prompt, edit it, then schedule it as an Airbnb quick reply.

Eight of the nine can run on a timer. The ninth, the no-show nudge, depends on whether the guest has actually arrived, which no template can know, so it stays a saved reply that you send yourself. Every template also inherits the quality of the facts inside it: a wrong wifi password or a stale door code, sent automatically to every guest, does its damage at scale. Draft with AI, but supply the facts and read each message as the guest will.

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The sequence: nine messages and when each one fires

The timings echo the examples in Airbnb's own pages: "5 minutes after a guest books", "1 day before check-in at 10:00", and a thank-you with a request for feedback one to two days after checkout. Everything else is a starting point to adjust for your type of stay. A weekend cabin and a month-long let need different rhythms.

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Set the timers in Airbnb before you write a word

Airbnb's help page on scheduled quick replies describes the set-up on desktop: Messages, then Settings, then Manage quick replies, then Create. You name the template, write the message, click Choose listings, and use Scheduled for to pick the moment, which is a trigger such as a new reservation, check-in or checkout plus an offset like "2 days before check-in". Save it and the template applies to current and upcoming reservations. Five details from that page change how you write:

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• Time zone. Messages send in the listing's time zone, so "10:00" means 10:00 where the home is.
• Last-minute bookings. A toggle labelled "Send for last minute bookings and short stays" decides what happens when a trigger has already passed. Off, those messages are skipped. On, pre-check-in messages whose moment has gone are sent at booking, and other skipped messages go out at the listing's check-in time. A pre-arrival question that lands together with the check-in instructions is clumsy, so I would leave the toggle off for messages 2 and 3 and switch it on for message 4.
• Details, not brackets. Airbnb personalises a message through "details", shortcuts that fill in the guest's first name, check-in date and time, address, directions, wifi name and password, checkout time and more. If the information is missing from your listing, the detail shows as unavailable, so complete the listing first. The square brackets in the samples below mark where to insert one.
• Length and focus. Messages cap at 4,000 characters, and Airbnb says a quick reply works best when it is brief and focused on a single topic. That also suits its suggested replies, which use AI to match a guest's question to one of your quick replies. Only you see the suggestion, and you can edit or replace it.
• Control per booking. In a guest's thread, Add +, then View scheduled quick replies, shows what has been sent, skipped or is still to come. You can edit, skip or send early for that one reservation without touching the template. Deleting a template removes all of its unsent scheduled messages for every listing it covers.

Co-hosts can create their own templates, but quick replies are not shared between hosts and co-hosts, so agree who owns the sequence. Team members with guest-management permissions share one set, and every message sends from the team owner. Host software has its own schedulers, and the sequence below carries over to them even where the setting names differ; this tutorial uses Airbnb's own.

One prompt that drafts all nine from your own facts

Write the nine in one session with one fact sheet, so the wifi name in message 4 and the checkout time in message 8 cannot disagree. This prompt keeps the AI to your facts, sets a length and a voice, and asks for square brackets where Airbnb's details will go:

Draft nine Airbnb guest messages for one home, in this order: 1 booking confirmation,
2 pre-arrival questions, 3 upsell offer, 4 check-in instructions, 5 welcome, 6 no-show nudge,
7 mid-stay check, 8 checkout reminder, 9 review request.

FACTS (use only these)
[home name, check-in time, checkout time, how guests get in, parking, steps and access,
heating or cooling, quiet hours, the question guests always ask, extras you sell with their
prices, the hours you reply in]

RULES FOR EVERY MESSAGE
- British English, friendly and plain. No exclamation marks, no emojis.
- 40 to 90 words each (message 4 may reach 130).
- Use square-bracket placeholders such as [first name], [check-in time], [address],
  [wifi name], [wifi password] and [door code]. Never write a real code or password.
- One topic per message. Do not repeat information from an earlier message, except in
  message 4.
- Do not promise to reply outside my reply hours.
- Do not add house rules. Point guests to the house rules and requests on their trip page.
- Message 3 offers only the extras in FACTS, says they are optional and states each price once.
- Message 6 is a calm check, never an accusation.
- Message 9 asks for an honest review and mentions nothing in return.

Return each message with its number and a suggested send time, then list any facts you
needed but were not given.

Here is how a first run can go, so you know what to fix. For an illustrative two-bedroom cottage, the AI's first draft of message 4 read: "Hi [first name]! Tomorrow's the big day! Check-in is from 3pm at [address]. The keypad code is 4821 and the wifi password is CottageGuest1. Feel free to reach out any time, day or night, if there's anything at all you need. Can't wait to host you!" It has four faults. The code and the password were invented, because the fact sheet said only that codes are set per guest. "Day or night" promises availability the host does not have. The exclamation marks break the voice rules. And it never says where to park or how to find the gate. The first fault is the dangerous one: an invented code would have gone to every guest on a timer. That is why the prompt now bans real codes and passwords, and why you should read every draft with the bracket list beside you.

Before arrival: four messages that remove the questions

1. Booking confirmation, five minutes after the guest books

Airbnb sends its own confirmation, so yours has to add something: a person, the next steps and the times. Keep it to what the guest needs in the first minute, and hold back the door code, the wifi and the long rules, because a message read on booking day is forgotten by arrival day.

Hi [first name], thank you for booking [home name] from [check-in date] to [checkout date]. Check-in is from [check-in time] and checkout is by [checkout time]. I will send directions and entry details the day before you arrive, and two quick questions a week ahead. If your plans change, just reply here. [your name]

The AI does this one well with almost no help. Its usual slip is cheerfulness inflation: three exclamation marks and "so excited". The prompt's voice rules deal with that.

2. Pre-arrival questions, a week out

Ask at most two questions, and make both useful: the expected arrival time (so you can plan the cleaner and the lights) and anything the host should know beforehand. Do not ask for identity documents. Airbnb's AirCover page says it verifies guest identity, including name, address and government ID, and for reservations booked from 20 November 2026 its house rules policy says hosts should not ask for personal information such as government ID unless the law requires it or one of the policy's exceptions applies. A passport photo sent through the message thread adds risk and no value.

Hi [first name], [home name] is a week away. Two quick questions. Roughly what time do you expect to arrive, and is there anything we should know beforehand, such as a late arrival or anyone who finds steps difficult? Airbnb shows our house rules and requests on your trip page, and quiet hours, [quiet hours], are worth a second look. Directions and entry details follow the day before you arrive. [your name]

Airbnb shares house rules and requests with confirmed guests in booking terms, automated emails and the Trips tab, which is why this message points to them instead of restating all of them. Under the new policy that starts on 20 November 2026, rules and requests live in the listing's House rules and requests section, and Airbnb's policy on reasonable house rules and requests says hosts cannot add new ones after booking, whether by message, by a sign in the home or in person. A message can remind guests of what the listing already says; it cannot add to it. The tutorial on house rules and check-in messages covers the wording.

3. The upsell offer, three days out

This is the one message that can lose you goodwill, so it needs three disciplines. First, offer only extras that do not depend on the calendar, such as a welcome basket or early bag drop, because a scheduled message goes to every guest whether or not the night before is free. A late checkout or early check-in offer belongs in a message you send by hand after looking at the calendar. Second, state each price once and say it is optional. Third, list the extras in the listing before you offer them. Airbnb's house rules policy says information about optional add-ons, with breakfast as its example, may appear in requests, and that any fee for something the listing advertises must be in the price shown at booking. A requests line such as "Optional on request: welcome basket, $[price]" means the message reminds guests of something they saw before booking instead of springing a new charge on them. And never word an extra as a penalty: "late checkout to 13:00 is available for $[price]" is an offer, while a charge for leaving late is a fine, which the policy rules out.

Hi [first name], two optional extras for your stay, in case they help. A welcome basket with milk, bread, eggs and coffee waiting on arrival, $[price]. Or early bag drop from [time] at no charge, if your journey gets you here before check-in. Reply "basket" and I will confirm and send an Airbnb payment request. No problem at all if you would rather skip them. [your name]

Pricing, the calendar check and how Airbnb expects you to collect payment are the subject of the tutorial on Airbnb upselling with early check-in, late checkout and extras. For this sequence, leave the offer switched off until you have read it, and keep the toggle for last-minute bookings off so that guests who book late never get an upsell and an instruction message together.

4. Check-in instructions, the morning before

This is the message guests screenshot, so it is worth ten minutes of testing. Walk the route from the car to the door with the message in your hand and fix every step you had to guess. Left and right are where the AI slips most often, followed by landmarks it assumes everyone can see.

Hi [first name], tomorrow is the day. Check-in is from [check-in time] at [address]. Park in the marked space, then take the path to the side gate; the photo below shows it. The keypad code is [door code] and it works from [check-in time] on [check-in date]. The wifi is [wifi name] with the password [wifi password]. If anything does not work, ring [phone number] and I will pick up, or message here between [reply hours]. [your name]

Two cautions. A code typed into a template is the same for every guest, so where your lock can issue a code per booking and expire it at checkout, use that and send each guest their own. And photos: Airbnb's Resource Centre says you can send photos in PNG or JPG format of up to 50 MB once a booking is confirmed, but I could not confirm that a scheduled template carries an attachment, so test one before you rely on it. If it does not, describe the gate in words and attach the photo by hand.

Arrival day: a welcome that works either way, and a manual nudge

5. Welcome, a few hours after check-in time

The first half hour in a rental is where small problems appear: the heating that will not start, the kettle with no plug. A welcome message gives the guest a cheap way to tell you. The trap is that a timer cannot see whether the guest has arrived, so write it to make sense in both cases.

Hi [first name], I hope the journey went smoothly. If you have settled in, the heating is the panel by the desk and the remote is in the top drawer. If you are still on your way, there is no rush, because the keypad works all evening. Message me here if anything is missing or not working and I will reply within [reply time]. [your name]

Keep the facts in this message to the one or two things guests most often cannot find, and take them from your own thread history or your house manual rather than from the AI's guess. If your lock or host software reports a first entry, a message triggered by that event is better than a timer, but that sits outside Airbnb's own scheduler as I read its help page, so treat it as an upgrade rather than the starting point.

6. The no-show nudge, saved but never scheduled

If the guest has not turned up, nothing should send itself. Save this as a quick reply, so it takes two taps, and send it only when you have checked for signs of life: a message in the thread, activity on the lock, a car outside. Airbnb's help page on a guest who does not show up makes two points worth building in: guests may be delayed or without phone access while travelling, so a missed arrival does not always mean they have abandoned the booking, and the host can find the guest's details in the trip itinerary and the phone number under Reservations.

Hi [first name], it is [your name], your host at [home name]. Check-in opened at [check-in time] and I have not seen you arrive yet. Are you running late, or has something changed? Reply here and I will make sure the keypad code works whenever you get in. If you need to change your plans, tell me and we can work out the next step through Airbnb.

My suggested ladder, which is a habit rather than an Airbnb rule: message at about two hours, ring the number from Reservations a couple of hours after that, and then use Airbnb's own route. Its page says that if your guest is unresponsive you can contact Airbnb to report the no-show and it will help with next steps. What a guest may then claim, and what you can say back, is covered in the tutorial on Airbnb no-show refund replies.

During the stay and at departure: three messages that protect reviews

7. Mid-stay check, the morning after the first night

Airbnb's own guidance on quick replies suggests getting in touch during the stay to ask whether the guest needs anything to make their stay more comfortable, and the morning after the first night is the natural moment. The purpose is to give a quiet guest an easy way to mention the small problem before it turns into a line in a review. Ask once, offer two concrete examples, and then leave them alone.

Hi [first name], how was the first night? If anything is not working or you need something, such as extra towels or a recommendation for dinner, tell me and I will sort it today. If all is well, I will leave you in peace. [your name]

This message earns its place on stays of three nights or more. For one or two nights it is noise, so check the thread's scheduled timeline on your first short stay to see whether it was skipped, and edit it out by hand if it was not. Add a pause rule for every scheduled message: if a guest has raised a problem, skip whatever is queued until you have dealt with it. A cheerful "how's it going?" arriving after a complaint reads as not listening.

8. Checkout reminder, the evening before

Say what is needed, once, in the same words as the listing. Under Airbnb's house rules policy, requests belong in the listing's House rules and requests section, and its guidance says not to write additional rules in messages. A reminder that restates the listing's requests is fine, and a reminder that invents a new chore is not. Airbnb's examples of reasonable requests make a good template: gather used towels, put used dishes in the sink, sort rubbish into indoor bins, and switch off an amenity such as air conditioning when leaving, which is the same kind of request as switching off a heater.

Hi [first name], checkout is by [checkout time] tomorrow. Before you go, please gather used towels in the shower room, leave used dishes in the sink, put rubbish and recycling in the indoor bins and switch off the heater. Pull the door shut behind you so it locks, and leave the keypad as it is. If you would like a later checkout, tell me tonight and I will check the calendar. [your name]

The last sentence makes a late checkout a request to be considered, not a promise, which keeps the calendar check in your hands. It also hands you an upsell opportunity without the cost of an automatic offer to guests who cannot be accommodated.

9. Review request, one to two days after checkout

Airbnb's help page on reviews for homes says guests and hosts each get 14 days after checkout to submit one, and that both are prompted on checkout day. Your message is a courteous second nudge, not the first. Airbnb's review policy is the boundary: it says reviews may not be provided or withheld in exchange for something of value, naming a discount, a refund or a reciprocal positive review, and it bars pressure to influence a review. The page I read does not say whether a plain request is allowed either way, so keep yours plain.

Hi [first name], thank you for staying at [home name]. I hope the trip went well. If you have a few minutes, an honest review helps future guests and helps me improve the place. Airbnb gives you 14 days after checkout to write one. Safe journey home. [your name]

AI drafts for this message often add "a 5-star review would mean the world to us". Delete it. Asking for a particular rating edges towards the pressure the policy warns about, and it makes the request about you rather than about the next guest. A reply to whatever the guest writes is a separate job, covered in the tutorial on responding to Airbnb reviews with AI.

Where AI drafts go wrong in these messages

A timer multiplies a mistake across every guest, so it is worth knowing the six failures I would check for before saving any template:

1. Invented specifics. Codes, passwords, parking rules and "complimentary" items appear from nowhere. The bracket rule and the "facts needed but not given" list in the prompt are the defence.
2. Brackets that reach the guest. Airbnb fills a template through inserted details, not typed square brackets, so a pasted "[first name]" would be sent literally. After saving a template, open the first real booking's scheduled messages and read each one as the guest will see it.
3. Promises you cannot keep. "Any time", "we will make sure" and "of course you can" are the usual phrases. Replace them with your reply hours and with "I will check the calendar".
4. Smuggled rules. "Please remember no visitors after 8pm" is a new rule. For reservations booked from 20 November 2026 it belongs in the listing's House rules and requests section before the guest books, or nowhere.
5. Idioms that translate badly. Airbnb translates messages automatically for the guest, so "reach out" or "no worries" may arrive as nonsense. Short, plain sentences are safer than friendly slang.
6. Repetition. The same wifi details in three messages teach guests to stop reading. Airbnb's own guidance says to adjust or skip a scheduled message that repeats what you have already shared, and its thread timeline lets you do exactly that.

One booking from start to finish, with times and minutes saved

This is a worked run for an illustrative booking: made 12 days before arrival, three nights, check-in from 15:00, checkout by 11:00, and a host who replies between 08:00 and 21:00. The guest answers message 2 with an arrival time of 20:30.

Notice what message 2 bought: the host knew not to worry at 17:00. The ETA question costs the guest ten seconds and saves the host a false alarm. Now the arithmetic, with illustrative figures. Writing, personalising and sending nine messages by hand takes about three minutes each, or 27 minutes a stay. With timers, the host spends about eight minutes: reading two replies, confirming the basket and checking the lock. That saves around 19 minutes a stay, or about three hours a month at ten stays. Getting there costs roughly three hours once: an hour for the fact sheet and drafts, an hour editing, an hour scheduling and checking. At ten stays a month the set-up pays back inside the first month, and after that the saving is yours.

Switch the timers on in stages

Do not schedule all nine on the same afternoon. In week one, schedule only the logistics messages, 1, 4 and 8, and read each in the thread timeline on your first booking. In week two add 2, 5 and 7. In week three add 9. Switch on 3 only when your extras and prices are settled, and keep 6 as a saved reply for good. The tutorial on testing automated Airbnb messages before you switch them on carries a longer checklist.

Questions about scheduling Airbnb messages

How do I schedule messages to guests on Airbnb?

On desktop, open Messages, then Settings, Manage quick replies and Create. Name the template, write the message, choose the listings it applies to, then use Scheduled for to set the trigger and timing, for example one day before check-in at 10:00. Messages send in the listing's time zone, and you can skip or edit any single message from the guest's thread.

Is there a character limit on Airbnb messages?

Airbnb's help page says messages, including quick replies, are capped at 4,000 characters, and it suggests splitting longer ones into several quick replies. Airbnb's own guidance also says a quick reply works best when it is brief and focused on a single topic, so most of your templates should be far shorter than the cap.

Can I send the door code in an automated message?

The details listed on Airbnb's help page for scheduled quick replies include the guest's first name, check-in and checkout dates and times, house rules and requests, address and directions, and the wifi name and password, but no door code. Check whether your lock or host software can insert one. A fixed code typed into a template is shared by every guest, so where your lock supports a code per booking, send each guest their own.

Can I ask guests for a review in my message?

Airbnb's review policy bars exchanging a review for anything of value, such as a discount or refund, and bars pressuring a guest to influence a review. The page I read does not say whether a plain request is allowed, so keep yours neutral: thank them, mention the 14-day window, and do not ask for a rating or promise anything.

Further reads

• Airbnb Guest Complaints: Calm Replies and Fixes With AI — What to send when a guest replies with a problem.
• How B&B Owners Can Automate Airbnb and Booking.com Messages — The same job for owners who also take Booking.com guests.
• Can Airbnb Hosts Use AI to Reply to Guests? What Airbnb Allows — The separate question of AI answering guests live.
• Hospitable Airbnb Software: What Each Plan's AI Actually Does — What one host-software plan's AI does with guest messages.
• Airbnb Cleaning Schedule: Coordinate Cleaners and Changeovers — Cleaner timings that decide which extras you can offer.
• Airbnb Listing Description Written With AI: Title, Summary, Rules — Write the listing text the messages will refer back to.
• ChatGPT for Short-Term Rentals: 10 Host Jobs and the Prompts to Use — Other host jobs ChatGPT can take on after the messages.
• Best AI for Airbnb Hosts: Lodgify, Hospitable, Guesty, HostBuddy — Lodgify AI Co-Host, Hospitable, Guesty ReplyAI and HostBuddy compared on what each handles, list prices and how to test them.
• Is HostBuddy AI Worth It for an Airbnb Host? — An independent look at HostBuddy AI for small Airbnb hosts: list prices per property, a trial test script, escalation checks and a pre-commit checklist.
• Can AI Help With an Airbnb Damage Claim? Evidence and Wording — An evidence pack for Airbnb damage claims: before and after photos, timeline, receipts and claim wording drafted with AI, plus Airbnb's deadlines.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: Airbnb Help Centre (create scheduled quick replies and send them automatically; create and send quick replies; reviews for homes; when a guest does not show up for a reservation; house rules and requests), Airbnb Resource Centre (using quick replies to save time, 8 December 2025; important changes to house rules, 20 October 2026), Airbnb's policy on reasonable house rules and requests, Airbnb review policy, AirCover for Hosts page.