The four messages every guest gets - confirmation, pre-arrival, check-in, checkout - are the same four messages, every single time. Hosts type them by hand for years. Airbnb (and Vrbo, and Booking.com) let you schedule them once, fill in the guest's name automatically, and never think about them again. This guide covers the four messages that matter, the templates to use, and where the check-in guide belongs in all of it.
Airbnb's scheduled messages cover the predictable parts: confirmation, pre-arrival, check-in day, checkout. You can automate anything that doesn't need a human decision - directions, wifi, door codes, rules, parking. What stays manual: anything involving money, damage, or safety. Automate the 90% that's copy-paste, keep the 10% that's judgment.
1) Confirmation (sent automatically at booking): welcome, what's next, and the check-in guide link - this is where guests first learn the route. 2) Pre-arrival (24 hours before): 'Reminder: your guide is here - [link]. Door code [code].' 3) Check-in day: wifi, parking, one-line rules. 4) Checkout: 'Thanks for staying! Checkout is [time], leave the keys [place].' Four templates, zero typing, every booking.
The single highest-value thing in your automated messages is the link to your check-in guide: photo route, wifi, house rules, contact number, all in one place. Guests who get the guide at confirmation arrive calm; guests who don't read it still have it in their message history to search at midnight. Build the guide once - with <a href="/">photo directions for the arrival</a> - and every automated message becomes a small piece of infrastructure instead of another text you wrote.
Confirmation: 'Thanks for booking [property], [guest]! Here's your check-in guide with directions, door code and wifi: [link]. See you soon!' Pre-arrival: 'Arriving tomorrow? Your guide is here: [link]. Door code [code]. Reply anytime.' Check-in: 'Welcome! Wifi [name]/[password]. Parking [rule]. Enjoy!' Checkout: 'Thanks for staying! Checkout [time]. If anything's left behind, we'll message you.' Five minutes of setup, every guest handled.
The way you know automation is working is not 'my messages got sent' - it's 'guests stopped asking'. Watch your guest chat for a week after you set this up: the 'where are you', 'what's the wifi', 'how do I park' messages should drop sharply. Whatever remains are the edge cases only a human can handle - which is exactly what your phone is for. <a href="/">Set up your check-in guide once</a> and let the messages do the repeating.