Sending messages from the Guesty Inbox

• Messages to Airbnb guests can only be sent via Airbnb, due to Airbnb’s Off-Platform Policy, which stipulates that communication between hosts and guests must remain on the Airbnb platform. 
• Sending automated messages via email is not supported for Airbnb.
• You can send images via Airbnb from the Inbox, with the following limitations: 
  • Images can't contain text.
  • Only one image can be sent at a time. If you send a message via Airbnb that contains more than one image, each image will be sent separately.
• You can include up to five images in automated messages.
• The total size of all images attached to a message is limited to 25MB.
• An edited or unsent message on Airbnb doesn't sync to Guesty. The original message is always displayed in the Guesty Inbox.

• Ensure Guesty is set as the connectivity provider for each of your listings.
• When a guest sends a message through the Booking.com conversation thread, Booking.com may generate a new proxy email address for that guest. In such cases, Guesty will automatically replace the existing primary email address for the guest with the newly generated proxy address. This update happens behind the scenes and does not require any action on your part.
• You can send up to five images at a time when sending via Booking.com from the Inbox and in automated messages.
• The total size of all images attached to a message is limited to 25MB.
• A Guesty integration email is not required when setting up a connection with Booking.com, as guest messages will be delivered via an API connection. New listings will have the Messaging API feature already activated.
• When you send your guest a message via Booking.com, the messages will go through an API connection to the guest, so no email notification will be forwarded to your proxy email address. The forwarded email notification only applies when using email to communicate.

Limitations

• Timeframes
  • You can only send a message to your guest within 7 days after their checkout or reservation cancellation.
  • If a guest sends a message about the booking, you have an additional 14 days to respond.
  • Guests can send messages about listings from the time of the booking until 66 days after check-out. 
• Links
  • URL shorteners, such as TinyURL, aren't supported in messages.
  • You can only send links and email addresses that have been approved in Booking.com's messaging security settings.
  • Add guesty.com under "Approved links" on Booking.com's Extranet to ensure links are delivered as expected.

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Sending messages to Expedia guests can be done in the following ways:

• The Expedia Communication Center: If the guest's primary email address in Guesty is the proxy email address provided by Expedia, messages sent from the Guesty inbox are delivered to the Expedia Communication Center. Ask your Expedia account manager to make sure Expedia provides these proxy addresses when sending the reservation to Rentals United. In addition, add your Rentals United integration email as an authorized address in the Expedia platform. Failure to do so will default to the guest's private email, and messages will not be displayed in Expedia.
• The guest's private email address: If the guest's private email is set as the primary address in Guesty, all emails, whether manual or automatic, will be sent to this address.
• You can send up to five images at a time when sending via Expedia from the Inbox and in automated messages.
• The total size of all images attached to a message is limited to 25MB.

• To enable message syncing between platforms, add the Guesty integration email to your Vrbo account and as a contact for each of your listings.

• You can send links to a guest from your Guesty Inbox for unconfirmed reservations.

  The warning message "Some channels do not allow hosts to send links to guests before reservation confirmation" may appear because some channels do not accept emails with links. The message will still send, but if the channel does not accept it, the guest will not see it.

• You can send up to five images at a time when sending via Vrbo from the Inbox and in automated messages.
• The total size of all images attached to a message is limited to 25MB.

For reservations made through all other booking channels or platforms, the message will be sent to the guest's primary email address in Guesty.

Add media to your messages to enhance communication, provide visual instructions, highlight property features, or clarify other matters. You can add multiple images to a message; however, you can only upload one image at a time.

Step by step:

1. In the text field, click .

   When setting up an automated message, this button only appears if the communication method is set to email.
   
    

2. In the pop-up, select General to insert an image from a URL, or Upload to use an image from your device storage.

3. To resize an image, click the lock/unlock icon to add/remove proportion restraints. To resize an image after saving, select your image and click .

4. Click Save to add the selected image to the message.

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You can send documents and other attachments, such as videos of up to 100 MB in size.

To add an attachment to an email message, click in the text field. Drag and drop the file into the pop-up, or browse your computer to select an existing file and upload it as an attachment. Click Done.

In the text field, click < >. The source code editor appears. Enter your code and click Save.

To avoid formatting issues, remove empty tags and replace them as follows:

• Use <p> </p> for paragraph spacing.

• Use <br> for single line breaks.

Follow the instructions below to send links to provide additional information to enhance the guest experience.

Step by step:

1. Once you've created your message, select the text that you want to function as a hyperlink.

   Skip this step if you want the URL to be visible.

2. Click .
3. Insert the URL. 

4. Under "Text to display", you have three options:

   • If you selected text from your message, it is displayed here. Edit the text if necessary.
   • Insert the text you want the guest to see.
   • Leave the text blank for the URL text to be displayed.

   This text is clickable.
   

5. Under "Open link in" click the dropdown arrow to select the relevant option.
6. Click Save to add the link to the message.

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