---
title: "Booking.com automated messages: templates, Auto-Reply or an AI agent, which to pick"
description: "Step by step: message templates and the scheduler's six moments, topic automatic replies, Auto-Reply, Help me reply, and how an AI agent plugs into the thread. Six ready templates, a comparison table and a pick by property size."
url: https://supalobby.com/en/blog/booking-com-automated-messages-templates-auto-reply-agent
language: en
published: 2026-10-11
updated: 2026-10-11
author: Bartosz Wilczyński
translation: https://supalobby.com/blog/automatyczne-odpowiedzi-booking-com-szablony-auto-reply-agent
---

# Booking.com automated messages: templates, Auto-Reply or an AI agent, which to pick

Step by step: message templates and the scheduler's six moments, topic automatic replies, Auto-Reply, Help me reply, and how an AI agent plugs into the thread. Six ready templates, a comparison table and a pick by property size.

Booking.com offers four levels of automation: templates sent by the scheduler at **six moments**, automatic replies to ticked topics, Auto-Reply with your own topics (since 9 October 2025), and an AI agent connected through a connectivity provider or the e-mail alias. The first three are free and cover scheduled messages and on-topic questions. The agent covers the rest.

Below: how to set up templates and the scheduler step by step, six ready templates to copy, how automatic replies, Auto-Reply and Help me reply work, how to plug in an agent, a comparison table of five options and a pick by property size. Instructions come from Booking's Partner Hub, checked on 26 September 2026.

## How to set up templates and the scheduler step by step

Eight clicks in the Extranet, the same in Pulse under More.

1. Sign in to the Extranet, open the Property tab and select Messaging Preferences.
2. In the Message templates tab click Create new template.
3. Write the text. Insert the pre-filled information blocks: guest name, check-in time, property name and other booking details.
4. Confirm the language. Add a second language version under the same template name: Booking matches the version to the guest's language preference and falls back to the default when there is none. Booking recommends English as the default.
5. Click Continue, fill in the Template name, choose a Template topic and click Save template.
6. Go to the Template scheduler tab and click Schedule a template.
7. Pick the moment (on booking, one week before, three days before, one day before, on arrival day, one day before departure) and the template from the dropdown. You see a preview.
8. Click Add to schedule.

Three limits Booking states outright. Links work only after you approve them in the Security Settings under Messaging Preferences; unapproved ones are removed. An attachment can be an image, not a PDF or a QR code; PDFs go to the reservation's e-mail alias. Only users with permission to manage guest message templates can edit them. Sent templates show up in your Inbox, so you know what the guest has already received.

## What to write in the templates: six ready ones

One per scheduler moment. Replace the square brackets with Booking's information blocks and the street names and codes with your own. Make a second copy in your guests' most common other language under the same name.

On booking:

```
Hello [Guest name], thank you for booking [Property name]. Check-in from [Check-in time], checkout by 11:00. Three days before arrival we will send directions and entry instructions. If you plan to arrive after 22:00, let us know in this thread.
```

One week before arrival:

```
[Guest name], one week to go at [Property name]. Parking: one space in the garage, the door is 2.0 m high; larger vehicles park free on Short Street. Bed linen and towels are provided, the kitchen is equipped. Questions go here, we answer during the day.
```

Three days before arrival:

```
Entry instructions for [Property name]: 4 Short Street, flat 7, third floor, lift available. The key box hangs to the left of the door; we send the code on the morning of arrival. Wi-Fi name and password are on the fridge. Check-in from [Check-in time].
```

One day before arrival:

```
[Guest name], see you tomorrow. What time do you expect to arrive? If after 22:00, please tell us. Early check-in depends on the previous guests' departure; we will confirm tomorrow by 12:00.
```

On arrival day:

```
Today's key box code: 4821#. The box is to the left of the door, third floor. If anything does not work, write here, we reply within minutes.
```

One day before departure:

```
[Guest name], checkout tomorrow by 11:00: keys back in the box, windows closed, rubbish in the bin on the landing. If you enjoyed the stay, a review on Booking.com would mean a lot; the invitation arrives after you leave.
```

## How automatic replies, Auto-Reply and Help me reply work

Automatic replies are Booking's answers to a guest request on a topic you ticked. Booking splits them into two baskets. A request within your policy gets an automatic acceptance; Booking's own example is „Can I use the kitchen appliances?" answered with „Guests are welcome to use all the property's facilities, including kitchen appliances." A request outside your policy gets a template with an explanation, for example „Sorry, we don't allow pets in the rooms." The setup:

1. Property, Messaging Preferences, Automatic replies tab.
2. Select the Settings related to the topic and tick the box next to it.
3. Choose your preferred response, and for out-of-policy replies click Select template.
4. Save.

The guest receives the reply as an e-mail, it shows in the chat, and you can add your own message at any time. Auto-Reply from 9 October 2025 extends this to topics you define yourself and, in Booking's words, learns from interactions; it is available globally. We found no separate help article for Auto-Reply; the settings sit in the same tab.

Help me reply is the third thing: a suggestion for a free-text message. Open an unanswered message in the Inbox under Reservation messages, click the Help me reply button at the bottom of the chat window, get a template or a text tailored to the guest, read it, edit it, send it. It toggles on and off with the three dots in the top right corner of the chat. It never sends by itself. Booking reports that over 30 percent of partner responses are automatic replies and that around half of manual responses come from templates.

## How to plug an AI agent into the Booking.com thread

Two routes, both described by Booking.

**Through a connectivity provider.** A PMS or channel manager with the Messaging API retrieves messages and replies in the thread. In the Extranet, on the Connection management page, the functions your provider handles are marked in green; you set those up with the provider and the rest in the Extranet. The writing window runs from booking until seven days after checkout or cancellation, plus 14 days to reply whenever the guest writes. Date changes and „Cancel for less" stay in the Extranet regardless.

**Through notification e-mails and the alias.** Under Account, Notification settings, you switch on e-mails about new reservations and new messages and point them at a mailbox the agent reads. A reply sent to the @guest.booking.com alias lands in the thread in the guest's app; Booking itself recommends that alias for photos and PDFs, and e-mails guests who have no Booking account.

Whichever route, the agent needs three things from you: a knowledge base about the property (codes, parking, rules, appliances), access to the calendar or PMS so it can see the previous and next stay, and a list of matters it must hand to you (complaints, refunds, date changes, damage). Plus two rules: approved links only, and in the EU from 2 August 2026 one sentence saying that AI is replying (Article 50 of the AI Act). Clause 2.9.3 of the General Delivery Terms forbids using the thread for unsolicited communications, so the agent answers about this reservation and sends no offers.

## Which option does what, and which to pick

### How the five options differ

| Criterion | Templates and scheduler | Automatic replies | Auto-Reply | Help me reply | AI agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| When it acts | on schedule, six moments | when a guest asks on a listed topic | when a guest asks on your topic | when you open the message | when the guest writes, any hour |
| Where the words come from | your template | your policy and template | your topics and answers | thread and templates | thread, reservation, knowledge base |
| Who sends | Booking | Booking | Booking | you | the agent, or you in draft mode |
| Languages | the versions you write | same | same | the thread's language | the guest's language |
| Channels | Booking | Booking | Booking | Booking | Booking, WhatsApp, e-mail, Airbnb as a draft, others |
| Sees the calendar | no | no | no | you do | yes, with a connected PMS or calendar |
| Main risk | stale template | answer beside the question | same, less often | your time | a wrong knowledge base, hence the confidence gate |
| Cost | free | free | free | free | subscription per unit, for example 49 zł net, about 11 euro (the plan described below) |

### What to pick for one unit, three units and a guesthouse

| Property | Set up | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| One apartment, you answer yourself, phone always at hand | six scheduler templates, three automatic topics (parking, hours, pets), Help me reply | only once guests also write on WhatsApp and Airbnb, or once they wake you at night |
| Two or three units, different codes and rules | a scheduler per property; count it: 3 units, 6 moments, 2 languages is 36 templates to maintain | yes, with a knowledge base per unit; templates stay for outgoing messages |
| Guesthouse or cabins, six or more units, reception until 20:00 | scheduler for confirmations and instructions, Help me reply for reception during the day | yes, for nights and weekends, handing over to reception in the morning |
| Seasonal property | scheduler all year | for the season, if the vendor bills monthly |

## What happens when a guest is stuck at the door at 23:40

The guest writes at 23:40:

```
We are at the door, code 4821 does not work, the box will not open. What do we do?
```

The scheduler is silent, there is no moment called „guest at the door". The automatic reply is silent, there is no such topic. Help me reply waits until you open the Inbox in the morning. If your scheduler only has the arrival-day template, the guest got it this morning and gets nothing more today.

An agent with a knowledge base answers within seconds:

```
On it. Enter the code with the hash at the end: 4821#, then turn the dial all the way down. If it still does not release, the spare key is in box number 2 by the courtyard gate, code 1907#. Tell me whether that worked. If not, I will pass this to the host to call you back.
```

When the guest replies that it still does not work, the agent hands the thread to you. That is the difference: the automaton has moments and topics, the agent has knowledge of the property and a rule for when to give up.

## Where Supalobby fits

Supalobby uses the second route: Extranet notifications go to the connected mailbox, and replies go back through Booking's relay into the guest's thread, with no channel manager or PMS. You keep Booking's scheduler; the agent takes the incoming messages. In Copilot it drafts, in Autopilot it replies on its own behind a confidence gate and, when unsure, asks you and hands the thread over. On Airbnb it only reads and drafts a reply you send with one click. From a sample of 434 conversations in September 2026: a median of 3.6 seconds to reply, 46 percent of text conversations closed autonomously, 30 percent handed to the host. Autopilot is 49 zł net per unit per month, about 11 euro.

## Frequently asked questions

**At which moments does Booking.com send scheduled templates?**

Six: when a guest makes a booking, one week before arrival, three days before arrival, one day before arrival, on the day of arrival and one day before departure. You set them under the Property tab, Messaging Preferences, Template scheduler. There is no moment after checkout, so a review request has to go out the day before departure.

**Can the guest see that a Booking.com reply was automatic?**

Booking says the guest receives an automatic reply as an e-mail and that it is visible in the chat, and that you can track it in the Extranet Inbox or Pulse. Whether the chat carries an „automatic reply” label we could not find on Booking's pages. In the EU, from 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the AI Act requires people to be told they are dealing with AI, so with an agent add one sentence to the first message.

**Can I send guests a PDF house manual through a template?**

No. Booking does not support PDFs or QR codes as chat attachments, citing information-sharing safety. You can attach images to a template, and you send a PDF to the reservation's e-mail alias ending in @guest.booking.com. Links only work if you approved them first in the security settings under Messaging Preferences; unapproved links are removed.

**Does an AI agent replace templates and the scheduler?**

Not entirely. The scheduler sends the messages you initiate at fixed moments, free and without risk, so keep it. The agent answers what guests write: off-topic questions, after hours, in another language, dependent on the calendar. For a small property the best setup is the scheduler for outgoing messages and the agent for incoming ones, with a clear list of what it hands back to you.

**Can an agent change reservation dates or cancel a booking?**

Not through the thread. The Messaging API documentation says date-change and „Cancel for less” requests must be answered in the Extranet by picking one of the available options, and that applies to systems connected through a connectivity provider too. The agent can explain the terms, collect details and pass the case to you. You click, under Reservations.


## Sources

- [Booking.com Partner Hub, Setting up templates, automatic replies and message notifications](https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/reservations/contact-extranet/setting-templates-automatic-replies-and-message-notifications) (2026-09-21)
- [Booking.com Partner Hub, Contacting your guests (Help me reply, e-mail alias, attachments, connected properties)](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/reservations/contact-extranet/contacting-guests) (2026-09-24)
- [Booking.com Partner Hub, Messaging tools (usage statistics)](https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/solutions/messaging-tools) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com Partner Hub, Communicating with guests (examples of replies within and outside policy)](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/learn-more/new-partner/communicating-guests) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com newsroom, Smart Messenger and Auto-Reply announcement](https://news.booking.com/bookingcom-debuts-agentic-ai-innovations-adding-to-its-robust-suite-of-genai-tools-for-customers/) (2025-10-09)
- [Booking.com Connectivity, Understanding the Messaging API](https://developers.booking.com/connectivity/docs/messaging-api/understanding-the-messaging-api) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com Connectivity, Managing messages (approved links, automatically sent templates)](https://developers.booking.com/connectivity/docs/messaging-api/managing-messages) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com Connectivity, Managing conversations (posting a message to a conversation)](https://developers.booking.com/connectivity/docs/messaging-api/managing-conversations) (2026-09-26)
- [Booking.com, General Delivery Terms (clause 2.9.3, no unsolicited communications)](https://admin.booking.com/hotelreg/terms-and-conditions.html?language=en) (2026-09-26)
- [AI Act Explorer, Article 50, Transparency obligations (text of Regulation 2024/1689)](https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/article/50/) (2026-09-26)