The best pre-arrival message template does one job: it answers the questions your guest is about to ask, three days before they think to ask them. Get it right and your inbox goes quiet the week of check-in. Get it wrong, or skip it, and you'll be fielding "what time can we arrive?" and "is there parking?" at 10pm the night before, usually while you're trying to sort a cleaner.

Most host advice lumps the pre-arrival message in with nine other scripts and gives it two lines. That's a mistake. This is the single most useful message you send all stay, and it deserves its own template, its own timing, and a clear rule about what to include now versus what to hold back.

Here's the template, the timing, and the stuff nobody tells you.

What is a pre-arrival message?

A pre-arrival message is the note you send a guest a few days before check-in to confirm the logistics of their trip: arrival time, rough directions, parking, what to buy before they get in, and a heads-up on how check-in will work. It's not the welcome message (that comes on arrival day) and it's not the full house manual (that lives in your guidebook). It's the bridge between "booking confirmed" and "keys in hand."

The goal isn't to dump every detail. It's to remove the friction that makes a guest message you, and to prompt the one piece of information you actually need back from them: what time they're turning up.

Why 3 days out beats 24 hours

Plenty of hosts fire their pre-arrival note 24 hours before check-in. That's fine for the access codes, but it's too late for logistics.

Think about what your guest is doing 72 hours before a trip. They're deciding what time to leave home. Booking a train or a hire car. Working out whether to do a big shop or eat out the first night. If your message about the nearest supermarket, the parking situation, and the earliest realistic check-in lands the day before, they've already made those calls without you.

Three days out is the sweet spot. Early enough that the guest can still plan around what you tell them, late enough that the trip feels real and they'll actually read it. I split mine into two messages: a logistics note at three days, and a short access note the evening before with the door code and final reminders. The two-message rhythm sits inside a wider guest communication timeline that covers every touchpoint from booking to review, but the pre-arrival note is the one that saves you the most hassle.

One more reason to split it: security. You don't want your smart-lock code or lockbox combination sitting in a guest's inbox for three days. Send the logistics early, send the access late.

The pre-arrival message template

Here's the full version. Swap anything in brackets, cut what doesn't apply, and read it out loud once before you save it. If it sounds like a form letter, it is one.

Hi [First name],

You're all set for [Property name] this [day, e.g. Friday]. I wanted to send a few things over now so you can plan the journey.

Getting here: We're at [neighbourhood/area], about [X minutes] from [landmark or station]. I'll send the exact address and door code the evening before you arrive.

Arrival time: Check-in is anytime after [time]. Could you let me know roughly when you're planning to get in? It helps me make sure everything's ready for you.

Parking: [One free spot on the driveway / free street parking on X road / paid car park two minutes away at Y]. Happy to explain more if you're driving.

Before you get here: The nearest supermarket is [name], about [X minutes] away, if you want to grab a few bits for the first morning. [Optional: There's a great coffee spot, [name], round the corner.]

Wi-Fi and the rest: There's fast Wi-Fi throughout, and everything else you'll need (heating, appliances, local tips) is in the digital guide I'll link on arrival day.

Any questions before then, just message here. Safe travels.

[Your name]

That's around 130 words of actual content once you fill it in, which is about right. Long enough to be useful, short enough to read on a phone at a bus stop.

The short version

For repeat guests, simple stays, or hosts who'd rather keep it tight:

Hi [First name], you're in this [day] at [Property name]. Check-in's anytime after [time]. Roughly what time do you think you'll arrive? Parking is [detail], and the nearest shop is [name], [X mins] away. I'll send the address and door code the night before. Shout if you need anything.

Which lines actually earn their place

Not every line above pulls the same weight. Here's what each one is really doing.

The arrival-time ask. This is the line most hosts forget, and it's the most valuable one in the whole message. You're not being nosy. You need it because your cleaning turnaround depends on it, and because a guest who says "we'll be there at 2" is a guest who won't turn up at 11am while the beds are still stripped. Ask it as a question, not a demand, and you'll get an answer nearly every time.

Parking. More arrival-day panic comes from parking than almost anything else. If your guest is driving into a city, a vague "there's street parking" isn't enough. Tell them the road, whether they need a permit, and what to do if the bay's taken. A parking section with a photo in your guidebook does the heavy lifting here, but flag it in the pre-arrival note so they're not circling the block.

The grocery line. Small touch, big payoff. A guest who knows where the nearest shop is arrives relaxed. A guest who lands at 9pm in an unfamiliar town with no idea where to buy milk starts the stay stressed, and stressed guests notice more faults.

The "I'll send the code later" line. This sets expectations so nobody's messaging you at 3 days out asking how to get in. It also quietly signals that you've got a system, which builds trust before they've even arrived.

What to hold back until the day before

The pre-arrival message is not where you dump the door code and full check-in walkthrough. Save those for the evening before, in a separate message, for two reasons: security, and attention. A guest who gets the access details three days early will have lost them by check-in day. Send them the night before and they're fresh.

Your day-before note should carry the exact address, the door or lockbox code, the check-in window, and a link to your check-in instructions. If you use self check-in, this is where your self check-in instructions do the work, ideally with photos so there's no "which door?" moment. Keep the welcome and local tips for the on-arrival welcome message, which lands warmest when they're standing in the space.

The pre-arrival message and your guidebook

Here's the shift that makes all of this easier. Every logistics detail in the template above (parking, Wi-Fi, the nearest shop, appliance quirks, checkout steps) lives in one place: your digital guidebook. Once it's built, your pre-arrival message stops being a wall of text and becomes a short note with a link.

That's the real unlock. A guest with a guidebook link doesn't need you to type out the bin day or the heating instructions, because they can look it up the second they think of it. If you haven't built one yet, what to include in your Airbnb guidebook is the place to start, and it's worth understanding why a digital guidebook beats a printed welcome book for exactly this reason: you can link it, update it, and the guest carries it in their pocket.

The pre-arrival message and the guidebook are a pair. The message handles timing and the personal touch. The guidebook handles the reference material. Trying to cram both into one long text is how you end up with a message nobody reads.

Variants for different stays

One template won't fit every property. Adjust the emphasis.

Guest flying in. Lead with transport from the airport, not parking. Give them the realistic options (train, taxi, rough cost) and the journey time. Ask their arrival time in local terms, and confirm whether a late check-in works, because a flight landing at midnight changes everything about access.

Long drive. Flag the last stretch. Rural properties and tricky final turns cause more grief than the whole motorway leg. "The turning after the red postbox is easy to miss" saves a phone call. Mention where they can stop for food if the drive is long.

Family with young kids. Confirm the cot or high chair is set up so they're not worrying about it en route. Point out the nearest pharmacy and a supermarket that's open late. Parents plan around naps and meals, so the arrival-time question matters even more here.

Same-day or last-minute booking. Collapse the two messages into one, and send it fast. You lose the three-day runway, so prioritise access and arrival time over the nice-to-haves. Speed beats polish when someone's booking for tonight.

Common mistakes that make the message backfire

Sending it too formal. If your listing is a beach flat with a hammock and the message reads like a solicitor's letter, the guest notices the mismatch. Match the tone of your listing. A relaxed place gets a relaxed message.

Burying the ask. If the "what time will you arrive?" question is line seven of a long paragraph, half your guests will miss it. Put it on its own line. Make it easy to answer.

Repeating the guidebook. If you've typed out the Wi-Fi password, the bin schedule, and the appliance instructions in the pre-arrival message, you've built a second guidebook by accident, and you'll have to update both every time something changes. Link, don't retype.

Forgetting the follow-up. A pre-arrival message with no day-before access note leaves the guest hanging. The two work together. One without the other is half a system.

Automating it into a robot. Scheduled messages are a gift, and Airbnb's scheduled quick replies handle the timing for you. But a template that never gets personalised reads like spam. Drop in the guest's name, the actual day, one specific local tip. Thirty seconds of personalisation is the difference between a message that builds rapport and one that gets ignored.

How to automate it without losing the human touch

Airbnb lets you schedule a quick reply to send a set number of days before check-in, so you can fire the logistics note at three days and the access note the evening before without lifting a finger. Set the timing once and it runs.

The catch: scheduled replies only cover Airbnb. If you take bookings on Booking.com, Vrbo, or your own direct booking site, you're either rebuilding the same templates in each platform's inbox or accepting that some guests get a worse experience than others. That's fine at one property on one channel. It gets messy fast beyond that.

Whichever tool you use, the principle holds. Automate the send, personalise the content, and keep the reference material in a guidebook you link rather than a message you retype. Do that and the pre-arrival note quietly does its job: fewer questions, calmer arrivals, and a guest who's already halfway to a five-star review before they've picked up the keys. If reviews are the goal, and they should be, the groundwork that earns five stars starts with communication like this, well before checkout.

Frequently asked questions

How many days before check-in should I send a pre-arrival message?

Send the logistics note three days before check-in, when the guest is planning travel and shopping but the trip still feels real enough to read about. Send a separate access note (address, door code, check-in window) the evening before, so the security-sensitive details are fresh and don't sit in an inbox for days.

What should a pre-arrival message include?

Arrival time (as a question you want answered), rough directions, parking, the nearest supermarket, a Wi-Fi mention, and a note that you'll send the exact address and door code closer to arrival. Keep the full reference material (appliances, bin day, local tips) in your digital guidebook and link it rather than typing it out.

Is the pre-arrival message the same as the welcome message?

No. The pre-arrival message goes out before the guest travels and covers logistics. The welcome message lands on arrival day, once they're in the space, and covers warmth and where to find the guide. They do different jobs and shouldn't be merged. Getting the full sequence right, from booking through to checkout instructions, is what makes a stay feel effortless.

Can I automate the pre-arrival message?

Yes. Airbnb's scheduled quick replies let you set a message to send automatically a fixed number of days before check-in. Automate the timing, but still personalise the name, the day, and one local detail so it doesn't read like spam. If you host on more than one platform, you'll need a tool that reaches every channel, since Airbnb's scheduling only works inside Airbnb.

The Pre-Arrival Message Template: What to Send 3 Days Before Check-In