Hotel Pre-Arrival Requests and Paid Extras on WhatsApp
This recipe handles the messages guests send in the days before they arrive: early check-in, late check-out, an airport transfer, an upgrade, a baby cot, a late arrival. It sells the paid ones in the chat with a payment link, adds every request to the booking in your property management system and tells the front office. Part of the hotel workflows.
What happens today
A guest arriving on an overnight long-haul flight asks “can I check in at 9am?”. The front office replies “subject to availability”, which the guest reads as yes. Nobody writes it down. The guest arrives at 9am to a room that is not ready. Another guest asks for an airport car and is told to arrange it on arrival, so the transfer revenue goes to a taxi app.
Both guests asked for something you sell. Neither was offered it at a price, and neither request was recorded where the morning shift would see it.
The flow that works
- The guest asks for something before arrival. AeroChat asks for the booking name and arrival date and finds the booking in your property system.
- For a paid extra, it offers it at your price with the terms, for example guaranteed early check-in from 10am.
- If the guest accepts, it sends a payment link.
- When the payment is confirmed, or for a free request, it adds the request to the booking in your property system and notifies the front office with the booking name, arrival date and the request.
- It tells the guest exactly what is confirmed and what is only requested.
Free requests such as a high floor are confirmed as requests, never as guarantees. That keeps the guest’s expectations where your team can meet them.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a guest with a booking asks about early check-in, late check-out, an airport transfer, an upgrade, a baby cot, an extra bed or a late arrival, follow these steps.
- Ask for their booking name and arrival date if they have not given them, and find the booking in our property management system.
- For early check-in, offer guaranteed check-in from 10am for US$50 (example price). For late check-out, offer check-out at 4pm for US$40 (example price).
- For an airport transfer, offer a car from the airport for US$65 one way (example price). Ask for their flight number, arrival time and number of bags.
- For an upgrade, check our system that a deluxe room is free for every night of the stay, then offer it for US$55 a night more (example price).
- If they accept a paid extra, confirm the item and the amount and send a payment link.
- When the payment is confirmed, or for a free request such as a cot, an extra pillow, a high floor or a late arrival, add the request to the booking in our system as a note, with whether it is paid. Notify the front office with the booking name, arrival date and the request.
- Tell the guest what is confirmed. Paid extras are confirmed. Free requests such as a high floor or a quiet room are noted and depend on availability.
Only offer extras and prices on our extras list. If they ask for something else, say the front office will confirm, and notify them. Reply in the guest’s language.
Change the example extras and prices to your own, and the airport to your nearest one, before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your extras list. Upload every extra you sell, with the price and terms, to the AeroChat knowledge base.
- Your property management system. Cloudbeds, Mews or Oracle OPERA Cloud connect through their APIs. In Cloudbeds, create an API key in its settings. In Mews, approve the connection so Mews issues an access token. On OPERA Cloud, your team registers an application in Oracle’s Hospitality Integration Platform and shares its client ID and keys. Paste them in when AeroChat asks. AeroChat finds the booking there and adds each request to it, so the shift on duty sees it with today’s arrivals.
- Payments. Airwallex is built in: connect your Airwallex account and AeroChat sends the payment link and confirms the payment. Money settles directly into your Airwallex balance. If you already take payments with HitPay or Stripe, both connect through their APIs with your API key. Payment links are included from the Growth plan.
To prompt guests to ask, add a line to your booking confirmation inviting them to message your WhatsApp number for early check-in or a transfer. On the Growth plan and above, you can also send a WhatsApp broadcast to upcoming guests.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- Which extras to sell in the chat, and at what price.
- Which extras are guaranteed once paid, and which depend on availability.
- Your refund rule for a paid extra you cannot deliver.
- Who books the transfer car once it is paid.
The result to expect
Extras that guests already ask about get sold at your price instead of given away or lost. Every request is on the booking in your property system, where the shift already looks, so the guest who paid for early check-in finds a room ready. Your front office spends less time on “subject to availability” replies.
Measure it with your own numbers: extras revenue taken in the chat, and requests logged per arrival, for a month before and after you start.
Next: facility and policy questions and local recommendations. See also payment link.
Sell your first extra in chat
Upload your extras list, connect your property system and Airwallex, paste the recipe and ask your own number for an early check-in.
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.