AirBnb email aliases

[tomulens]

Hi hosts and Beds24,

I would like to start a topic on recent Airbnb news. Namely, they are going to stop using email aliases such as [email protected] as from 30 September 2023.
Source

The only communication they will allow is through the Airbnb inbox. However, the functionalities are seriously limited because we are missing some information that we do have in our PMS system Beds24 from where I normally send all emails automatically. For example, I can no longer send the unique access codes which worked without any problems until now. On Airbnb you can set up some e-mail templates (triggered by a reservation, X days before arrival and Y days after checkout) but the list of shortcodes is limited to what is available on the OTA platform. There is no way to push information (access code per reservation) from Beds24 to Airbnb to use a particular shortcode to a custom field in an Airbnb email template.

What workaround do you use to still offer the same personal service?

Kind regards,
Tom Ulens

[annettemorgenroth]

Beds24 is integrated with Airbnbs messaging system.

This means you can send Auto Action Emails to your guests directly from Beds24. If your access codes are in Beds24 you can automatically send them and your guests will receive them the same way as now.

Please make sure you have a plain-text message for Airbnb (and also for Booking.com) because the channels will strip out all HTML.

[tomulens]

Hi Annette,

Thanks for your reply.
I was hoping to find a way to be able to send the guest an e-mail with HTML which I have always done until now (with auto actions). It is always nice to leave a good first and professional impression and provide a lot of information in a structured way.
This was possible with aliases like [email protected] and [email protected]

So because of this new development by Airbnb, we are obliged to use the inbox, or find a way where the email address is requested with a form such that the old procedure can do its job. In case we switch back to pure plain text, which we used two decades ago, how does this work? All e-mails sent to Airbnb's alias e-mail addresses are not visible in the Airbnb inbox. This is the case with Booking.com, however. Or does this have to do with the HTML encoding? If there are HTML codes in the email, the email will be sent to the aliases until 30 September 2023 but not to the Airbnb inbox. What is the condition that it does end up in the Airbnb inbox? Or does Airbnb recognise the HTML codes and on this basis the email will not be shown in the inbox, which is the case with Booking.com?

Kind regards,
Tom

[annettemorgenroth]

Yes, from September on Airbnb will only allow communication via their messaging system. From this date on they will not provide alias Email addresses any more.

Airbnb does not allow HTML via messaging. There is no way to bypass this rule as Airbnb will strip out all HTML at their end.

Beds24 already sends all messages via Airbnbs messaging system so any message you send via Beds24 should be in the guests Airbnb inbox. This means for communication via Beds24 nothing will change.

[annettemorgenroth]

Here the link to Airbnbs help page about this topic: https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hostin ... 0143e8682b

Here the link to our help page about API messaging: https://wiki.beds24.com/index.php/Messages

[tomulens]

For anyone in the same situation: You need to adjust the parameter 'Sending message' in the auto action (tab Messaging) to 'Booking API and Email Smart'. This is the condition that must be set when plain text will be visible in the Airbnb inbox.

[[email protected]]

Liebe Beds24-Programmierer,
wenn AirBnB & Co. nur noch Nachrichten über das eigene System annehmen, und das auch nur mit Anhängen im Format GIF, JPG oder PNG, dann wäre es sehr hilfreich, wenn Ihr es ermöglichtet, ein in Beds24 generiertes PDF in gif, jpg oder png umzuwandeln. Das wäre für mich der einzige Weg, meinen Gästen die Unterlagen zuzusenden, die bei uns der Sicherheitsdienst von allen Gästen verlangt.