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Tips · October 29, 2026
Phone number missing on Booking.com or Airbnb? How to reach your guests
A smiling woman holding her phone among green garden plants, next to an online check-in form where the main guest has entered a phone number, and a confirmation that the phone number was added to the Booking.com booking.
Booking.com no longer shares guest phone numbers, and Airbnb stops on 13 November 2026. Here’s what that means for your bookings, and what to do before your next guest arrives.
A few days before arrival, it’s time for the usual checks: what time are your guests arriving, and do they know how to get in? You open the booking details, and the phone number field is empty.
Since 28 September 2026, Booking.com no longer shares guest phone numbers with connected tools hosts use to manage their bookings, Holidu included. Airbnb will make a similar change for bookings accepted from 13 November 2026 outside the US and Canada. You can still reach your guests, just another way.
- Check that online check-in is on for each of your properties, so your guests get the form and you get their phone number.
- Set up a welcome message for the day of booking that asks guests to complete online check-in.
- Add your check-in instructions once, so Holidu sends them to every guest before arrival, in their language.
- Schedule the arrival-time check a couple of days before arrival, so you know when to expect your guests.
Check that online check-in is on
The safest way to get a guest’s number is to ask them via online check-in. It’s set per property, with two options, Basic and Advanced. Basic is on by default, so most properties already have it. You can check each property’s setting in Arrival & departure info → Online check-in.
Once it’s on, the online check-in form is sent automatically after every booking, whichever booking site it comes from. If a guest hasn’t filled it in, Holidu reminds them automatically 5 days before check-in. If they still haven’t done it, send them a short reminder with the link in your Holidu inbox, so you have their phone number before arrival.
To help with this, Holidu has made the phone number a required field for the main guest in the online check-in form. So once your guest completes the form, you’ll see their phone number in Holidu.
To find it, open the corresponding booking in your Holidu account and click Show details under Guest information. The phone number is there, together with the other details your guest entered at check-in.
How to reach guests before you have their number
Some guests check in right after booking, others close to arrival. Until they do, you can still reach them from your Holidu inbox (Messages), whichever booking site they booked on.
Conversations from every booking site land there, in one place, with one conversation per booking. When you write to a Booking.com guest, your message arrives in their Booking.com chat. Messages are translated automatically into your guest’s language, and theirs into yours.
You don’t have to keep checking, either. With the Holidu Host App, every guest message reaches your phone as a notification.
L
Leticia Moreno
Booking.com14–21 Nov
You · scheduled message
Hi Leticia, thanks for booking with us! Please complete the online check-in before you arrive, and write to me here if you have any questions.
Thank you! Is there parking near the house?
Translated from SpanishYes, there’s free parking right in front of the house.
New message from Leticia
Reaches your guest’s Booking.com chat
Translated both ways
No phone number needed
Set up a welcome message
Guests pay most attention right after they book. A scheduled message on the day of booking catches that moment: welcome them and ask them to complete the online check-in so you have their phone number. Holidu has already sent them the link, so your message is a friendly nudge. Scheduled messages are yours to set up: you write the text or start from a template, choose when each one goes out, and turn it on when it’s ready (Messages → Scheduled messages).
One more sentence helps guests know what a real message from you looks like:
“I’ll never ask you to pay by WhatsApp or SMS. Payment only happens on the site where you booked.”
It’s true for every booking in your Holidu account: guests pay on their booking site, and Holidu collects the payment. A guest who knows this is more likely to ignore a fake request instead of wondering whether it came from you.
Add your check-in instructions once
Whether guests use a smart lock, a keypad, check in at the reception or meet you in person, they need to know how to get in. That information often went out by SMS or WhatsApp from your private number. Now you add it once: choose your check-in method and write your instructions in your property’s Arrival & departure info, under Check-in methods. Holidu translates them into your guest’s language and adds them to the arrival message it sends your guest automatically before arrival, together with the check-in times and directions. Guests receive it through the booking site they booked on, like their other booking messages.
Schedule the arrival-time check
Knowing when guests will arrive helps you plan the handover: you can be there to meet them, have the place ready on time and, if they’re arriving late, make sure they know how to get in. This used to take a quick call. Now a scheduled message a couple of days before arrival asks them for you, for every booking, so you don’t have to remember.
| Before | Now |
|---|---|
Welcome message on WhatsApp |
Scheduled message on the day of booking |
Check-in instructions by SMS |
Check-in method and instructions in your Holidu account |
Call to ask the arrival time |
Scheduled message before arrival |
Frequently asked questions
Can Holidu get the phone number from Booking.com or Airbnb for me?
No. Booking.com no longer shares guest phone numbers with any software, and Airbnb stops on 13 November 2026. That includes Holidu. You will receive them once your guests complete online check-in.
Which bookings are affected?
Booking.com bookings received since 28 September 2026 arrive in your Holidu account without the guest’s phone number, and so will Airbnb bookings accepted from 13 November 2026. For properties in the US and Canada, Airbnb shares a temporary number instead, when you and your guest live in the same country.
Will my bookings still come in correctly?
Yes. Bookings sync as before. Only the phone number field is empty.
I’m new to Holidu. Why can’t I see my guest’s phone number yet?
On your first booking, guest contact details show in the last 2 days before arrival, even if the guest checked in earlier. After that, you see the number as soon as the guest completes online check-in.
What if a guest doesn’t complete online check-in?
Holidu sends them an automatic reminder with the link 5 days before check-in. If they still haven’t done it close to arrival, open the booking details, go to Guest check-in form and click Copy. Then paste the link into your conversation with the guest in your Holidu inbox and remind them to fill in the form.
Ready for your next guests?
A quick check of your property settings now, and your guests get the online check-in form and you get their phone number before they arrive.
Your account → Properties → Arrival & departure info
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