Before they arrive
Stop asking what time they are coming
Switch the question on for a booking and the guest answers it from the link they already have. Times are shown in your property's time zone, and in theirs too if they are somewhere else.
Without it
- The same message, every booking: what time do you think you'll arrive?
- The answer comes back as "afternoon", which could mean 13:00 or 19:30.
- You find out about the 01:00 arrival when the doorbell goes at 01:00.
How it works
Arrival is asked per booking, not once for the property. When you create or edit a stay, you switch the question on for that guest.
They open the link you already sent, and near the top of their guide there is your question with a list of times underneath. They pick one and it is done. There is no account, no reply to write, and nothing for you to type back.
You see the answer on the booking, and on your list of stays, so the day’s arrivals are all in one place.
Setting the times you want to offer
You control the list rather than getting a fixed one.
Earliest. Leave it empty and the list starts at your check-in time. Set it earlier if you are happy to take early arrivals — that alone answers the other message you get every week.
Latest. The last option on the list. It starts at 23:00.
How far apart. Every 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Half an hour suits most properties: it is precise enough to plan around and loose enough that guests do not feel they are signing a contract.
The late flight case
There is one setting worth knowing about, because it is the arrival you most want warning of.
If you set your latest time earlier than your first one, the list keeps running past midnight and into the next morning. So a window from 15:00 to 02:00 offers the whole evening and then 00:30, 01:00, 01:30 — each marked as the following day so nobody is confused about which night they mean.
That is the guest whose plane lands at 23:40. Without the option, they either guess or they message you. With it, you know before you go to bed.
The note
You can let guests add a short note with their answer. Most leave it blank. The ones who use it write exactly the thing you would have had to ask for: a flight number, “we may be an hour later than this”, “we are coming by car from Cluj”.
You can put your own hint under the box to steer what they write.
Two clocks, so nobody miscounts
Times are always the time at your property. That is the only interpretation that is safe, because it is the clock the front door runs on.
If the guest’s phone is set to a different zone, the card shows both: the time there and the time where they are, side by side. A guest in London choosing 18:00 can see that it means 20:00 at your flat. It removes the two-hour misunderstanding that is otherwise found out at the door.
After they arrive
You choose what the question does once the guest is presumed to be inside, counted from their own answer, or from your check-in time if they never gave one.
Show their answer, no more changes. The default. The guest can see what they said; the form is closed.
Keep the form open. For hosts who would rather a guest could still update it.
Hide it. The question disappears entirely.
Separately, you can have it disappear once the arrival day is over, which is on by default. There is no reason for a question about Friday to still be at the top of the guide on Sunday.
If the dates change
Move the check-in date and the guest’s answer is cleared. It was an answer about a specific day, and quietly carrying it over to a different one would be worse than asking again. The question comes back, and they answer it for the new date.
What this costs
Nothing. Arrival times, the note, the two-clock display and all the settings above are on the free plan.
FAQ
What if the guest arrives after my latest option?
Let them add a note and they will tell you. If it happens often, move your latest time later — or set it earlier than your first option, which makes the list run through midnight into the small hours.
What if the guest is in a different time zone when they answer?
They see both clocks. The time is always the time at your property, and underneath it says what that is where they are, so nobody books 15:00 meaning their own afternoon.
What if the booking moves to different dates?
Their answer is cleared, because it was an answer about a particular day. The question comes back so they can tell you about the new one.