How do I send booking confirmation emails and reminders?
WP Booking System can automatically send booking confirmations, admin notifications, pre-arrival reminders, post-booking follow-ups and final payment emails.
Email notifications are configured individually for each booking form, so you can decide who receives each email, when it is sent and what information it contains.
You can also create multiple notifications for the same form and use conditional logic to send different emails depending on the booking details.
Where do I configure booking emails?
Go to:
WP Booking System → Forms
Open the form you use for bookings and select the Email Notifications tab.
Click Add New Email Notification to create a new email.
When you create a new form, WP Booking System automatically creates an Admin Notification for you. You can edit it or create additional notifications for customers, reminders and follow-up emails.
Each notification can be enabled or disabled independently.
Send a confirmation when a booking is created
For most booking forms, you will want to send the customer an email immediately after their booking is submitted.
Create an email notification and set:
Send To → Dynamic Email
Then select the Email field from your booking form as the recipient.
Set When to Send to:
When the booking is created
The email is then sent to the address entered by the customer when they submit the booking.
What should the confirmation email contain?
Useful information includes:
- booking dates;
- customer name;
- property or resource name;
- booking price;
- payment information;
- what happens next;
- your contact details.
You can use Dynamic Tags to insert booking and form information automatically.
For example, instead of manually entering the customer’s name or booking dates, you can insert the appropriate Dynamic Tags and WP Booking System will replace them with the information from that booking.
Request received or booking confirmed?
The wording of the first email should match your booking workflow.
If bookings require manual approval, the initial email should usually tell the customer that their booking request has been received, rather than stating that the booking is already confirmed.
For example:
“Thank you. We have received your booking request and will review it shortly.”
If your bookings are automatically accepted, you can instead send an immediate booking confirmation.
Keeping the wording consistent with your booking process avoids customers interpreting a Pending booking as confirmed.
Send an email when a booking is accepted
WP Booking System can also trigger an email when a booking is accepted.
This is useful when you manually review bookings before confirming them.
A typical workflow could be:
- Customer submits booking.
- “Booking request received” email is sent immediately.
- Booking appears in the Pending tab.
- You review and accept the booking.
- “Your booking is confirmed” email is sent when the booking is accepted.
This allows you to clearly separate receiving a booking request from actually confirming it.
Send an admin notification
You can create an email notification for yourself or another member of your team whenever a booking is made.
Instead of selecting a dynamic customer email address, enter your own email address as the recipient.
An admin notification could contain:
- booking dates;
- customer details;
- selected options;
- booking price;
- payment information;
- a link to manage the booking.
Include a Manage Booking link
For internal notifications, you can enable Include “Manage Booking” Link.
This adds a link that opens the booking directly in the Booking Modal in your WordPress dashboard.
Only use this option for emails sent to administrators or other people who have access to the site’s WordPress admin area.
Send a reminder before the booking starts
You can automatically email customers a certain number of days before their booking begins.
Create another notification and set:
When to Send → Before the booking starts
Then set the Day Offset.
For example:
Day Offset → 3
will send the email three days before the booking starts.
A pre-arrival reminder could contain:
- check-in date and time;
- property address;
- directions;
- access or key collection information;
- parking instructions;
- contact information;
- important booking rules.
You can create more than one reminder if necessary.
For example:
- 7 days before arrival → general preparation information;
- 1 day before arrival → final check-in instructions.
Send an email after the booking starts
You can also select:
When to Send → After the booking starts
This can be useful for bookings lasting several days.
For example, you could send an email one day after arrival asking whether everything is satisfactory and providing contact details if the customer needs assistance.
Set the appropriate Day Offset to control when the email is sent.
Send an email before the booking ends
The trigger:
Before the booking ends
can be useful for checkout reminders.
For example, an accommodation business could send an email one day before departure containing:
- checkout time;
- key return instructions;
- cleaning requirements;
- final payment information;
- contact details.
Send a follow-up after the booking ends
To send an automatic follow-up email, create a notification with:
When to Send → After the booking ends
and choose the required Day Offset.
For example:
Day Offset → 1
will send the email one day after the booking ends.
A follow-up email can be used to:
- thank the customer;
- ask for feedback;
- request a review;
- provide a discount for another booking;
- encourage the customer to book again.
Scheduled emails are only sent for Accepted bookings
Reminder and follow-up emails scheduled relative to the booking start or end date are only sent when the booking is in the Accepted tab.
This applies to notifications such as:
- Before the booking starts;
- After the booking starts;
- Before the booking ends;
- After the booking ends.
If a booking remains Pending, its scheduled reminder or follow-up emails will not be sent.
This prevents WP Booking System from sending arrival instructions or follow-up messages for booking requests that were never confirmed.
If you rely on scheduled emails, make sure bookings are Accepted as part of your normal booking workflow.
Send an email when the final payment is made
If you use Part Payments, WP Booking System provides the trigger:
When the final payment is made
This can be used to send a confirmation after the customer’s remaining balance has been paid.
For example, the email could confirm:
- that the final payment was received;
- the amount paid;
- the booking dates;
- that there is no remaining balance;
- any final arrival instructions.
This is more reliable than treating every booking creation event as proof that the booking has been fully paid.
Send different emails depending on the booking
Email notifications support Conditional Logic.
This allows you to send a notification only when specific conditions from the booking form are met.
For example, you could send:
- bank transfer instructions only when Bank Transfer is selected;
- different arrival instructions for different properties;
- different messages based on a selected booking option;
- a specific notification when a particular form field has a certain value.
Enable Conditional Logic inside the email notification and configure the conditions that must be met.
Attach the booking to the customer’s calendar
Email notifications can include an iCalendar (.ics) attachment.
When enabled, the email contains a calendar event representing the booking dates.
The customer can add this event to calendar applications that support the iCalendar format.
You can define a:
- Summary;
- Description.
These details will appear in the customer’s calendar after they import or open the event.
Attach an invoice or contract
If the relevant add-ons are installed, email notifications can also automatically attach:
- an invoice;
- a contract.
This is useful for confirmation emails where you want the customer to receive all booking documentation in one message.
The attachment options appear only when the corresponding functionality is available.
Configure the sender correctly
Each email notification includes:
- From Name;
- From Email;
- Reply-To;
- CC;
- BCC.
For better email deliverability, use a From Email address on the same domain as your website.
For example, if your website is:
example.com
use an address such as:
bookings@example.com
rather than using a Gmail or Yahoo address as the From Email.
If you want replies to go somewhere else, use the Reply-To field.
What time are reminder emails sent?
Scheduled notifications are sent at the Delivery Hour configured under:
WP Booking System → Settings → Email
This applies to scheduled emails such as reminders and follow-ups.
For example, if your Delivery Hour is set to 09:00 and you configure a reminder for one day before the booking starts, WP Booking System will schedule that reminder for the configured delivery hour on the appropriate day.
Enable email logging
You can keep a record of emails sent by WP Booking System.
Go to:
WP Booking System → Settings → Email
and enable Email Logging.
Afterwards, open a booking and select the Email Logs tab to see the emails sent to that customer.
The log allows you to check the email content and confirm whether WordPress attempted to send the message.
This is particularly useful when troubleshooting reports that a customer did not receive an email.
Why aren’t booking emails arriving?
If WP Booking System created the booking but the email did not arrive, first check whether the email appears in the booking’s Email Logs.
If it appears there, WordPress successfully passed the email to its mail function, but that does not necessarily mean the recipient’s mail server delivered it to their inbox.
The message may have been:
- rejected by the mail server;
- placed in spam;
- blocked because of the From address;
- affected by your server’s email configuration.
For reliable delivery, we recommend configuring WordPress to send mail through a proper SMTP or transactional email service.
Check your email notification settings
If the email does not appear in Email Logs, open:
Forms → your form → Email Notifications
and check that:
- the notification is enabled;
- the recipient is configured correctly;
- the notification has a Subject;
- the notification has a Message;
- the correct trigger is selected;
- any Conditional Logic conditions are being met.
For scheduled notifications, also make sure the booking has been Accepted.
A recommended email workflow
A simple accommodation booking workflow could look like this:
Immediately after booking
Trigger: When the booking is created
Send the customer:
“Your booking request has been received.”
Also send an Admin Notification to the website administrator.
When you approve the booking
Trigger: When the booking is accepted
Send:
“Your booking is confirmed.”
Three days before arrival
Trigger: Before the booking starts
Day Offset: 3
Send:
“Your stay is coming up — here are your arrival details.”
One day before departure
Trigger: Before the booking ends
Day Offset: 1
Send:
“Checkout information for your stay.”
One day after departure
Trigger: After the booking ends
Day Offset: 1
Send:
“Thank you for staying with us.”
This provides useful communication throughout the booking without requiring you to send each message manually.
Summary
WP Booking System lets you create as many email notifications as your booking workflow requires.
You can automatically send emails:
- when a booking is created;
- when a booking is accepted;
- before or after the booking starts;
- before or after the booking ends;
- when the final payment is made.
You can also use Dynamic Tags, Conditional Logic, iCalendar attachments, invoices, contracts and Email Logging to build a complete automated communication workflow around your bookings.
For scheduled reminders and follow-ups, remember that the booking must be Accepted before the scheduled email will be sent.
