Pre-reservation messaging

Partners can now utilise the Messaging API to enable communication between the partner and the guest during the request to book process, before the reservation is created. To activate pre-reservation messaging for RtB, turn on the Enable Messaging API RTB (messaging_api_rtb_enabled) feature in the Provider Portal. For help in enabling this feature, contact the Connectivity Support team.

When a booking request is made, the Messaging API creates an accompanying conversation with the initial message of the guest added as part of the booking request. Partners and guests can send messages to each other using this conversation.

The conversation thread remains available after the request is converted to a confirmed reservation, enabling communication between the guest and the partner after the booking is complete in the same message thread. For more information on:

• How to post messages, see Posting a message to a conversation
• How to retrieve conversations, see Retrieving all conversations per property

This feature is only available for guests who make a booking request book on an iOS device. The other devices are still in development.

Messaging API dependency

Pre-reservation messaging is managed using the Messaging API, and not through the RtB API. To manage RtB pre-reservation messages between the partner and the guest, you must have an active implementation of Messaging API.

Key differences in Messaging API with RtB feature

Please note that, when messaging_api_rtb_enabled is enabled:

• page_id format changes from a UUID to Base64 (ranging from 300 to 500 characters)
• properties/{property_id}/conversations contains only the latest message per conversation

Limitations

The following limitations apply to an RtB conversation:

• Attachments — in any form — are not allowed. Attachment information with messages will be ignored, and all direct attachment endpoints will return 400 Bad request.
• Sharing of contact information is not allowed.
• Tagging labels to RtB conversations and messages is disabled.
• This feature is only available for guests who make a booking request book on an iOS device. The other devices are still in development. This means testing the 2 way communication must be done with the iOS app for now. Testing can only be done on a production property via the IOS app (as test properties won't appear on the app)
• The auto generated 'Booking confirmation' message is not available in the /messages/latest endpoint. It is available when getting all conversations or a single conversation by conversation_id.