The five steps

Checkinea's guest communication is really five independent features that compound into one pipeline. Understanding how they connect helps you see what's actually automated today, and what still needs a one-time setup on your side.

1. A booking arrives — via a connected channel (iCal feed or forwarded email), or added manually.
2. The OTA delivers the check-in link — a scheduled/automatic message you set up once per listing on Airbnb or Booking.com carries your property's check-in link to every future guest, with no per-booking action from you.
3. The guest checks in online — this is what captures their real email address, the one every later automated message actually uses.
4. The arrival message sends — practical arrival info (door code, wifi, directions) goes out automatically ahead of check-in, to the email captured in step 3.
5. SES filing happens automatically — the mandatory police report gets submitted without you doing it by hand.

Steps 1–2: getting the guest to check in

See Sending the check-in link automatically for the exact setup steps on each platform.

One honest limitation: Checkinea has no way to see whether you've actually configured the OTA-side scheduled message. It can tell you the link exists and give you the steps — it can't confirm the OTA is sending it. Test it yourself by sending a message to your own booking and tapping the link.

Step 3: why the guest's own check-in matters

Airbnb and Booking.com never expose a guest's real email address — only relay addresses that expire or masked contacts (see the platforms' respective policies). The guest's own check-in form is the only moment Checkinea learns their real email. That's why step 4 depends on step 3 having happened: an arrival message can only reach an address the guest themselves provided.

Step 4: arrival instructions

Full details in The check-in invite and automated arrival instructions. The facts worth repeating here:

• Arrival instructions are off by default — you turn them on, per account or per property, and write the message yourself.
• The lead time is configurable from 0 to 24 hours before your property's check-in time.
• The email always goes to the guest's check-in-captured address, never to an OTA relay address — which is exactly why step 3 has to happen first.

Step 5: SES filing

Once your SES credentials are saved and auto-submit is on, the mandatory police report for each booking files itself — no manual step per booking.

Where each step is configured

See also: Sending the check-in link automatically, The check-in invite and automated arrival instructions.