Farewell on departure day: the AI says goodbye based on how the stay went
By GuestChat Team ·
Most guests leave without writing anything. A "thanks for your stay" template that's the same for everyone does the job, but nobody remembers it. And for someone who had a problem, a cheerful message asking for a review goes down terribly. Farewell on departure day solves both.
What it is
It's a message the AI writes, not a template. It looks at how the stay went (what was talked about, whether there was any problem, how the guest feels) and writes a goodbye to match, in the same voice it has used with them all these days.
When it goes out
There are two moments: about 90 minutes before check-out time, and again one hour after. It goes out even if the guest has never written, which is exactly the most common case. One message per moment, never two. The day is calculated in the property's time zone, not yours.
When it doesn't write
This is the important part. The AI doesn't say goodbye on its own if:
- There's an open report that hasn't been resolved.
- The team promised something that hasn't been closed, like compensation.
- A person is handling the conversation by hand.
- The guest's mood is Critical.
In those cases it doesn't just stay quiet: it records why it wasn't sent, so you know that this goodbye is up to you.
The review, only when it fits
It never asks for a review from someone who didn't have a good stay. If everything went well, it may mention it naturally; if there was friction, it simply says a kind goodbye.
How to turn it on
In Automatic messages, the Farewell on departure day card has a Turn on and Turn off button. It's a general setting, not a per-message one.
What about my usual check-out messages?
If you already had a reminder the day before ("tomorrow is your check-out, at 11"), you can keep it: it has a different purpose, reminding them of the time and the practical stuff. What's worth checking is the "thanks and review" message after check-out. With the farewell turned on, you can remove the review part from it or keep just one of the two, so you don't push too hard.
What it might write
To a guest who asked about restaurants and left happy, something along the lines of wishing them a good trip and hoping they enjoyed the area. To one who had a problem with the boiler that's now fixed, a goodbye that acknowledges the trouble without asking for anything. The text changes in each case, and that's what makes it sound like a person.
Why it's worth it
The farewell is the last thing the guest reads before opening the booking site's app to leave a rating. A message that sounds like someone remembers them carries more weight than any template. And the filter for when to stay quiet avoids the costliest mistake: asking an angry guest for five stars.
Quick checklist
- Turn it on in Automatic messages.
- Make sure your reports get closed when they're resolved: a forgotten report blocks the farewell.
- Look at your after-check-out messages so you don't double up on the review request.
- Read the first farewells in Conversations to see how they sound.