Text alerts are short messages we send to your mobile when something happens with one of your bookings. They arrive as soon as the thing happens, so you know where a booking stands without going looking. There are no quiet hours, so a text can arrive at any time of day or night.
When we text you
As a guest you can get a text at four moments, and no others:
- Your request is accepted. On most listings a booking is not confirmed until you pay, so this text tells you to pay and by when.
- Your request is not accepted. The host has declined, so you can look elsewhere instead of waiting.
- Your stay is confirmed. Payment has gone through and the booking is locked in.
- A confirmed booking is cancelled, including when you cancel it yourself.
We never send marketing by text, and we never text you about anyone else’s booking. Your booking emails carry on exactly as before, whether text alerts are on or off.
What a text looks like
Every text names the listing and the dates, and links straight to the booking. A real one reads like this:
Bookably: request accepted for Harbour View Apartment, 30/10/2026 – 02/11/2026. Pay within 2 days to confirm: bookably.nz/account/bookings/450912/
They are deliberately short, and the deadline shown is whatever the host has set for that booking. Everything else lives on the booking page behind the link, where you have to be signed in.
What we never put in a text
A text shows the listing name and the dates. It never shows anyone’s name, the address, or the price. Phones show message previews on the lock screen, so the details stay behind a sign-in where only you can see them.
Bookably never asks you to reply to a text with a code, a password or payment details. If a text claiming to be from us ever asks for any of those, it is not from us.
Turning text alerts on
Ask the Concierge and it will open text alerts in the chat for you, or log in and open Text alerts in your Bookably account. Enter your New Zealand or Australian mobile number, and for an Australian number start with +61.
Tick the box to agree to booking texts and press Send code. We text you a 6-digit code: enter it within 10 minutes and press Verify. Text alerts start straight away, and we send you a short text to confirm.
Changing your number
Open Text alerts in your account, press Change number, and verify the new mobile with the code we text to it. Until then, texts keep going to your current number.
Once the change is done we email you, and we send your old number one text to say your alerts have moved. That is so you would know if someone else made the change. That particular text deliberately carries no link, and if it ever arrives unexpectedly, email [email protected] or call 0800 448 938.
Turning text alerts off, or replying STOP
Open Text alerts in your account and press Turn off. Texts stop straight away and we email you to confirm. Your number stays verified, so turning texts back on later takes one tap.
You can also reply STOP to a recent Bookably text. This turns text alerts off, but it can take a little while to be processed, and to turn texts back on you verify your number again with a new code. A STOP turns text alerts off for everyone using that mobile, and we email each of them.
What it costs
Text alerts are free. Bookably pays for every text and does not charge hosts or guests for them. Our texts never need a reply. If you do reply, your mobile provider may charge you for that text.
If a text does not arrive
Check that your number is verified under Text alerts in your account. Texts only go to New Zealand and Australian mobile numbers, so an overseas number will not work even though the rest of your account does.
Changing the phone number on your profile does not move your text alerts across, because the two are set separately. If you have changed your phone recently, check the number under Text alerts as well.
Still nothing
Ask the Concierge, or email [email protected] and tell us the mobile number you expected the text on and roughly when the booking changed. That is usually enough for us to see where it went.