Booking.com no longer passes on guest phone numbers: how to reach your guests anyway

At the end of September, properties on Booking.com received an email that is easy to lose among the newsletters, but that does change something for many B&Bs and holiday homes: from 28 September 2026, Booking.com no longer passes the guest's phone number on to channel managers and PMS systems. Booking.com cites protecting guest data against phishing as the reason.

Sounds like a detail. Until you realise how much of your operation runs on that one number: the welcome message on WhatsApp, the directions, the front door code, the text saying "we're running late, around eight". This article covers what exactly changes, where the number is still available, and how to set up your guest communication so it works without a mobile number.

What exactly changes?

Until now, a Booking.com reservation arrived with a name, an email address and usually a phone number. Your channel manager passed that on to your PMS, and from there you could send messages automatically.

From 28 September the phone field stays empty on bookings that come in through a connection. What remains:

• The masked email address (ending in @guest.booking.com). Emails you send there reach the guest via Booking.com.
• The Booking.com chat, both in the Extranet and in the Pulse app.
• The number itself in the Extranet and the Pulse app. If you open the booking there, you can still view the phone number manually.

So the number is not gone, it is just no longer part of the automatic flow. And that automatic flow is exactly where a small operator saves time.

Why this matters more than you think

A few situations we often see with operators:

• The welcome message no longer goes out. If you send practical info via WhatsApp the day before arrival, without a number there is nobody to send it to. You only notice when a guest calls: "Where do I pick up the key?"
• Door codes or unlock links do not reach the guest. With self check-in that is more than an inconvenience: a guest standing in front of a locked door at ten at night will write a review about it.
• Late arrivals or delays. Guests who do not have your number, while you do not have theirs, can only talk through the platform's chat. They do not always read it on the road.

How big the effect is depends on your channel mix. If a third or more of your bookings come via Booking.com, you will notice it straight away.

Four ways to reach guests anyway

1. Use the Booking.com chat as your first channel

The Booking.com chat is now the only channel you are sure to have for every booking. Send your welcome message and arrival info there instead of via WhatsApp. Guests get a notification in the Booking.com app, and messages stay attached to the booking, which is also handy in case of a dispute later.

If you already answer Booking.com and Airbnb messages from one screen, this is a small step. More in answering guest messages from one place.

2. Ask for the number yourself, at the right moment

Asking for the number is perfectly fine. The trick is to do it at a moment when the guest sees the point. Not "Please provide your phone number", but "Leave your mobile number and we will send you the front door code on the day you arrive."

Good moments are the confirmation email, the email a few days before arrival and online check-in. If guests already fill in details in advance, just add one field. More in online check-in: letting guests fill in their details in advance.

3. Do not put important info only in a message

Make the practical info available via a link: a guest page or digital guest book with the address, parking, check-in times and house rules. You can share that link through any channel, including the masked email address. That way your guest does not depend on one message that may or may not arrive.

4. Record the number once, and use it everywhere

If a guest calls, or you find the number in the Extranet, add it straight away to the booking and to the guest profile. Otherwise you will be missing the number again next year when they book again. One place for guest details saves you searching three systems.

What not to do

• Do not retype every Booking.com booking by hand. Copying the number from the Extranet works for a few bookings, not as a standing process in high season.
• Do not push the guest towards "book direct next time" in the first chat. Encouraging direct bookings is fine, but not in a way that breaks the platform's rules. See may a Booking.com guest book directly with you?.
• Do not quietly assume your automatic messages still go out. After 28 September, check on a few new Booking.com bookings whether your welcome message actually arrived.

How BedFlow PMS handles this

In BedFlow PMS we have adapted guest communication so it also works without a phone number. If a Booking.com booking has no number, the welcome message goes out through the Booking.com chat instead of WhatsApp, provided the messaging connection is active for your property. The guest page shows a card at the top asking the guest to leave their mobile number, and the confirmation email and the pre-arrival email contain the same request. When a guest leaves their number, or you enter it at check-in, it is stored in one place and used everywhere.

Which features are in which plan is on the pricing page. Settings for messages and the guest page are in the documentation.

In short

• From 28 September 2026, Booking.com guests' phone numbers no longer come in through your channel manager.
• The number is still in the Extranet and the Pulse app; the chat and masked email address keep working.
• Make the Booking.com chat your default channel for welcome and arrival info.
• Ask for the number at a moment when the guest benefits from giving it.
• Put practical info on a guest page you can share through any channel.
• Check the first bookings after the change: does your welcome still arrive?

Want your welcome messages to keep arriving, with or without a phone number? Try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no card details needed.