Understand transactional emails
The CRM automatically sends five types of transactional emails based on reservation activity:
Email Type | Trigger | Default Timing |
Confirmation | New reservation created | Immediately when reservation enters CRM with valid email |
Modification | Reservation details updated | Immediately when qualifying changes occur |
Cancellation | Reservation cancelled | Immediately when cancellation is processed |
Pre-Stay | Approaching arrival date | Configured number of days before check-in |
Post-Stay | After departure date | Configured number of days after check-out |
Each email type can be customized based on reservation attributes like offer type, room type, booking channel, market segment, or rate code. Multiple templates can be configured for each email type, with priority rules determining which template sends when multiple criteria match.
Key capabilities
Outlined below are some key capabilities of transactional emails.
Design unique emails for specific offers, room types, or booking channels.
Embed CRM forms to collect guest preferences or stay details.
Set global exclusions to prevent emails for specific reservation codes.
Configure template-specific rules that override global settings.
Control modification email frequency by booking channel this requires support configuration.
Important timing considerations
Outlined below are some important timing considerations of transactional emails.
Transactional emails begin sending immediately when templates are marked active.
Pre-stay emails send at 1:00 PM UTC (North America servers) or 6:00 AM UTC (Europe servers) on the configured day.
Post-stay emails send at the same times based on configured days after checkout.
Modification emails send immediately when qualifying reservation changes occur.
Before you start
Ensure you have the following before configuring transactional emails:
Required:
Clear operational strategy for which reservations should receive which email types.
Email templates designed and tested or ready to clone from existing templates.
List of reservation codes such as hotel, channel, market segment, rate, room type, package, rate access and group for inclusion or exclusion rules.
Coordination plan to disable transactional emails from other systems such as PMS, CRS and booking partners.
Optional:
CRM forms to embed in emails for guest data collection.
Multi-language templates if supporting international guests.
Pre-configured segments for advanced pre or post-stay messaging via campaigns.
Configure global exclusions
Global exclusions prevent specific reservation types from ever receiving transactional emails, regardless of template-specific rules. These settings apply across all hotels in your CRM instance.
How global exclusions work:
Only one code needs to match for the exclusion to apply.
Maximum 5,000 characters per field.
Free text entry—use exact codes from your CRM system.
Template-specific rules can override these exclusions, see template rules section.
Example: Enter OTA in the channels field to prevent emails for reservations from online travel agencies that send their own confirmations.
Set global exclusion rules:
Outlined below are how to set global exclusion rules.
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click Global Exclusions in the upper right.
For each reservation attribute, enter codes to exclude, separated by semicolons.
Hotel code – Exclude specific properties.
Channels – Exclude booking sources for example OTA, PMS, Voice.
Market segment – Exclude market categories.
Rate code – Exclude specific rate plans.
Room type – Exclude room categories.
Package code – Exclude package offers.
Rate access code – Exclude promotional codes.
Group code – Exclude group bookings.
Click Save and Close.
Create a new transactional email rule
Each transactional email rule connects a template to specific reservation criteria and determines send priority when multiple templates could match.
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click Add Transactional Email in the upper right.
In the General Information section, complete:
Rule name, this is required – Descriptive name for this configuration.
Hotel, this is required – Select property or properties.
Type, this is required – Select email type such as confirmation, modification, cancellation, pre-stay, post-stay.
Language, this is required – Select language.
Priority, this is required – Enter number. One is equal to the highest priority.
Active, this is required – Check to enable sending.
In the Rule Configuration section, configure inclusion or exclusion criteria. See configure template rules.
In the Select Template section, choose an existing template or click Create New Template to design one.
Click Save and Close.
The new rule will begin processing reservations immediately if marked active.
Configure template rules
Template rules determine which reservations receive a specific email template. These rules can either include specific codes (whitelist) or exclude specific codes (blacklist), and can override global exclusions.
Understanding rule logic
Inclusion rules (whitelist):
Template sends ONLY to reservations matching the specified codes.
Everything not listed is automatically excluded.
Leave fields blank or select "ALL" to include all values for that attribute.
Exclusion rules (blacklist):
Template does NOT send to reservations matching the specified codes.
Everything not listed is automatically included.
Takes precedence over inclusion rules.
Critical rule:
You cannot set both inclusion AND exclusion for the same field it's unnecessary because:
If you include specific codes, everything else is excluded by default.
If you exclude specific codes, everything else is included by default.
Exclusions always win over inclusions.
Set template rules
Outlined below is how to set template rules.
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click the Rule Name to edit.
In the Rule Configuration section, set criteria for each field:
Manage exclusions – Click Globally to use global settings or Locally to override for this template only.
Locally exclusions set for this configuration only – Check to enable template-specific exclusions.
For each reservation attribute field, choose Include or Exclude, then enter codes separated by semicolons.
Available rule fields:
Channels.
Market segment.
Rate code.
Room type.
Package code.
Rate access code.
Group code.
Click Save and Close.
Example scenario:
You want to send a special confirmation email to guests who book suites:
Set room type to include: SUITE1;SUITE2;SUITE3.
Set priority to 1 (highest).
Leave all other fields as "ALL" or blank.
If you also configure a special confirmation for market segment BAR with priority 2:
Suite + BAR segment → Sends priority 1 template (suite template).
King room + BAR segment → Sends priority 2 template (BAR template).
Suite + Corporate segment → Sends priority 1 template (suite template).
Best practice: Always configure one default template with no rule criteria and the lowest priority number to ensure all booking scenarios are covered.
View and manage transactional email templates
Outlined below is how to view and manage transactional email templates.
View template statistics:
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click the Template name.
Review the dashboard showing:
Total emails sent using this template.
Open rate statistics.
Trackable link click rates.
List of contacts who received this template.
The Recent Activity panel on the right displays configuration change history.
Test transactional email template rendering:
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click the Template name.
Click Preview via URL to view in browser, or click Send Test Email to receive a sample at your email address.
Clone an existing transactional email template:
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Locate the template to copy.
Click Clone in the Action column.
Modify the Rule Name and any rule criteria as needed.
Click Save and Close.
The cloned template inherits all rules and template design from the original.
Edit transactional email template design:
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email.
Click the Template name.
Click Edit in the upper right.
The Email Builder opens—make desired changes to layout, content, or personalization tags.
Click Save to update the template.
All future sends will use the updated design. Previously sent emails are not affected.
Find reservation codes for transactional email rules
Reservation codes for inclusion or exclusion rules are located in the CRM Setup area.
From the left navigation menu, click CRM Setup.
Click Hotel Transaction Code.
Review the list of all codes configured for your properties including:
Channel codes.
Market segment codes.
Rate codes.
Room type codes.
Package codes.
Rate access codes.
Group codes.
Copy exact codes from this list when configuring rules—codes are case-sensitive.
Control modification emails
Certain administrative actions in the PMS (room blocks, inventory balancing) trigger modification emails even though guests didn't initiate changes. The CRM can suppress modification emails from specific channels to prevent guest confusion.
Modification email triggers
A modification email sends automatically when any of these reservation attributes change:
Email address.
Rate code.
Price (room amount).
Arrival date or departure date.
Guest first name or last name.
How channel-specific modification controls work
The system can be configured to prevent modification emails based on the source of the modification, not the original booking source. This configuration:
Only blocks modification emails, confirmation and cancellation emails still send normally.
Users can still manually send modification emails from CRM Admin, Voice Application, or Booking Engine if needed.
Prevents unintended guest communications during administrative PMS updates.
📌Note: This configuration requires support assistance. Contact SHR support if you need to suppress modification emails for specific channels. Be prepared to provide the channel code(s) you want to exclude and inform hotel operations teams about which triggers will remain active.
Configure pre-stay and post-stay timing
Pre-stay and post-stay emails are triggered based on configured day offsets from check-in and check-out dates.
Set send timing
Outlined below are the steps to set sending times for pre-stay and post-stay emails.
From the left navigation menu, click CRM Setup.
Click Email Day Setup.
Configure:
Pre-stay days – Number of days before arrival to send pre-stay email.
Post-stay days – Number of days after departure to send post-stay email.
Click Save.
Send times
North America servers: 1:00 PM UTC
Europe servers: 6:00 AM UTC
Example: Setting pre-stay days to three means guests checking in on Friday will receive their pre-stay email on Tuesday at the configured time.
For more complex guest journeys: Use campaigns instead of static pre or post-stay emails. Campaigns can target pre-stay, in-stay, and post-stay messaging using segments that update daily based on arrival or departure dates.
CRS integration considerations
When using CRM for transactional emails alongside a Central Reservation System, coordination is required to prevent duplicate emails and ensure proper data flow.
Reservation preferences from CRS
Stored as reservation preferences in CRM.
Available as personalization tags in email templates.
Can be used in segment filters
Guest comments
Transfer from CRS to CRM.
Available as personalization tags in email templates.
Room or offer descriptions
CRS descriptions populate automatically in CRM.
Multi-language content transfers if configured in CRS.
For non-CRS properties: Enter descriptions manually in CRM or use AI Assistant for translation.
📌Note: CRS email settings must be configured by support to prevent duplicate confirmations and loyalty enrollment emails. Contact SHR support to coordinate CRS and CRM transactional email configuration.
View transactional email activity
Track which emails were sent for specific reservations and resend emails when needed.
Search sent emails
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email Activity.
Enter search criteria:
Reservation number.
Guest name.
Email address.
Date range.
Click Search.
Review the list of sent emails with delivery status and open tracking.
Resend a transactional email
From transactional email activity:
From the left navigation menu, click Campaign Management Tools.
Click Transactional Email Activity.
Locate the reservation in the search results.
Click Resend in the action column.
The email resends to the email address currently on the guest profile.
From guest profile:
From the left navigation menu, click Profile Management.
Search for and open the guest profile.
Click the profile menu.
Click Resend Transactional Email.
Select which email to resend.
Optionally change the recipient email address.
Click Send.
Alternative resend methods:
CRS Admin interface, if CRS integration is active.
Voice application for reservations created via phone.
Troubleshooting
Outlined below are some of troubleshooting issues.
Problem: Transactional emails are not sending for any reservations.
Solutions:
Verify templates are marked Active in the configuration.
Check that at least one default template exists with no rule criteria.
Confirm email addresses exist on reservations.
Review Global Exclusions to ensure reservations aren't blocked.
Verify coordination to disable emails from PMS/CRS is complete
Problem: Specific reservations are not receiving emails.
Solutions:
Check if reservation codes match Global Exclusion criteria.
Review template rule priorities—higher priority templates may be blocking lower priority ones.
Verify the reservation has a valid email address.
Check Transactional Email Activity to see if email was sent but not delivered or bounced.
Review template-specific exclusion rules that may be blocking the reservation.
Problem: Wrong email template is sending.
Solutions:
Review template priority order—lower numbers take precedence.
Check rule criteria for overlapping inclusion/exclusion codes.
Verify Global Exclusions aren't affecting template selection.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send multiple pre-stay emails?
Yes. Set up additional pre-stay emails using Campaigns with segment-based targeting. Create segments for guests checking in within specific date ranges, then configure campaign emails to send at your desired intervals.
Can I send in-stay messages?
Yes. Use Campaigns with segments targeting guests currently in-house (where today's date falls between check-in and check-out dates). Update segments daily to ensure accurate targeting.
Can I include the PMS confirmation number in emails?
Yes, use the dynamic PMS confirmation personalization tag in your email template. Note: The PMS confirmation number may not be available immediately when the reservation is first created in CRM—it populates when the CRS or PMS assigns it.
Can I send pre-stay surveys?
Yes. Embed a CRM form in any transactional email template to collect guest responses. Responses are stored in the guest profile and can be used for reporting or segmentation.
How do I resend a transactional email?
Resend via:
CRM: Transactional Email Activity screen or guest profile menu.
CRS: Admin interface, if integration is active.
Voice Application: For phone-booked reservations.
The email resends using the current template design and guest email address on file.
What happens if a guest has no email address?
No transactional email will send. The CRM requires a valid email address on the reservation to trigger any transactional email type.
Can I use different templates for different properties?
Yes. When creating a transactional email rule, select specific properties in the Hotel field. Create separate rules for each property with property-specific templates.
Do transactional emails work with test reservations?
Yes, transactional emails send for test reservations unless you configure an exclusion rule for test or training reservation codes. Use caution when testing to avoid sending emails to real guest addresses.