Pre-trip reminders and post-trip follow-up messages

Reminder and thank-you messages are the easiest writing to hand to an AI tool. They repeat, they're short, and the facts barely change from trip to trip.

Why this task suits the tool

Writing and summarising are typical jobs for a language model¹. Reminders use both, in a small space, with a set pattern.

The risk is small too, as long as the facts come from you. A friendly tone is what you're asking for. The tool isn't being asked to know anything.

The messages around a booking

Every message should have one job. A reminder that also asks for a review and sells an upgrade is harder to act on.

Write the reminder from your own checklist

Make a short checklist of what you usually remind clients about, in your own words. Items might be "documents ready", "transfer details", "contact number while away". Don't have the tool decide what clients need to do. Entry rules, insurance and health matters belong with official government and insurer sources. Point to them, and keep the message about what your agency has arranged.

Then give the tool the checklist and the trip facts, and ask for a message in your agency's voice. Structuring natural language inputs like this is what prompt engineering means². Even small variations in phrasing can change the output², so once you have a prompt that works, save it.

Make each message feel written for one person

Templates sound like templates. Two tweaks fix most of it.

• Add one detail from the trip, taken from your own notes. "Your late-afternoon transfer" lands better than "your upcoming trip".
• Keep the closing short. One clear next step, such as "reply to this email if anything has changed".

Don't have the tool invent warmth you don't have. If you didn't speak to the client about their children or their anniversary, a line about it will read as false. Don't write it.

Post-trip messages

After a trip, keep the message brief.

1. Thank them for travelling with you.
2. Ask one open question, such as how the trip went.
3. Offer one next step, such as a call to talk through the next trip.
4. If you ask for a review, say so plainly and give one link or route.

Don't ask the tool to write reviews or testimonials on a client's behalf, and don't invent quotes. Reviews should come from the clients themselves. The tool can help you word the request.

Check before each batch goes out

Reminders often go out in bulk or on a schedule, and one wrong detail may reach many people. Bookings can change after a reminder is drafted, so compare the message with the current booking record. Before each send:

• Compare dates, times and places with the current booking, not the one you saved last week.
• Check names and greetings. A "Dear [CLIENT]" slipping through is common.
• Make sure the message hasn't been sent to someone whose trip has changed.
• Work through the checking routine.

Keep client data out of the tool

Write the message with placeholders, then use your email system's merge feature or paste the real names and dates in after. Keep passport and payment details out of the request, as the privacy page explains.