How a traveler submits an inquiry 

Receiving inquiries

Can I have a unique contact per listing?

Allowing a 3rd party to receive inquires

Why am I not receiving inquiries via email?

Responding to inquiries

My reply to an inquiry was undeliverable. What can I do?

Recognizing genuine inquiries

To convert inquiries to bookings

How do I know how many inquiries I have received?

How to edit your inquiry contact information and preferences

 

How a traveler submits an inquiry

Traveler’s can submit an inquiry through the ‘Email Owner’ button or by calling the phone number posted on your property listing page on both FlipKey and TripAdvisor.

 

 

 

Receiving inquiries

 Receiving Inquiries in your FlipKey Account. All leads are aggregated in your FlipKey dashboard and can be viewed at any time by simply logging into your account at www.flipkey.com/users/login and clicking on the ‘Inquiries’ tab located in left sidebar.

Receiving Inquiries by Email. FlipKey delivers leads via email directly after the inquiry was submitted through FlipKey or TripAdvisor. You will receive an email notification with travel details for each potential renter.

Receiving Inquiries by Phone. Interested travelers can contact you by phone if you choose to display a phone number on your listing.

Can I have a unique contact per listing?

All of the properties in your account will be tied to one inquiry email address and phone number.

Allowing a 3rd party to receive inquires

You are able to route inquiry emails and phone calls to a third party within your account.  FlipKey only allows one contact email address and phone number per account, but owners/managers can list third party contact details here and direct leads to whomever they choose.

Why am I not receiving inquiries via email?

To make sure that you are receiving all your inquiries:

• Mark ‘flipkey.com’ as a safe sender.  Even after marking FlipKey as a safe-sender, it is important to occasionally check your SPAM folder.
• Check your FlipKey account for inquiries. Log into your account at http://www.flipkey.com/users/login/ and go to the ‘Inquiries’ section. You can view your leads, but can not respond to inquiries through your dashboard. Simply copy the traveler’s email address into a new email and respond!

 

• Try a new email address. If you continue to have problems receiving inquiries by email, switch the inquiry email address on file.

Quick Tip! You can list a phone number on your property listing so interested travelers can easily call for more information about your property!

Responding to inquiries

Respond to Inquiries by Email. If a traveler submits an email inquiry through the ‘Contact Owner’ button, you will receive an email notification with the guest and travel details shortly after the inquiry was submitted. Respond to the potential renter by simply hitting ‘reply’ in your email account. The response goes directly to the person who submitted the inquiry.  You will have begun an email chain in which you can easily reference the original inquiry.

 

Respond to Inquiries by Phone.  If your phone number is listed on your property page than travelers will contact you on the phone number displayed.  Respond to any missed calls and voicemails within one business day to increase bookings!

Quick Tip! Owners who respond to inquiries via phone typically get more bookings than those who rely only on email.

My reply to an inquiry was undeliverable. What can I do?

We provide you with all the information that has been submitted by a traveler inquiring about your property. If you receive a message that your email bounced, we unfortunately do not have any additional contact information for the traveler.

In most situations, it is simply traveler error. Travelers submit an inquiry through our form-based system and it is up to the traveler to make sure that their contact information is typed in correctly. A traveler may have typed in their contact information incorrectly or is using an invalid email address.

Quick Tip! Travelers are asked to submit a contact phone number when sending an inquiry, so follow up with a phone call.

Recognizing genuine inquiries

Although it is our goal to create a vacation rental site where both owners and travelers can rent confidently, it is important to take precautionary actions when securing a booking. Each owner/ manager must take responsibility for evaluating each of their inquiries.

We highly encourage using rental agreements, implementing safe payment methods, and speaking to each potential renter before securing a booking.

While each of these individually does not represent a suspicious inquiry, it is important to be aware of:

• Inquiries with incorrect grammar, inaccurate spelling, or poor use of English.
• Inquiries sent from a generic email address (i.e. John.Doe123@email.com).
• Inquiries sent from an email address created from a free email provider (i.e. @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @msn.com, etc).
• Inquiries from someone requesting immediate payment, a last minute rental, or a booking paid using an un-secure payment method such as a wire transfer.
• Inquiries delivered only to an owners/managers email address, meaning they are not visible in your FlipKey account, should be reported to FlipKey.

Do you want tips for safe renting practices? Check out our link here.

To convert inquiries to bookings

• Respond to inquiries within 24 hours. Travelers generally send inquiries to more than one home, so responding to inquiries quickly increases your chances of a booking. Answering questions immediately allows you to execute a lease agreement without delay.  

 

• Call all travelers who leave a phone number. Since our inquiry submission form requests that a traveler provide a phone number, we recommend giving all interested travelers a call. You can answer all questions in just a few minutes rather than waiting for an email response.

 

• Enhance bookings by adding guest reviews to your property listing. Reviews provide a sense of trust, credibility, and confidence amongst consumers searching for a vacation rental.  According to Compete.com, nearly 80% of travelers say they are significantly more likely to book a property if they can read reviews from past guests.

 

• Boost your property’s ranking and increase traffic to your property listing.  The more people who view your home, the more quality inquiries and valuable bookings you will receive. Increase your property rankings on FlipKey and TripAdvisor by adding guest reviews, updating your calendar, keeping accurate rates, and displaying photos.

 

• Increase your property’s visibility via the availability search and rates feature. Travelers searching by desired arrival and departure dates and a rental price range will easily find your home if you keep an updated availability calendar and correct rates.

How do I know how many inquiries I have received?

For more information about tracking your views and leads, click here.

How to edit your inquiry contact information and preferences

1. Log into your account at www.flipkey.com/users/login.

2.  Click on the ‘Account’ link on the left side of the Dashboard page.

3.  Click on the ‘Edit Inquiry Preferences’ button.

 

4.  Change your inquiry email address or phone number. Change your contact preference to either ‘Email Only’ or ‘Phone and Email.’ The phone number and the email address listed in your account will be used for travelers to inquire about your rental property.

5.  Click ‘Save’ after updating your contact preferences.