---
title: Handling Last-minute reservations (SMS)
description: Learn how to employ a systematic screening approach to last-minute bookings.
---
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# Handling Last-minute reservations (SMS)
## Learn how to employ a systematic screening approach to last-minute bookings.
Spontaneous travel plans are quickly becoming the norm in the vacation and short-term rental space. This has led to an increase in last-minute bookings, which contributes to shorter booking lead times for hoteliers like yourself. This means that you now have to be more diligent with your pre-check-in process to prepare for the arrival of a guest.
So...what do you do?
In an effort to save time, and capitalize on the revenue from last-minute bookings, you're tempted to cut corners in your guest screening process, thus opening up yourself to risk**.**
**This doesn't have to be the case for you.**
As an Autohost user, you already have the ability to screen last-minute bookings. As an added convenience, you can create extra reminder messages to cater to the needs of last-minute bookers — and ultimately increase the guest completion rate of the Guest Portal.
You can speed up response time by using "SMS" as the communication medium. Read more below on how you can do this today.
**Activation Steps (PMS-Pending)**
1. Log on to your PMS.
2. Go to your message templates, and create additional reminders, as needed.
3. **Shorten the copy of each message** to **140 characters** (this ensures that message is delivered to the guest successfully and is not disrupted by the SMS character limit).
4. At the bottom of your message copy, **update the code snippet to include "SMS"** as the **communication medium** (this will tell Autohost to send your message via SMS). To learn how to do this, [refer to this Help Center article](https://help.autohost.ai/knowledge/what-are-the-ahp-code-snippets-for-stargate?hsLang=en).
5. Congratulations! You're now better prepared to screen last-minute guest reservations.
Need assistance? [Click here to email your Account Manager](mailto:igli.panariti@autohost.ai) to request a recorded video tutorial that is specific to your PMS.
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