Map the messages a customer needs after booking, then decide what must be true before each one is sent. This is a useful way to review confirmations, balance reminders and travel updates without starting with a large library of templates.

For every message, write down its purpose, trigger, recipient, source of information and reply route. These details make the wording easier to check and give the team a practical way to investigate a mistake.

Separate service information from marketing

The ICO distinguishes purely administrative service messages from direct marketing. Promotional material can bring a message within direct marketing even when the surrounding email concerns an existing service. Review the whole message, not just its template name. Source: ICO: identifying direct marketing

Keep a balance reminder focused on the agreed payment information and how to get help. If someone proposes adding a holiday offer, review the marketing rules and the intended audience before changing the template. This preserves a clear purpose for the communication.

Use the service message definition when agreeing the categories with your team. Apply the current ICO guidance to the actual content and circumstances.

Match the wording to a verified booking state

Define what “received”, “awaiting supplier confirmation” and “confirmed” mean in your own workflow. Choose wording that reflects the evidence available at the trigger point. This avoids leaving the decision to whoever happened to write the template.

Treat the payment and supplier records separately. Stripe documents authorisation as a hold in a separate authorisation and capture flow; that payment event is not evidence that accommodation has been confirmed. Source: Stripe: separate authorisation and capture

Test a fictional booking with an unresolved supplier request. Check that the outgoing message describes the uncertainty accurately and gives the customer a next step. Then test the confirmed state and compare the wording.

Build a small message map

Use these suggested checkpoints as a starting point, adapting them to your service:

• A booking update: confirm the current arrangement status and explain any outstanding action, so the customer knows what happens next.

• A balance reminder: check the agreed amount, due date and payment route, so the message reflects the booking record.

• A document notification: identify which document is ready and where to find it, so the customer can recognise the purpose of the link.

• A change update: state the verified change and the required response, so the customer can act on the current information.

• A cancellation update: distinguish the supplier outcome from the refund state, so neither is implied by the other.

Give each checkpoint an owner. Record how a failed send or customer reply is handled so important messages do not depend on an unmonitored mailbox.

Include only the personal information needed

The ICO’s data minimisation guidance says personal data should be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary. Its storage limitation guidance also requires a justified approach to how long data is kept. There is no single retention period for every record. Source: ICO: data minimisation Source: ICO: storage limitation

Review each template field against its purpose. If the message only tells someone that a document is ready, assess whether the email needs to repeat sensitive booking details. Use the appropriate secure process for the information involved.

Record the retention rule for messages and their supporting records, taking account of applicable obligations. Both ICO guidance pages are marked as under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, so check the current advice when reviewing your arrangements. Source: ICO: data minimisation Source: ICO: storage limitation

Test the whole communication before switching it on

Use sample records for a confirmed booking, a changed booking and an unresolved case. Check the name, dates, amounts, links and reply destination. Include a handover to another adviser so the process works beyond the person who configured it.

Travelgenix’s booking documents page describes branded confirmations, booking packs and balance reminders. Use the relevant tools within an agreed process, with the underlying record and message trigger checked before sending. Source: Travelgenix: booking documents

Keep the approved wording, test result and owner together. Review them after a supplier or workflow change so the message map continues to reflect how your business actually operates.

Written and updated by Travelgenix. Sources checked on 16 October 2026. Worked examples and checklists are editorial illustrations and recommendations, not customer results.