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What is Guest Messaging Allowlist?
Guest Messaging Allowlist is essentially an approved list of email addresses.
From 20 August, Booking.com will allow emails to guests to be sent only from email addresses that have previously been added to this list. Email addresses that are not approved may be blocked in order to reduce the risk of phishing, fraud and impersonation.
The goal of the change is to improve the security of communication between accommodation providers and guests and to give property owners greater control over the email addresses that are allowed to communicate with their guests.
What will Booking.com do automatically?
If you do nothing, Booking.com will perform a one-time automatic update on 20 August 2026 of the allowlist.
It will add email addresses that you used for regular guest communication during the period:
15 May 2026 – 15 July 2026.
This means Booking.com will try to identify the email addresses you have already used so that the transition to the new system can take place with as little disruption as possible.
After this automatic update, new email addresses will need to be added to the allowlist manually.
What does this mean for you as an accommodation provider?
If you communicate with guests using only one email address that you have already been using, it is very likely that it will be added to the list automatically.
However, if you use multiple addresses, we recommend checking them.
For example, you may use:
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- an address used by an external partner or agency
If any of these addresses are used to communicate with guests, it is important to check whether they are included in your Booking.com allowlist.
Why is this important for MyRent users?
If you use MyRent to manage reservations and communication related to your properties, it is especially important to have control over the email addresses used in the communication process.
The new Booking.com security setting is not a change to the MyRent system itself, but a change on the Booking.com side.
We therefore recommend checking your Booking.com settings and the email addresses used for guest communication before the new setting is introduced.
What do you need to do?
Booking.com provides two options.
Option 1: Configure the allowlist before 17 August
If you want to control which email addresses are approved, you can configure them manually before 17 August 2026.
This is the recommended option if you want full control over the list.
Option 2: Wait for the automatic update
The second option is to do nothing before 20 August.
Booking.com will then automatically add the email addresses you used for regular guest communication between 15 May and 15 July 2026.
You can review the list afterwards and change it if necessary.
What should you pay special attention to?
We recommend checking whether you use an email address for guest communication that was not active during the stated period.
Such an address may not be added to the list automatically.
For example, if you started using a new address in August:
do not assume that Booking.com will approve it automatically. Once the new security setting is introduced, new email addresses will need to be added to the allowlist manually.
Who can change the settings?
According to Booking.com, access to the allowlist settings is available to users with administrator rights in the Extranet.
If you do not see this option, your user account may not have the required administrator permissions.
In that case, the change must be made by a user with the appropriate rights.
In short – what should you do before 20 August 2026?
If you use Booking.com, we recommend a quick check:
- check which email addresses you use to communicate with guests
- check that all relevant addresses are included in your Booking.com allowlist
- pay special attention to addresses you started using after 15 July 2026
- if you want to control the list yourself, configure the allowlist before 17 August
- if you do not want to make any changes, review the list after the automatic update on 20 August
Conclusion
With this change, Booking.com is introducing an additional layer of protection for guest communication. The idea is simple: only pre-approved email addresses can send communications to guests.
For most accommodation providers, the transition should be straightforward because Booking.com will automatically add previously used addresses. However, we recommend checking your settings before 20 August 2026, especially if you use multiple email addresses or have recently changed the way you communicate with guests.
MyRent users do not need to change the way they work in the MyRent system because of this Booking.com change. You only need to make sure that the email addresses used for guest communication are correctly authorised on Booking.com.
Booking.com is introducing this change as part of its security measures designed to protect partners and guests from unwanted and potentially fraudulent email communication.
