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Hotel Operations

Guide To Pre-Arrival Hotel Upselling: Techniques And Examples

Maximize hotel revenue with pre-arrival upselling! Learn how to offer room upgrades, airport transfers, dining reservations, and more before check-in. Discover strategies and tips.

2/13/2025
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Hotel Operations

Guide To Pre-Arrival Hotel Upselling: Techniques And Examples

Maximize hotel revenue with pre-arrival upselling! Learn how to offer room upgrades, airport transfers, dining reservations, and more before check-in. Discover strategies and tips.

2/13/2025

Imagine this: A guest who is supposed to check in a few days later at your property, receives a room upgrade (limited-time offer) at 20% off. With a quick scroll down, they even stumbled upon a great deal on airport transfer options, which they were yet to figure out.

Well, these enticing offers might just persuade your guest to choose from one of the two upsell offers or both — thereby positively impacting your hotel revenue.

Sounds great, right?

However, pe-arrival upselling isn’t just about making additional revenue. It’s about how you entice them before they even step foot in your hotel. 

In this blog post, we will explore a lot more about pre-arrival upselling. Read on…

What is hotel upselling and why is it important? 

In simple terms, upselling is convincing your guests to make the most of their stay just by paying a minimal charge. This not only leads to additional hotel revenue but also considerably enhances guest experience.

However, what makes a huge difference is how effectively you upsell at the different stages of the guest journey. Hence, in this blog, we will cover pre-arrival hotel upselling — the most crucial and effective strategy of the three. 

Nonetheless, if you wish to explore the topic more in-depth, we have provided a detailed overview of the significance of hotel upselling in our previous blog post. 

Why is pre-arrival hotel upselling important?

  • Make your guests aware of your hotel services: Pre-arrival upselling lets the guests explore your upsell offers and gives them enough time to decide which service to opt for. 
  • Allows them to personalise their stay before check-in: Pre-arrival upsell offers let your guests choose from special deals on your services and personalise their stay accordingly. 
  • Weigh down the upsell task on the front desk staff: Effective pre-stay upselling reduces the reliability of upselling at the in-stay stage. Apart from upselling to each guest, they can focus more on the ones who have opted for services at the pre-stay stage. 

Here is a use case of the significance of upselling at the pre-arrival stage: 

4,000 hotels of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts offered pre-arrival beverage services and early check-in fees. About 40% of them saw an increase in revenue of up to $1,500 per month per property.

Tip:  You can conduct a pre-arrival survey, to get more information on the first-time visitors. Whereas, in reference to repeat guests, check their past booking patterns and ancillary service requests to offer personalised services. 

5 Pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques and their importance with examples 

In this section, let's understand the importance and implementation strategy of the 5 pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques.

Importance of each of 5 pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques

  • Transportation Services: Offering arrival day transfer services for guests to ensure they have a comfortable arrival. Either airport transfer or a pick-up from a designated point.
  • Early Check-in Offers: Recommending early check-in to guests travelling from long distances or those with an entire day planned allows them to settle in and relax.
  • Personalized Packages and Experiences: Personalised offers make the guests feel more valued, thereby improving guest loyalty. It also makes them more likely to opt for the service.
  • Room Upgrades with Discounts or Added Benefits: Upgrading from a standard room to a higher category at a discounted price considerably enhances the guest's stay.
  • Pre-Booked Dining Reservations: Offering better prices either at the in-house restaurant or local restaurants based on discount vouchers.

Implementation of the techniques  

Understanding your ideal guest profile and targeting your pre-arrival upsell offer accordingly, has a significant impact on your conversion rates

Refer to the tabular format for a quick overview of the hotel upselling ideas and it's respective guest profile along with examples.

How to upsell across channels and platforms?

Gone are the days when guests had to call and book pre-arrival hotel services. Through channels such as WhatsApp, Email and SMS, guests can seamlessly browse through the offers and confirm services within seconds.

In fact, Voice AI will further revolutionise how guests interact and book pre-arrival hotel services. Guests won’t have to endure wait times any longer. The request will be instantly directed to the in-room assistant. 

Does the time and period matter for pre-arrival upselling?

Yes, it absolutely does! Timing is the most crucial factor If you want to increase your chances of upselling. 

In fact, as per reports, sending pre-arrival communication at the perfect time has the potential to achieve a 48% click-through rate and 10.6% conversion rate.

In regards to pre-arrival hotel upselling, guests are more willing to explore relevant offers and suggestions ideally within 7 -10 days before their arrival. Also, open rates could either be early morning before their commute to work or in the evening while on their way back home. 

Hence, every service that you offer needs to be sent at the perfect time to drive desired results.

          WANT TO GROW YOUR REVENUE? GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR EXPERTS NOW!

What can you upsell at the pre-arrival stage for a higher conversion rate? 

Apart from the guest profile and the timing, one major factor that defines your pre-arrival upsell strategy is your property type. 

We have segmented the pre-arrival services based on two distinct hotel types. Apply what fits you best.

For Limited-Service Hotels: 

Limnited service hotel aminities

For Premium Hotels: 

hotel upsell for premium hotels

How does pre-arrival upselling work with and without PMS connectivity?

In this section, let’s understand the key differences between upselling at the pre-arrival stage with and without a property management system. 

Pre-arrival upselling with and wothout PMS

How can Guestara help you automate pre-arrival hotel upselling?

Pre-arrival upselling acts as a first impression that your guests have about your hotel. Ensure you optimise your upsell offers at this stage perfectly by integrating your property management system with hotel upsell software. But how?

Guestara, an AI-powered guest engagement platform and hotel upselling program acts as a perfect assistant to your front desk team prior to your guest's arrival. 

Read on to know how…

Create a customised upsell menu with the help of our Guestara’s Upsell Tool 

Right from room upgrades, food and beverage, and cab rental to additional amenities, etc — Guestara Upsell Tool lets you customise and upsell your preferred pre-arrival services to the guest. With the help of a toggle switch, you can select your preferred service and the stage at which you want to upsell — pre-arrival in the current case. You can even select both stages i.e. pre-stay and in-stay at once to increase the chances of conversion. 

Guestara upsell menue

Automate upselling offers through our Guest Engagement 

Guest Engagement Feature lets you customise pre-arrival hotel upselling strategies with the help of easy-to-use templates. Send your upsell offer via guest’s preferred communication channel, i.e. WhatsApp or email. In fact, you can set a trigger and automate different upselling offers to be sent at the perfect time during the pre-stay stage, thereby increasing the chances of conversion. 

Enable guests to send requests seamlessly using the Guestara Guest App

The Guest App feature by Guestara enables the guest to view and place requests with just a click! The app enlists the pre-stay offers customised by you along with the necessary details. Send your guests a link to your user-friendly integrated Guest App and let them conveniently pick and choose the services they want to opt for at their own pace. 

Guestara guest app

View and manage requests on the Task Board of the Guestara Platform

Once a guest raises a request to opt for a pre-arrival upsell service, it will be reflected on the Guestara’s ‘Task board’ section. Whether the request is on the ‘To-Do’ stage, ‘In-Progress’ stage, ‘Done’ stage or ‘Rejected’ stage— you can view the level of completion of the request and take the necessary action accordingly. 

Set and track SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for a smoother process 

Hotel managers and owners can set a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). This primarily means setting a timeline for every service that your hotel offers. Additionally, you will be instantly notified If the completion of a request or service has been delayed. This lets you complete the pending service and ensure immediate resolution by speaking to the concerned department.

Track the overall Upsell Analytics on Guestara’s Dashboard 

Guestara’s Upsell Analytics feature highlights the overall pre-arrival upselling strategy of your hotel. Presented with graphs, pie charts, lists, etc. — analytics gives you a brief idea of which strategies are working and which are not.  It also lets you optimise your strategy by providing information on the best-performing upsell service; in terms of the preferred category, quantity delivered, engagement rates, revenue generated, etc. 

Guestara upsell analytics

Closing Thoughts

Don’t let the golden opportunity to upsell at the pre-arrival stage slip away! Boost revenue with our hotel upselling tool and guest engagement solution by booking a personalised demo and speak with our experts today!

Yashika Karkera
Senior Content Writer
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Hotel Operations

Guide To Pre-Arrival Hotel Upselling: Techniques And Examples

Maximize hotel revenue with pre-arrival upselling! Learn how to offer room upgrades, airport transfers, dining reservations, and more before check-in. Discover strategies and tips.

2/13/2025

Imagine this: A guest who is supposed to check in a few days later at your property, receives a room upgrade (limited-time offer) at 20% off. With a quick scroll down, they even stumbled upon a great deal on airport transfer options, which they were yet to figure out.

Well, these enticing offers might just persuade your guest to choose from one of the two upsell offers or both — thereby positively impacting your hotel revenue.

Sounds great, right?

However, pe-arrival upselling isn’t just about making additional revenue. It’s about how you entice them before they even step foot in your hotel. 

In this blog post, we will explore a lot more about pre-arrival upselling. Read on…

What is hotel upselling and why is it important? 

In simple terms, upselling is convincing your guests to make the most of their stay just by paying a minimal charge. This not only leads to additional hotel revenue but also considerably enhances guest experience.

However, what makes a huge difference is how effectively you upsell at the different stages of the guest journey. Hence, in this blog, we will cover pre-arrival hotel upselling — the most crucial and effective strategy of the three. 

Nonetheless, if you wish to explore the topic more in-depth, we have provided a detailed overview of the significance of hotel upselling in our previous blog post. 

Why is pre-arrival hotel upselling important?

  • Make your guests aware of your hotel services: Pre-arrival upselling lets the guests explore your upsell offers and gives them enough time to decide which service to opt for. 
  • Allows them to personalise their stay before check-in: Pre-arrival upsell offers let your guests choose from special deals on your services and personalise their stay accordingly. 
  • Weigh down the upsell task on the front desk staff: Effective pre-stay upselling reduces the reliability of upselling at the in-stay stage. Apart from upselling to each guest, they can focus more on the ones who have opted for services at the pre-stay stage. 

Here is a use case of the significance of upselling at the pre-arrival stage: 

4,000 hotels of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts offered pre-arrival beverage services and early check-in fees. About 40% of them saw an increase in revenue of up to $1,500 per month per property.

Tip:  You can conduct a pre-arrival survey, to get more information on the first-time visitors. Whereas, in reference to repeat guests, check their past booking patterns and ancillary service requests to offer personalised services. 

5 Pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques and their importance with examples 

In this section, let's understand the importance and implementation strategy of the 5 pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques.

Importance of each of 5 pre-arrival hotel upselling techniques

  • Transportation Services: Offering arrival day transfer services for guests to ensure they have a comfortable arrival. Either airport transfer or a pick-up from a designated point.
  • Early Check-in Offers: Recommending early check-in to guests travelling from long distances or those with an entire day planned allows them to settle in and relax.
  • Personalized Packages and Experiences: Personalised offers make the guests feel more valued, thereby improving guest loyalty. It also makes them more likely to opt for the service.
  • Room Upgrades with Discounts or Added Benefits: Upgrading from a standard room to a higher category at a discounted price considerably enhances the guest's stay.
  • Pre-Booked Dining Reservations: Offering better prices either at the in-house restaurant or local restaurants based on discount vouchers.

Implementation of the techniques  

Understanding your ideal guest profile and targeting your pre-arrival upsell offer accordingly, has a significant impact on your conversion rates

Refer to the tabular format for a quick overview of the hotel upselling ideas and it's respective guest profile along with examples.

How to upsell across channels and platforms?

Gone are the days when guests had to call and book pre-arrival hotel services. Through channels such as WhatsApp, Email and SMS, guests can seamlessly browse through the offers and confirm services within seconds.

In fact, Voice AI will further revolutionise how guests interact and book pre-arrival hotel services. Guests won’t have to endure wait times any longer. The request will be instantly directed to the in-room assistant. 

Does the time and period matter for pre-arrival upselling?

Yes, it absolutely does! Timing is the most crucial factor If you want to increase your chances of upselling. 

In fact, as per reports, sending pre-arrival communication at the perfect time has the potential to achieve a 48% click-through rate and 10.6% conversion rate.

In regards to pre-arrival hotel upselling, guests are more willing to explore relevant offers and suggestions ideally within 7 -10 days before their arrival. Also, open rates could either be early morning before their commute to work or in the evening while on their way back home. 

Hence, every service that you offer needs to be sent at the perfect time to drive desired results.

          WANT TO GROW YOUR REVENUE? GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR EXPERTS NOW!

What can you upsell at the pre-arrival stage for a higher conversion rate? 

Apart from the guest profile and the timing, one major factor that defines your pre-arrival upsell strategy is your property type. 

We have segmented the pre-arrival services based on two distinct hotel types. Apply what fits you best.

For Limited-Service Hotels: 

Limnited service hotel aminities

For Premium Hotels: 

hotel upsell for premium hotels

How does pre-arrival upselling work with and without PMS connectivity?

In this section, let’s understand the key differences between upselling at the pre-arrival stage with and without a property management system. 

Pre-arrival upselling with and wothout PMS

How can Guestara help you automate pre-arrival hotel upselling?

Pre-arrival upselling acts as a first impression that your guests have about your hotel. Ensure you optimise your upsell offers at this stage perfectly by integrating your property management system with hotel upsell software. But how?

Guestara, an AI-powered guest engagement platform and hotel upselling program acts as a perfect assistant to your front desk team prior to your guest's arrival. 

Read on to know how…

Create a customised upsell menu with the help of our Guestara’s Upsell Tool 

Right from room upgrades, food and beverage, and cab rental to additional amenities, etc — Guestara Upsell Tool lets you customise and upsell your preferred pre-arrival services to the guest. With the help of a toggle switch, you can select your preferred service and the stage at which you want to upsell — pre-arrival in the current case. You can even select both stages i.e. pre-stay and in-stay at once to increase the chances of conversion. 

Guestara upsell menue

Automate upselling offers through our Guest Engagement 

Guest Engagement Feature lets you customise pre-arrival hotel upselling strategies with the help of easy-to-use templates. Send your upsell offer via guest’s preferred communication channel, i.e. WhatsApp or email. In fact, you can set a trigger and automate different upselling offers to be sent at the perfect time during the pre-stay stage, thereby increasing the chances of conversion. 

Enable guests to send requests seamlessly using the Guestara Guest App

The Guest App feature by Guestara enables the guest to view and place requests with just a click! The app enlists the pre-stay offers customised by you along with the necessary details. Send your guests a link to your user-friendly integrated Guest App and let them conveniently pick and choose the services they want to opt for at their own pace. 

Guestara guest app

View and manage requests on the Task Board of the Guestara Platform

Once a guest raises a request to opt for a pre-arrival upsell service, it will be reflected on the Guestara’s ‘Task board’ section. Whether the request is on the ‘To-Do’ stage, ‘In-Progress’ stage, ‘Done’ stage or ‘Rejected’ stage— you can view the level of completion of the request and take the necessary action accordingly. 

Set and track SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for a smoother process 

Hotel managers and owners can set a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). This primarily means setting a timeline for every service that your hotel offers. Additionally, you will be instantly notified If the completion of a request or service has been delayed. This lets you complete the pending service and ensure immediate resolution by speaking to the concerned department.

Track the overall Upsell Analytics on Guestara’s Dashboard 

Guestara’s Upsell Analytics feature highlights the overall pre-arrival upselling strategy of your hotel. Presented with graphs, pie charts, lists, etc. — analytics gives you a brief idea of which strategies are working and which are not.  It also lets you optimise your strategy by providing information on the best-performing upsell service; in terms of the preferred category, quantity delivered, engagement rates, revenue generated, etc. 

Guestara upsell analytics

Closing Thoughts

Don’t let the golden opportunity to upsell at the pre-arrival stage slip away! Boost revenue with our hotel upselling tool and guest engagement solution by booking a personalised demo and speak with our experts today!

Yashika Karkera
Senior Content Writer
Subscribe to our newsletter
Read about our privacy policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

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