Overview
SquadTrip gives you multiple ways to communicate with travelers: Group Chat for real-time messaging, promotional emails for marketing, text message blasts for quick updates, and customizable automated emails for transactional notifications. Each channel serves a different purpose and reaches travelers at different stages of their journey.
Group Chat
Group Chat creates a private, real-time messaging space for confirmed travelers and organizers.
Enabling Group Chat
Go to Trip Builder > Group Chat (under Optional Enhancements)
Toggle "Enable Group Chat" ON
Write your Welcome Message (or use the default)
Configure Automated Milestone Messages for key moments:
First Booking, 60 Days Out, 30 Days Out, 7 Days Out, Day After Trip
What You Can Do as an Organizer
Feature | How It Works |
Send messages | Real-time text, photos, videos, and files |
Pin messages | Keep important updates at the top of the chat |
Create polls | Gather group input with single choice, multiple choice, or ranked voting |
Delete messages | Moderate the chat by removing any message |
Milestone messages | Automated messages at key trip milestones |
Travelers can send messages, share media, react to messages (thumbs up, heart, laugh, fire, check), and vote in polls.
Daily Digest Email
Travelers receive a daily email digest (6 PM Eastern) on days when they have unread messages and something new was posted in the last 24 hours; it lists the latest messages plus open-poll and pinned-message counts. Travelers can switch it off under Settings > My Profile (Daily Digest / Mute All). This keeps everyone engaged without requiring them to check the chat constantly.
Promotional Emails
Promote your trips and encourage bookings through email campaigns.
Open your trip from your dashboard, then choose Trip Actions > Edit Trip Settings
Go to "Promote your trip" in Trip Builder
Click "Add New Email"
Configure sender details and reply address
Select recipients (newsletter subscribers, travelers from your trips, or email addresses entered manually)
Compose your message using merge tags for personalization
Preview and optionally send a test email
Schedule or send immediately
Text Message Blasts
Send SMS invitations and updates to travelers.
Go to Trip Builder > Share my trip (under Promote & Manage) and click + Add New MMS
Type your message
Select recipients via CSV upload or past trips
Upload an image (jpeg, png, or gif, up to 2MB)
Send
Note: Text Blast is a premium feature requiring a subscription.
Customizing Automated Emails
Edit system-generated emails to match your brand voice. You can set your wording once as a company default (free for every organizer), or change it for a single trip — per-trip overrides are a paid feature included with subscriptions that carry premium modules.
For every trip (your company default):
Go to Settings > Automatic emails
Click the email you want to edit
Modify the subject line and body content
For one trip only:
Open your trip from your dashboard, then Trip Actions > Edit Trip Settings > Automatic Email Settings (under Promote & Manage)
Click the edit icon next to the email you want to edit
Modify the subject line and body content
A trip with its own version keeps it, so editing your default later will not overwrite it. Per-trip editing is a paid feature; company defaults are free. See Customize the Automatic Emails Your Travelers Receive.
The editable emails are: Welcome & payment receipt, Payment email, Outstanding email, Payment failed email, Cancellation email, Payment Reminder (company default only -- it cannot be changed for a single trip), Complete Profile Reminder, Refund email, and Trip Chat Welcome email.
Editing Communication Settings
Under Settings > Notifications and Emails, configure:
Notification routing (organizer vs. company email)
CC additional admin addresses
Sender name and reply-to address
Important Notes
Group Chat is only visible to confirmed travelers -- prospects and abandoned carts don't have access
Promotional emails support merge tags for personalization (traveler name, trip name, etc.)
Text blast images must be jpeg, png or gif and under 2MB
Automated emails send based on booking events -- they can be customized but not disabled entirely
Troubleshooting
Problem | Solution |
Group Chat not showing for travelers | Verify it's enabled in Trip Builder > Group Chat (under Optional Enhancements). Chat is only visible to travelers with confirmed bookings. |
Promotional email not sending | Check that you selected recipients and completed all required fields. Preview and test before sending to a full list. |
Text blast not delivering | Verify recipients have valid phone numbers. Text Blast requires an active subscription. |
Automated email content not updating | After editing, make sure you saved changes. The next triggered event will use the updated template. |
Milestone messages not firing | Check that Group Chat is enabled and the trip has the correct start date set. Milestones are based on the trip date. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What's the difference between Group Chat and promotional emails? A: Group Chat is for real-time two-way conversation with confirmed travelers. Promotional emails are one-way marketing messages sent to prospects, past travelers, or uploaded contacts to encourage new bookings. Use Group Chat for trip coordination and emails for marketing.
Q: Can I send a Group Chat message to specific travelers instead of the whole group? A: No. Group Chat messages are visible to all confirmed travelers. For private communication with individual travelers, use email -- open the trip from your dashboard, find the traveler in the traveler list and open their booking for their contact details.
Q: Do travelers need to opt in to receive promotional emails? A: You're responsible for ensuring compliance with email marketing laws. Only send promotional emails to contacts who have given you permission. SquadTrip provides the tools, but compliance is the organizer's responsibility.
Q: Can I customize the automated emails that go out for payments and bookings? A: Yes. Go to Trip Builder > Automatic Email Settings and click the edit icon next to any email template except the Payment Reminder, which can only be edited as a company default under Settings > Automatic emails. You can edit the subject line and body content. The emails still send automatically based on booking events.
Q: How do milestone messages work in Group Chat? A: Milestone messages are automated messages posted to Group Chat at key moments: first booking, 60 days out, 30 days out, 7 days out, and the day after the trip. You can customize each message or use the defaults. They help keep travelers engaged throughout the lead-up to departure.
Related Articles
Contact: [email protected]