Worldpackers Inbox Guide: How it works and best practices to align expectations

What is the Worldpackers Inbox?

The Worldpackers Inbox is the chat tool of the platform where you receive the applications of your travelers and are able to talk to them to get to know them better, ask for more information and reinforce some important agreements so that the experience is positive for you both. This option is available through the envelope icon on the top bar of the page:

It’s important to reiterate that Worldpackers is a platform that connects hosts and travelers and you, as the host, are responsible for the recruiting of worldpackers for your property.

In this article, you’ll learn more about:

1. Getting to know the inbox feature
   
2. Where do I respond to volunteers?
   
3. Getting to know the volunteers
   
4. Confirming the trip
   
5. I didn’t like the application. What now?
   
6. I had something come up and need to cancel
   
7. How can I change the dates?
   

1. Getting to know the inbox feature

The traveler will apply to your position (which will be available in the inbox), and you will have up to 3 days to respond to this message, or it will expire - meaning that not only will the traveler remain unanswered, but it will also impact your position in the search on the platform. You can respond in the following ways:

1. Reply to know more information about the traveler;
   
2. Pre-approve when you are sure you want to receive the volunteer (you can different dates if the traveler has picked dates that aren’t the best for you);
   
3. Decline if the traveler doesn’t fit the profile you are looking for.
   

• If you don’t need a volunteer right now, respond anyway - whether to renegotiate dates, or decline the application;
  
• Don’t worry: you’ll be notified when you get new messages on the platform through your email registered for notifications, or through push notifications on your mobile device if you have our Worldpackers Inbox for Hosts application.
  
• In the platform inbox, you will see filters that help you to find messages more easily. If you want to clean your inbox, you can move some messages to the Archived folder. To find confirmed volunteers, access the Confirmed Travelers filter, and to find new conversations, access the New Travelers filter.
  

2. Where do I respond to volunteers?

• Reply to volunteers through the platform inbox and to save time, configure automatic messages;

• Download the app “Worldpackers Inbox for Hosts” available for iOS and Android, and enable notifications to not miss a single application;
  
• Respond by email: just click on “Respond” in the message body of the notification you received, right in your email.
  

3. Getting to know the volunteers

In the conversation, you will see the skills for the position the traveler applied for, the arrival and departure dates they selected, and the application message that they prepared to tell a little about their experiences. You also will have access to the traveler’s complete profile, with information about their description, previous reviews, past trips, languages, and what skills they possess.

A lot of times, the content in the volunteer’s application will not give you all the information you would like to know about them. So, it is essential that you ask any questions you have about the volunteer before you pre-approve them. By doing this, you can understand if that traveler is the best option for what you need and prevents you both from having bad experiences in the future.

Every job and property has very specific needs, but we set aside some examples of essential information that you need to know about your volunteers before pre-approving them:

• What is the purpose of your trip?
  
• What is your level of expertise with this task/language?
  
• What do you like to do?
  
• What type of experience do you think you’ll have while working on our project?
  
• Do you have any questions about the tasks, rules or any other information on our profile?
  

If you prefer, send a file to the traveler with all the property rules and tasks that they will do. This will make it even easier for both sides to hold up their end of the deal.

To ask these and any other questions, you can even ask the travelers to send a video application, file or even schedule a video-conference or call with the applicant. But don’t forget: anything that is agreed upon in conversations outside of the platform should be recorded in the Worldpackers inbox after the conversation is over. We ask this so that we can ensure that our Support team will be able to help you and your volunteer.

You can send or ask for files and images in the inbox itself, keeping the most information possible within the platform.

After everything is set up and you are sure the traveler is the right person for your project, you will pre-approve the traveler.

4. Confirming the trip

After receiving the pre-approval, the volunteer has up to 3 days to confirm the trip. If they do not confirm within this timeframe, you don’t have to wait and can cancel the pre-approval if you want to.

In order for you and the traveler to leave reviews at the end of the experience, and so that they can count on the support from the Worldpackers team throughout the experience, the trip must be officially confirmed on the platform.

After confirming the trip, don’t forget to share some important information with the traveler:

• Share other means of contact (whatsapp, Facebook, Skype and telephone number) so that the traveler can get in touch with you in case of emergencies;
  
• Send the complete address of your property so that the traveler can plan how to get there. Also send any tips on how to get there - available transport options, prices and other information about the surroundings:
  
• Reinforce things that are important to the experience - like the tasks that will be done, amount of hours, what days of the week the volunteer will have free, among other things;
  
• Two weeks before the trip starts, ask for the traveler to send you their arrival information and tickets;
  
• One week before the volunteer arrives, talk with them to confirm the trip, agreeing on their arrival time. That way the chances of you being left empty handed are lower.
  

5. I didn’t like the application. Now what?

You do not need to accept all of your applications, but should still respond to all of them so that your profile isn’t compromised by expired messages. So when you would prefer not to accept a traveler, don’t forget to decline the application and leave a reason why you cannot accept them.

6. Something came up and I need to cancel

Remember that the traveler is counting on you, try to only cancel a trip in extreme cases - like if the property has been affected by a structural problem, getting there is prevented by natural causes, changes in visa regulations, or cases of illness.

We understand that things happen sometimes. So it’s essential that you be transparent with the volunteer, letting them know as far in advance as possible and canceling the trip through the platform.

7. How can I change the dates?

You can suggest new dates during the pre-approval. Remember that the traveler needs to accept this suggestion.

If you have any questions regarding the Inbox feature or about aligning with travelers, please check our Help Center.