Online guest check-in before arrival.

What is online check-in?

Online guest check-in (also called self check-in) means the guest fills in their registration details themselves before arrival, through a secure link–rather than dictating them at reception or emailing a photo of their passport. The details are linked to the reservation immediately: E. turistas is submitted from them, an invoice is issued, and at the agreed time the guest receives arrival instructions and the door code.

At a holiday home or an apartment with no reception, this is the only way to make arrival independent of your phone–especially if you manage a property in Lithuania from abroad. At a small hotel, it is a way to free reception from retyping and let the guest arrive when it suits them.

Why not a photo of the ID document by email.

The most common practice in Lithuania is still: ‘send us a photo of your passport so we can register you’. It looks simple, but it has three problems. First, security: the document copy stays in the mailbox indefinitely and is visible to anyone with access to it. Second, GDPR: you must collect only the necessary data, and a document photo contains far more than E. turistas asks for. Third, work: everything from the photo still has to be retyped.

A registration form collects only the required fields, stores them in the system with access control, and passes them on where needed without intermediate copies. Fewer copies mean less risk–and fewer questions if anyone ever asks where you keep guest data.

Sources: NTIS personal-data rules (Lithuanian) , VDAI, the Lithuanian data protection authority: data minimisation (Lithuanian)

How it works in Ovilo.

Once a reservation is confirmed–whether it came from Booking.com, Airbnb, or directly–the system sends the guest a link at the time you have set. The guest completes the form on their phone in their own language: for each adult traveller, first and last name, date of birth, and the country that issued the identity document, plus arrival time and contact details. Missing fields are flagged immediately.

Once completed, the details appear beside the reservation and, with the integration enabled, are submitted to E. turistas. When the conditions are met (for example, payment received), the guest receives arrival instructions and the door code at the agreed time. You see the day's summary: who has registered, who is missing data, who has already received the code.

• The link is sent automatically at the time you choose before arrival.
• A form in the guest's language, on their phone, field by field for each adult.
• E. turistas submitted from the same data–no retyping.
• Door code and instructions–only once the conditions are met and at the agreed time.
• A reminder if the guest has not completed it; status beside the reservation.

Check-in and E. turistas–one flow.

E. turistas requires the same details the guest has to give you anyway. So the sensible approach is to collect them once–from the guest themselves–and submit them to NTIS from there. Ovilo does this automatically: when the form is completed, the submission goes through the NTIS API, and the reservation shows the status: submitted, missing data, or an error that needs correcting.

That way the 24-hour deadline stops being an evening chore. Who must report, which fields are required, and what the fines are–all of that is covered in the separate E. turistas guide.

Arrival without a key handover.

Online check-in only makes sense if arrival itself also works without you. At the agreed time Ovilo sends the guest arrival instructions–how to find the place, where to park, what the Wi-Fi is–and the door code, if you use keypad locks or a key box. The usual questions are answered automatically, and you get a notification only when a decision is yours to make.

The result: a guest arrives at 23:40 after a long journey, opens the door, and does not feel they are disturbing anyone. You find out about it in the morning summary.

• Instructions and code–by email, SMS, or WhatsApp.
• The code is sent only once the conditions are met and never earlier than you have set.
• Automatic answers to the most common questions.

What to check when choosing a system.

Ask to see the registration form on a phone–through your eyes and the guest's. Find out where the data is stored, who can see it, and how it is deleted after the stay. And ask what happens if the guest has not completed the form: does the system remind them, or stay silent?

A clear check-in process saves you time and is easy for the guest to complete. A poor one moves the retyping to another screen and adds a link the guest never opens.