Uber is known, and mostly loved, for its on-demand ridesharing service. Need a lift? Launch the Uber app on your smartphone, and within minutes a car and driver will be idling at the curb, at your service.
What Uber didn’t offer was the option of booking in advance, for a pickup at a designated day, time, and location. Pre-scheduled rides simply weren’t on Uber’s corporate mind, or on the company’s menu of services. But they’re coming.
According to the company:
Scheduled Rides are booked normally, via the Uber app, by selecting the additional details of date, time, and pickup location. Customers will receive reminders 24 hours and 30 minutes in advance, and be warned if surge pricing will be in effect for the scheduled ride.
Related:Delta Says ‘Forget the Price, Buy the Experience.’ Should You?
Rides may be cancelled at any time before the car is dispatched, and up to five minutes after the car is dispatched, with no cancellation penalty.
As we’ve come to expect from Uber, it’s all very simple and seamless.
The new service launched this week, in Seattle, with plans to launch in “other top business travel cities” at unspecified dates. For now, it’s only available to Uber for Business customers.
The initial focus on business travelers makes sense, given the most likely customers for the new service. On its website, Uber uses the example of booking a 4 a.m. ride to the airport. That’s apt: Airport transfers are certain to be one of the most common uses for Scheduled Rides.
Scheduled rides have traditionally been the exclusive province of car-hire companies. As taxi operators have discovered, competition from Uber will rock their world.
Reader Reality Check
How will you use Uber’s Scheduled Rides when the service is made available in your city?
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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.
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While its success is based principally on attractive pricing and ease of use, Uber’s business model critically depends on a ready supply of available and motivated workers. While there’s no sign that the supply of potential drivers is drying up, yet, the enthusiasm of Uber drivers seems to be eroding.
In a big win for Uber, the ride-sharing service today announced a new partnership with American, the world’s largest airline. “The companies will work together to provide customers faster service, better airport navigation, rider promotions and mileage promotions.”
Uber’s policy on tipping is simple and clear: “You don’t need cash when you ride with Uber. Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file – there’s no need to tip.”
A key selling point of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft is their transparency. Users know where their ride is, how soon it will arrive to pick them up, and how much the fare will be to their destination.
No cash, no tip, no hassle… When you arrive at your destination, just hop out—we’ll automatically charge the credit card on file. And there’s no need to tip.
Beginning earlier this month, some Uber customers in Pittsburgh have been treated to a preview of what many expect to be the future of ridesharing. Fourteen self-driving Ford Fusions began ferrying riders within a 12-square-mile section of the city’s downtown.
Perhaps because it’s a new and novel business model, drivers for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have come in for considerable scrutiny. Who are these people? Are they safe, responsible, reliable? Am I putting my life at risk when I punch up an Uber ride?
Although Uber has relationships with several airline and hotel loyalty programs, it has so far stopped short of launching its own program. That changes this week, with the announcement of a simple buy-nine-get-one-free offer in conjunction with Capital One.