Change grip
The ride-sharing company said it wanted to “rethink” the entire airport experience and is targeting business travelers with a new 90-day booking feature and a business class ride category.
Matthew Parson
Uber is extending the reservation period to pre-book rides from 30 days to 90 days to boost its airport business.
The ride-sharing and food delivery company has extended the booking window to reflect longer lead times for airline reservations. Business travelers in particular are encouraged to book as early as possible to keep costs down. Now Uber can more easily target them when they choose their flight.
With upfront pricing, Uber is also likely to generate a significant amount of incremental cash flow.
The extension is one of many new products and features designed to appeal to businesses, including a new ride category, Business Comfort, which will be available to Uber for Business users later this year. There are no specifics, but Uber said it was a “one-of-a-kind business class experience.”
Airport guides
In addition to the longer booking window, Uber said it overall wants to make traveling “less stressful and easier” at airports.
A new feature in the app will guide people from the gate to the pick-up location using instructions and images, although it only covers 30 airports so far. It also displays the time it will take to travel that route, with walking times for baggage claim areas also to appear later. Jen You, product manager for rides, said Uber is innovating on ways to “reimagine” the airport experience.
The company continues to target the corporate sector, with a push towards electric vehicles which are increasingly appealing to companies seeking to reduce their carbon emissions.
It is also expanding its Uber One membership program. “We continue to be quite aggressive in innovating in terms of the benefits we offer, and the results are quite dramatic,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. said last month.