Uber is moving even closer to capturing the end-to-end travel journey by adding trains and car rentals and soon flights and hotels to the Uber app in the United Kingdom. Starting this summer, Uber users in the U.K. will be able to book intercity rail and coach tickets via the app. The ride-share company is also rolling out access to rental cars.
Later this year, Uber will introduce flights to the app, followed by hotels, effectively covering each step of door-to-door travel. The move is part of a pilot program, and Uber will not sell tickets directly; it is partnering with platforms and integrating their APIs (partners have yet to be named).
The partnerships, which won’t generate significant revenue, require little capital investment and will ultimately contribute to top- and bottom-line revenue, particularly for high-margin use cases such as airport trips, which pre-pandemic accounted for 15 per cent of Uber’s global gross bookings.
The additions follow Uber launching a new product last month, called Uber Explore, that allows users to book experiences such as dinner reservations and live events. Partners for the endeavor include Yelp as well as New Zealand-based demand intelligence platform PredcitHQ.
“Everyone values the freedom to make travel arrangements in a simple and convenient way, which is why we’re excited to become a one-stop shop for all your travel needs. You have been able to book rides, bikes, boat services and scooters on the Uber app for a number of years, so adding trains and coaches is a natural progression,” says Jamie Heywood, regional general manager, U.K., Northern and Eastern Europe, Uber.
“Later this year we plan to incorporate flights, and in the future hotels, by integrating leading partners into the Uber app to create a seamless door-to-door travel experience.”
Uber is also set to have over 10,000 EVs in London by the end of the year, and is on track to become an all-electric platform in London by 2025. London is the global leader for Uber’s electrification efforts with more EVs on Uber in London than any other city on the app. Professional ride-hailing drivers are the early mass adopters of EVs with more than 90 per cent of new vehicles joining the Uber app being fully electric, compared to 12 per cent of new vehicles in the mass market in 2021.
This month, Uber announced a £5 million investment in EV charging points across London. Over 700 on-street electric vehicle chargers to be installed across Brent, Newham, and Redbridge – boosting London’s stock of EV chargers by over 7 per cent.
