Uber Will Now Let Users Book Rides 30 Days In Advance and Pick a Favorite Driver (techcrunch.com) 24
Uber is rolling out a new feature this week that will let users reserve rides up to 30 days in advance and pick their favorite driver for the trip as the ride-hailing company seeks new ways to attract customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. TechCrunch reports: The new option, called Uber Reserve, which will begin to show up on the app in the next week, is designed for users who want to book a ride at least two hours in advance. Uber said it will keep its current "schedule a ride" option for those trips that fall under that two hours in advance timeline. Riders who use the Reserve feature will be shown their fare upfront and be matched to a driver ahead of the trip. The company has also folded in a "favorite driver" option. Riders can now add favorite drivers to their app. Once they select the Reserve features, riders will have the option to select one of their "favorite drivers." These favorite drivers will be offered to them first. Uber stressed that drivers aren't penalized for opting not to take the ride.
The ride-hailing company baked in two other perks, an additional 15-minute grace period if the rider is running late and an on-time guarantee that will give users $50 in Uber Cash if their driver is even a minute late to the ride they have scheduled. That Uber Cash will come directly from Uber, not the driver's earnings, the company told TechCrunch. Uber said it's added protection for the drivers as well. If a Reserve ride is canceled within an hour of the trip, the driver will receive the full fare.
The ride-hailing company baked in two other perks, an additional 15-minute grace period if the rider is running late and an on-time guarantee that will give users $50 in Uber Cash if their driver is even a minute late to the ride they have scheduled. That Uber Cash will come directly from Uber, not the driver's earnings, the company told TechCrunch. Uber said it's added protection for the drivers as well. If a Reserve ride is canceled within an hour of the trip, the driver will receive the full fare.
This won't get abused lol (Score:3, Insightful)
RIP female drivers
Re: This won't get abused lol (Score:2)
Time to coin a new word: Uberstalker.
Re: (Score:1)
what about wait time? surge priceing? (Score:2)
what about wait time in trip? surge pricing?
What when then estimated route is not right for the per planed trip?
Tolls that where not part of the estimated route / uber has the rate wrong
Re: (Score:2)
Banks won't loan to them and the current shareholders won't want to see their shareholding diluted, which means at some point they will run out of money.
Full-year 2019 revenue grew 26% to $14.1 billion and net loss was -$8.5 billion compared to a net profit of $997 million for 2018. Stock-based compensation was $4.6 billion in 2019 for a net loss of $4.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of negative -$2.73 billion.
The quote comes from Forbes, so I'm assuming it is at least close to being correct.
Net loss of $4.1 billion in one year. Wow.
Re: what about wait time? surge priceing? (Score:1)
yeah but... (Score:1)
they still won't let me use the uber-eats coupon they just sent me on "this device."
Will the fare upfront become airport flat rates th (Score:2)
Will the fare upfront become airport flat rates that some taxis have?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Already have that just not 30 days out. Picking a driver is a nice bit, so you can avoid those that perfume their car to the point it makes people want to puke.
Someone should reserve one for you-know-who. (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not on my account, I don't want to get banned if he starts grabbing his driver by the crotch.
Re: (Score:2)
With secret service: http://www.grunge.com/190417/r... [grunge.com]
What does Uber? (Score:2)
I see (Score:2)
Now that they got the confirmation that drivers are slaves, they can tell 4 weeks in advance that a certain driver will be forced to drive at 3 am that day, no matter his or her other jobs or obligations.
Car service .vs. Ride share == 2X (Score:2)
Cutoff time required to vacate a unit committed to pickup at a time certain, the in-service time and the drop normally double driver time attached to a ride.
1) Position time dead-head to pickup location is non-trivial time and distance
2) In-service pickup time can drift as people lag or abuse the service luxury
3) In-service route change happens as necessary to go back to get forgotten tickets
4) In-service distance growth happens as “stops” are added for coffee or passenger add
5) Drop destination
Even less like ride sharing (Score:3)
Uber was already at zero resemblance to the ride sharing that they claimed to be, yet somehow they managed to resemble ride sharing even less.
Wish I could... (Score:2)