It’s official, the giant Uber is definitely taking off! Indeed, the latter announced this Wednesday, the integration of the reservation of airline tickets. The feature is available as a preview in England, on the super travel application, Uber Travel. A new service made possible thanks to a strategic partnership with a Montreal FinTech unicorn, valued at 5 billion dollars…
A seamless airline ticket booking
After hotels, trains, and coaches, Uber is now tackling a new vertical. The air travel industry. Indeed, English users will soon be able to book domestic and international flights directly from the application. Just like any other travel app, the user will simply have to fill in the dates, departure, and arrival location, before being able to select a seat and proceed with the booking.
We’re incredibly pleased to introduce flight bookings as the latest addition to Uber’s suite of travel booking options. Perfect for business travellers and tourists alike, our new functionality will make the booking and managing of air travel simple and stress-free, with the booking process taking as little as one minute in the Uber app.
ANDREW BREM, MANAGING DIRECTOR, UBER UK
A plurality of new services illustrating the group’s ambition to become the reference travel Super App in Europe. And this through a seamless door-to-door experience, perfectly combined with its recent Uber Reserve service. A new feature, launched just a few months ago, which we had dedicated an article to you.
A service powered by Hopper
Just like for the integration of the rail and bus offer, Uber has decided for the second time to ally itself with a technological leader. And in the air sector, it has decided to trust Hopper. An application initially launched in B2C, with no less than 1000 million downloads to date. An attraction that was later extended to the B2B sector with the launch of its Hopper Cloud suite. A marketplace allowing any player to offer airplane, hotel and car rental reservations.
A multi-functional approach that seduced the American giant. By integrating Hopper’s technology suite, Uber has the luxury of offering its customers various competitive advantages. According to the press release, we find among others “price Freeze, Flight Disruption Guarantee, Cancel For Any Reason, Change for Any Reason and VIP support.”
The addition of flights to the Uber app is a big win for UK consumers who are looking for an easier way to book travel. This new partnership will offer Uber users choice, transparency and flexibility when booking flights, all in the same place they are already booking their other transportation.
FRÉDÉRIC LALONDE, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF HOPPER
A multifunctional approach, inspired by MaaF
A multifunctional approach, inspired by MaaF. This 100% B2B offering that represents more than 40% of the group’s business, according to Hopper’s CEO, Dakota Smith. A business model that perfectly illustrates the new trend emerging in recent months, Mobility as a Feature (MaaF). A derivative of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), the approach is to perceive mobility as an added value, among a wide range of features. And this is through an existing application, not necessarily having mobility as its core business. A growth lever already adopted by many players such as Hopper and Uber. It’s a safe bet that Uber will extend this model throughout Europe, although no communication has been made to date…
