Improving the Airport Travel Experience
Written byAirport travel looks different than it did two years ago. Although we’re not totally back to normal, passenger traffic at airports has more than doubled compared to last year, according to the TSA. The number of US airport trips on Uber grew 15% in the last two weeks of September, reaching a new high for 2021 as many riders—including business travelers—returned to Uber.
Even as more people hit the road again, it’s also true that air travel can feel more stressful and uncertain than before. At Uber, we’re focused on getting you where you need to be as efficiently and safely as possible—and constantly innovating to make your life a bit easier.
Today, we’re announcing new updates geared toward making your airport travel experience smoother and simpler than ever before.
Uber Reserve at Airports
We launched Uber Reserve last year to let you book your trip in advance. Today, we’re bringing that experience to airport travel, providing extra peace of mind so you can step off the plane and know your ride is waiting for you. Uber Reserve at Airports includes:
- Early booking: Reserve your ride up to 30 days in advance, so you know your ride is taken care of before you arrive.
- Flight tracking: We’ll automatically adjust your reservation based on the flight information you provide, so your driver is ready and waiting at the airport when your flight lands—whether it’s on time, early or delayed.
- Complimentary wait time: If you aren’t quite ready to get in your ride after you land, the driver will wait up to 60 minutes at no additional charge.
- Curbside pickup: Your driver will conveniently wait for you curbside so you can step off the plane and into your ride.
Uber Reserve at airports is now available for Uber Black and Uber Black SUV at more than 20 airports across the country, including Atlanta (ATL), Charleston (CHS), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD and MDW), Dallas (DFW and DAL), Denver (DEN), Fort Myers (RSW), Houston (IAH and HOU), Miami (MIA, FLL and PBI), Nashville (BNA), New Orleans (MSY), New York (JFK and LGA), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), Phoenix (PHX), Seattle (SEA), Washington DC (DCA and IAD).
Ready When You Are
To help improve the airport pickup experience, we’re launching a new feature that allows you to request your ride once you land—but only be picked up when you’re ready. With options for pickup in 20 minutes, 10 minutes or as soon as possible, Ready When You Are allows riders to select a pickup time that works best for them, while still adding a level of certainty that a car is on the way. Ready When You Are is currently piloting at six airports including Nashville (BNA), New Orleans (MSY), Portland (PDX), Philadelphia (PHL), Seattle (SEA) and Toronto (YYZ) and is available on Android today, with iOS coming in November.
Curbside Pickup
As people are more cautious than ever about spending time in crowds, we’ve added a new feature that helps match curbside riders with drivers more quickly. Using machine learning technology that predicts demand ahead of time, we dispatch drivers who can then be matched with riders at the curb for a quick and seamless experience. This feature is available at more than 15 airports across the world including Chicago (MDW), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), New Orleans (MSY), New York (JFK and LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Portland (PDX), Salt Lake City (SLC), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), and Seattle (SEA) in the US as well as Kolkata (CCU), London, (LHR), Montreal (YUL), Riyadh (RUH) and Toronto (YYZ).
Mobile Ordering for Pickup
Uber Eats customers can order and pay in-app from select airport restaurants and skip the line to pick up their meal. This feature is currently piloting at the Toronto Pearson Airport, and will continue to roll out to US airports in the coming months.