Air traffic is picking back up after dropping dramatically amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and more people need to get from an airport to where they’re going. To make things a little easier for airline passengers, Uber is rolling out a bunch of tools centered around airport rides.
The Uber Reserve feature that the company debuted last November is now available for Uber Black and Uber Black SUV at more than 20 airports across the US, including ones in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington DC. You can book rides up to 30 days in advance. Uber will be able to track your flight information and automatically adjust your reservation time if you’re going to land at a different time than expected. The driver will wait for up to 60 minutes at no extra cost to you and there’s a curbside pickup option.
Speaking of curbside pickup, Uber says it’s using machine learning to forecast demand so it can dispatch drivers and match them with passengers at the curb. The feature is live at 13 US airports, as well as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, London Heathrow, Montreal, Toronto Pearson, and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
A new feature called Ready When You Are will let you choose from a few pickup timing options when you reserve a ride after landing. You can make a request for 10 or 20 minutes out, or as soon as possible. This option is being piloted on Android starting today at six airports: Nashville, New Orleans, Portland (the one in Oregon), Philadelphia, Seattle, and Toronto Pearson. The feature will hit iOS in November.
Finally, Uber Eats will let you order food in advance from some airport restaurants, so you can pick up a meal without having to wait in line. Uber is testing the option at Toronto Pearson, and it plans to bring the feature to US airports in the coming months.
