Uber Updates That I Really Like
Uber has been an interesting travel brand since it’s launch. Taking on entrenched markets like taxi cab drivers, they’ve disrupted a massive industry. At the same time, they’ve had plenty of problems (and plenty of reasons for people to criticize them). That being said, they have been working hard to improve upon their reputation.
While Uber has a handful of products I tend to gravitate to Uber Black. When I do need a ride, I want someone who has local knowledge to get around traffic. Essentially, I’m looking for someone who does this for a living, not someone looking to make a few extra dollars. Uber has rolled out two new features which I really like:
Scheduled Pickups
I wouldn’t call myself an anxious traveler. But, I am a determined traveler. I’m a man on a mission until I’m sitting on an airplane with the door closed and decisions are out of my hands. One of my fears is that I’ll wake up for an early flight and there won’t be any cars available to take me to the airport. I’ve had this happen more than once. It’s not a good feeling.
Now, Uber will allow you to schedule a pickup as far ahead of time as 30 days and as close to your departure time as 30 minutes. If you’ve updated to the latest version of the Uber app, it’s really easy to schedule a ride. From the main screen you’ll see a small icon of a car with a clock behind it. Click on that and a screen will appear to help you schedule your ride.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be organized enough to order an Uber 30 days ahead of time. But, I frequently “stalk” the app in busy cities to make sure I can get a car on time. Knowing I can just ask Uber to have a car ready for me at my departure time will give me peace of mind.
Shine On
Another nifty feature, Uber can now display a colored light on your phone screen that you can hold up for your driver to help them find you. I actually discover this myself in the app recently. Once you’ve ordered a ride a small button will appear on the right-hand side of the driver information that looks like a light. Click on it and you’ll have your own light-up phone!
The Final Two Pennies
It would be a stretch to call these changes ground-breaking. But, they do make Uber more useful. And, they’re easy to miss in the app. Hope you find these as useful as I do!
The post Uber Updates That I Really Like was published first on Pizza in Motion
Recently realized, a subtle but significant change. Uber now gives you the color of the car when you are confirmed, in the past, I only remember seeing the driver, driver photo, make and model of the vehicle. Now I see the car color, and I don’t know when this changed, I had not used Uber for about two months and just noticed it while using in Berlin. When I landed in Newark, the color was also local.
Regarding the pre-scheduling, you can pre-schedule, but unless there has been a change, Uber does not guarantee a car and only sends out the notification shortly before you are scheduled. I don’t know if this changed and I have never had a problem. Just gives you cause for concern if you do not have a backup plan.
Another change I noticed a while ago plus a difference between locations, domestically the tip suggestion comes up as a percentage while in other areas it seems to come up as a dollar amount. The percentage amount, in my opinion, can be high especially when the drive gets paid and the ride is expensive. By no means am I cheap and I believe in tipping in fact as Steve Martin said in my blue heaven I believe in overtipping but in this instance, it seemed too much as a suggestion. I wonder what others choose.
One last item, recently I started buying Uber Gift cards at office max with my Chase Ink card, that’s 5 points per dollar.
Hooray for Uber showing the color of the automobile! That was my biggest complaint. Even though most Uber cars seem to be black, it will still help distinguish Ubers from other cars.
Thanks for this news. I approve of both innovations. I’m surprised that I didn’t learn about this from Uber. When I’m in Paris I use LeCab which I prefer. One of the things I like is the ability to pre-schedule – even when arriving at the airport. LeCab: always the same type of luxury sedan and polite drivers who often speak English,
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/uber-evaluating-policies-in-response-to-story-on-st-louis/article_7c8e4558-ff49-54c0-8e8c-a6e79b954325.html#tracking-source=home-top-story
My state, Missouri, is a one party consent, when it comes to recording. It’s like a TV reality show, except Jason isn’t paying cash for answering questions correctly. Now some drivers are disrespected by their passengers behavior. The term “get a room” seems to be not learned by some fools.
I scheduled rides to DCA a couple days in advance (early, early morning fly) , and I foolishly answered the phone and answered honestly when the driver asked me where I was going, which was a relatively short ride. I had that scheduled driver and next driver cancel on me. Next driver did not ask me where I was going. This happened before I learned that they shouldn’t be asking my destination prior to picking me up.