Uber Might Want to Be Your Next Travel Agent

Called “Uber Travel” in the images, it looks like a normal flight search like you would see on Expedia, but it adds Uber cars to the mix. A traveler could input their start location, date, and time alongside a destination, and Uber would recommend an itinerary for them. The “magic,” as Uber calls it in the diagram, is being able to also incorporate plans for transportation. It’s a deviation from how conventional travel is typically booked segment by segment now. You start with booking your flight, then choose a hotel, then eventually a rental car or some other transit. Uber’s idea, according to the patent, is to take the trip information and show a recommended flight, hotel, and the cost of an Uber to get you from point A to point B all-in-one. In the whole process, Uber is acting as the facilitator, much like Kayak.com, rather than the provider. These deals will probably be orchestrated by a team overseen by the patent’s author, Howard Jaffe, the head of Uber’s global procurement and supply chain.