Uber 'scheduled rides' now let you book cars in advance
By David Flynn, September 15 2016
Uber passengers in selected areas of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane can now pre-book their ride rather than gamble on a car being nearby and available when they need it.
It’s a feature which will definitely be handy for those 5am trips to the airport!
The ‘scheduled rides’ facility – which costs no more than a regular on-demand booking – is currently limited to the low-cost UberX ride-sharing fleet, and to Uber customers in the following areas:
- Sydney: eastern suburbs and inner west
- Melbourne: CBD and inner suburbs
- Brisbane: Merthyr, New Farm, Newstead and Teneriffe
- Perth: CBD, inner suburbs and Fremantle
Passengers can book anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 days in advance through an updated Uber app.
To schedule your ride, select the UberX option and tap ‘Schedule a ride’; set a pick-up date, time, location and destination; and confirm all the details.
Passengers will receive a combined confirmation/reminder at both 24 hours and 30 minutes ahead of their specified pick-up, with another notification five minutes before the driver is dispatched.
The booking can be cancelled without penalty within five minutes of the car being dispatched, otherwise a $5 cancellation fee will be charged to the credit card listed on your Uber account.
Get $10 in free credit towards your first Uber ride – join Uber using our special UberAU10 promotional code.
Also read: How to discover your Uber passenger rating
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
"The booking can be cancelled without penalty within five minutes of the car being dispatched, otherwise a $5 cancellation fee will be charged to the credit card listed on your Uber account."
Is the uber X dispatched when the booking is made i.e. an uber driver at 3pm, when you put the request through, agrees to pick you up at 5am the next day? Or is it dispatched at t minus 5am, in which case this is just a delayed booking service and your chance of securing an uber X is exactly the same had you requested at 5am using the normal method?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 May 2015
Total posts 43
I am in the Brisbane area mentioned above at the moment but cant get this feature? Where is the "Schedule" option?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
16 Sep 2016
Total posts 3
I had to update the App and now it works.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 Aug 2016
Total posts 4
It's not like Taxi's haven't had this for at least 20years....
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
13 Nov 2015
Total posts 10
And haven't they proven to be reliable in those two decades? The gap in the market clearly exists, or uber wouldn't be around.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
23 Aug 2016
Total posts 4
Everytime I've ever pre-booked a cab they have arrived on-time, usually about 10minutes early, they've come to the door and grabbed my bags at some un-godly hour of the morning.
Maybe I've been extrodinarily lucky.
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