Uber is looking to book more than just your ride
The world's most valuable private startup is aiming to get into the travel agency business.
First reported by Business Insider, Uber late last week obtained a patent for a system that would provide users with trip itineraries. Dubbed "Uber Travel," the idea involves travelers typing in their start location, data and time, along with a destination and return date and time.
The system described in the patent application is akin to a Kayak or an Expedia (EXPE), where users search for flights and can add hotel reservations or rental cars, but it brings Uber cars into the offerings.
Unlike the usual means of finding a flight, then picking a hotel and some means of transport, Uber's idea would involve the company recommending a flight, hotel and getting there in an Uber car as one package.
The patent lists Howard Jaffe, the head of Uber's global procurement and supply chain as the inventor. It said Uber would consider the on-time performance of planes and individual preferences for aisle and window seats. Uber would connect with mainstream hotels and "shared-economy systems" that have people renting out their homes, like Airbnb.
Once Uber knows a scheduled flight, its patented system would figure when the plane actually lands so it can determine when you should order an Uber.
An Uber spokesperson declined comment in an email.
In September, Hilton Worldwide (HLT) and Uber said they would partner in a service in which people staying at one of the chain's hotels could set up automatic notifications to request Uber rides.
The company's new patent comes even as Uber attempts to get airports to allow it to operate on their property, which it's banned from doing by some facilities. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, for instance, lifted a ban on Uber earlier this month after local officials and the technology company reached an agreement.
Uber, which has raised an estimated $12 billion from venture capitalists, has a value estimated to be $62.5 billion, based on its latest funding round.