Uber Expands App With Hotel Bookings Through Expedia Partnership

Uber has for years discussed turning its platform into an app for multiple daily services. The entry of autonomous vehicle operators such as Waymo into passenger service in San Francisco added urgency to those plans. The company has sought roles in the autonomous vehicle sector as a data provider, investor and distribution platform, while also pursuing direct consumer offerings.

Two weeks ago the company held its annual GO-GET product event in New York. It announced that users in the U.S. can now book hotels inside the Uber app through a partnership with Expedia Group, with access to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members, who pay $9.99 a month, receive 20 percent off a rotating list of 10,000 hotels and 10 percent back in credits.

Vacation rentals through Vrbo are scheduled to be added later this year. Restaurant reservations via OpenTable will also be integrated. In the meantime, a Shop for Me feature allows users to order from stores not present on the platform. The announcements provide the clearest picture to date of a direction the company has pursued since at least 2019.

An app with 199 million monthly active users could become the primary app for a wide range of tasks. A company executive said at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event late last month in San Francisco that the super app concept has existed for years in India and Southeast Asia.

U.S. versions have mostly struggled by adding services without a clear reason for users to remain in the app. The executive pointed to membership as a solution. Every new category, including food, groceries and now hotels, provides another reason to subscribe to Uber One.

The executive described a possible daily flow that begins with a ride to the airport, continues with a flight, another ride, a hotel stay and a restaurant visit. Flights are not yet available, though the executive did not rule them out. The company previously attempted flight booking in Europe without success.

Financial services remain a possibility. The company already offers a debit card to drivers in Mexico. The deal offers airport transfers in 125 cities across Asia, Europe and Latin America and is structured to keep users inside the Airbnb app. Elon Musk has spent three years stating an intention to turn X into an everything app modeled on WeChat.

X Money, a banking and payments platform, is expected to launch publicly soon. X reports 500 million monthly active users.

The number of such broad platforms that the American market will support remains unclear. WeChat operates successfully in China in part because alternatives were limited. In the U.S., consumers already use separate apps for many of the services Uber seeks to combine.

The company’s most recent earnings showed delivery revenue for Uber Eats grew 34 percent year over year in the first quarter to $5.07 billion. That segment is the fastest-growing part of the business and nearly matches mobility in gross bookings. Fifty million people now subscribe to Uber One, accounting for roughly half the company’s total bookings.

The company’s stock is down about 8 percent from a year ago.