Splitting Uber fares with people is about to get a whole lot easier. On Wednesday, at its annual Go-Get conference, the ride-share app teased four new features, three of which will help streamline group rides and travel planning.
Luxury is also at the forefront of its new travel offerings. Starting this summer, travelers will be able to hail a boat for up to eight people via Uber Boat. Remember when we thought Uber Copter was the most regal thing ever and, before that, limousines?!
While Uber Boat will only be available in Greece, travelers visiting the Mediterranean will now have the opportunity to visit multiple islands in one trip. If chartering a boat around the Greek islands isn’t on your summer bucket list, but sharing groceries with your friends is, you’ll be excited to hear that Uber is also unveiling a new feature called Group Grocery Orders.
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A new function within the Uber Eats app, Group Grocery Orders will allow you to place a collaborative grocery order with friends or family. Rather than passing someone’s phone around for a group order, Uber will text users a link to add groceries to a shared cart. You don’t have to whip out your calculator or Venmo your friends because Uber will also split the bill for you.
But, perhaps, the most exciting new travel feature of all is that Uber users will soon be able to split group fares within the app. Similar to Group Grocery Orders, the person hailing the ride can create a group trip and invite others to add their drop-off and pick-up locations. To make things even more easier, Uber will factor the cost of each person’s leg of the trip based on ride time. The app will charge individuals using their respective cards on file, without the need of a third party app.
The ride-sharing service seems to be catching up with bill-splitting technology. For years now, mobile apps—like Splitwise, Settle Up, and Tab—have allowed users to divide all sorts of expenses: restaurant bills for group dinners with friends, grocery receipts and utility bills with roommates, and much more.
But even those apps may become obsolete as more businesses allow guests to directly split the bill using newer features. At some restaurants with QR code technology, like Order for Me, diners can pull up the menu and bill on their phones and then split the check and tip at the end of the meal, paying for their share only on their own phones. It sure beats the awkward and confusing conversation after the dishes are cleared and several drinks deep of who owes what and how to split the bill. It only made sense that a ride-sharing app would eventually introduce bill-sharing technology.
Travel aside, Uber will also be rolling out teen accounts on both Uber and Uber Eats on Monday, May 22. This will let 13 to 17 year olds order rides and meals under their parents’ Uber and Uber Eats accounts. The new features will be rolling out in select cities.
