Is Uber + Hopper the perfect Fintech travel app?

Uber is constantly building up its travel offering – only for UK users for now – and has partnered with online travel agency Hopper to offer flights and fintech products.

A small percentage of Uber’s UK rideshare customers over the next week are expected to start booking domestic and international flights from the Uber app, with the full UK rollout expected to be complete by the summer.

Several of Hopper’s fintech products, including those that enable customers to freeze airline tickets, cancel flights for any reason, or rebook or get refunds in the event of a flight cancellation, all for a fee, are expected to be available at launch.

In the partnership, Hopper is partnering with Uber, whose boss Dara Khosrowshahi was a longtime CEO of Expedia Group. Khosrowshahi told Skift last summer that he would not be involved in making Uber’s travel partnership decisions because of a potential conflict of interest. He remains a board member of Expedia Group, which sees its mission as driving the kind of business-to-business partnerships that Hopper just did with Uber.

Hopper co-founder and president Dakota Smith said he sees several potential use cases for Uber’s rideshare customers to book flights on the Uber app.

Referring to the fact that Uber has such a large customer base, Smith said “even if a small subset is interested in booking rides, it can be very important.” That means it could be a significant boost to Hopper’s financial results.

Hopper already generates about 40 percent of its revenue from third-party partnerships through Hopper Cloud and often cites Capital One Travel as its signature partner. Hopper also has fintech partnerships with Agoda and Marriott.

Still, Smith said in the long run, since Uber has such a large customer base, it has the potential to be a “linchpin” of the Hopper Cloud.

“We’re incredibly excited to introduce flight bookings as the latest addition to Uber’s suite of travel booking options,” said Andrew Brem, general manager of Uber UK, as part of the launch announcement on Wednesday. “Perfect for business travelers and tourists alike, our new functionality will make booking and managing flights easy and stress-free, with the booking process taking as little as one minute in the Uber app. Over the last 12 months with the addition of train, bus – and now flight bookings, Uber is truly a one-stop travel solution.”

In addition to its own ride-sharing products, Uber over the past year began offering more travel services, including car rentals and other ground transportation, rail, tours and activities, and itinerary management for Gmail users.

The big gap in Uber’s offering at the moment is accommodation.

An Uber spokesperson said the company is launching its range of travel products first in the UK as a way to test its viability in a controlled way.

A potential flaw in the implementation is that while UK Uber users will be able to book both domestic and international flights in the app from the UK, they would not be able to book flights when they are in the US or elsewhere outside the UK, the companies confirmed.

The Uber spokesperson, who said the company likely began talking to Hopper about a deal late last year or early 2023, saw its fintech products, which offer various travel protections, as one of Hopper’s competitive advantages and a factor in why Uber chose Hopper for this agreement. He also mentioned Hopper’s ability to take some of the stress out of flying.

Smith of Hopper argued that another advantage Hopper has is that the technology is fairly new compared to rivals, so it can implement partnerships faster than rivals and also adapt to them.

“To book a flight, Uber app users simply need to enter their travel details, including where they will be traveling to and from along with dates,” the Uber announcement said. “The customers will then be able to choose the departure and return flight if a return flight. With major operators, users will be able to select seats in the app and then pay, just as they would for any Uber service.”

One of the lingering questions is whether — and how many — Uber rideshare customers want to book flights, ground transportation and experiences, and perhaps eventually lodging, through the rideshare app. That’s one of the many questions Uber’s UK trial of travel bookings aims to answer.

Photo credit: Uber will start offering in-app flight booking for Uber users in the UK. Image credit: Uber