Sabre and United Airlines team up with Uber

Sabre and United Airlines have announced deals with taxi and car-share service Uber.

Sabre and United Airlines have announced deals with taxi and car-share service Uber.

Travel technology company Sabre will offer discounts on Uber car rides requested through its TripCase travel management app.

United Airlines has announced it will offer Uber services via its mobile app.

Sabre said integration of the Uber API with TripCase would allow users to “request an Uber ride and receive special discount pricing”.

The GDS operator suggested almost half of business travellers with the TripCase app on their mobile devices “are likely to use Uber during their next trip”.

Sabre Traveller Solutions senior vice-president John Samuel said: “Uber has revolutionised the way people get a ride.

“This integration means TripCase users will not have to worry about finding a ride, having cash or scrambling for an address.”

Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden added: “TripCase customers can use Uber to get from one step of their journey to the next without having to manually switch apps or enter a destination address.”

United Airlines announced yesterday that passengers with iOS and Android devices can now access Uber information via the United app, including “types of available vehicles, estimated wait times and prices”.

The carrier said: “The United app will automatically transfer customers to the Uber app or Uber site.”

Uber announced this week it had hired David Plouffe, former campaign manager for US President Obama, to head its lobbying efforts in Washington.

Plouffe was quoted as saying: “The taxi industry cartel has tried to stand in the way of technology and big change.”