Uber is run by the former CEO of Expedia (2005 – 2017). No wonder it’s become such a terrible experience for both riders and drivers.
The ride hailing company used to have a vision of being a ‘super app’ and Uber credits a true digital currency with use beyond the platform. The primary way of generating those points, though, was their co-brand credit card which died on the vine. It wasn’t a great value proposition and wasn’t even promoted through their app. And now it’s no more. In 2019 they laid off a third of their marketing staff.
While they no longer have a driverless cars project of their own (they own a stake in the company they sold theirs to), they are looking at travel booking. And have been working on an acquisition of Expedia. Uber, which made money for the first time in 2023, has a $172 billion market cap, while Expedia’s is $20 billion. Uber’s vision seems to be facilitating going anywhere you want to go, whether arranging it through individual drivers’ cars, airlines, or places to stay (which have actual high margins).
Expedia, though, is really a marketing company.
- They advertise to get travelers
- They sell those traveler eyeballs to hotels
Uber has eyeballs, but are people going to use the Uber app to book travel? Uber Eats is even a separate app from Uber, is it going to be sufficiently frictionless to book cars and deliver food and fly? What’s the actual synergy here that would make Expedia more value once Uber buys it?
The greatest complementarities may be that both companies have destroyed their loyalty programs. Uber eliminated their frequency program in favor of a paid offering, no longer treating their highest volume customers better. Expedia gutted the value of Hotels.com in launching OneKey Rewards – whose launch landed with a thud so badly that they paused worldwide rollout.
There’s a value proposition for cheap hotels through Expedia though my biggest frustration has always been getting any form of customer service whenever a booking of any kind – especially air travel – doesn’t go smoothly. Then again, that’s not unlike Uber either.
I cannot speak for drivers, but my experience as a rider with Uber has been almost universally good. I must note, though, that customer service for an immediate problem is essentially non-existent. I have not used Lyft so I don’t know if that platform is better in that regard.
Your focus is on loyalty programs. While it would be nice if Uber had a good program, the primary reason to use it is for transportation and it can be quite useful and helpful.
As for Expedia, the loyalty program is nothing to write home about but it can be quite useful when booking non-chain hotel properties, particularly for international properties. Again, though, customer service for the occasional problem is lacking.
Gary – you’ve posted nine non-Jerry Springer posts in a row – I hope you keep sticking with the industry analysis and points/miles subjects that you’re so good at writing about.
@bo – this is “industry analysis”? Sounds like “there’s no loyalty angle here I can play, so let’s trash them”.
They got you americans by your pelotas mostly because you have no usable transit in most parts and have at least for the last 80 years chosen more roads and subidising driving over anything else. Why would uber need loyalty from you when they own you?
“No wonder it’s become such a terrible experience for both riders and drivers” ??? Gary, please help us to understand: From my point of view, Uber is a sensational experience for Riders (as with @Ron, I can’t speak for the Drivers), what is so “terrible” in your eyes ???
I use Uber infrequently and use Expedia infrequently but I have never had a nightmare experience with either one. In fact, using Expedia to book a flight in Southeast Asia saved the day because the airline for the flight wouldn’t take any of my perfectly usable credit cards. I used one of them on Expedia without any problems.
Uber customer service is a disgrace as it’s non existent
Good luck reaching someone
For that reason I never use Uber eats when both door dash and grub hub are vastly superior
you can call them with any issue
I despise Expedia as it’s long been horrible at customer service.Uber is worse
Would never use either brand except to get a ride share and even then I try to avoid them using taxis and Lyft limo companies
Your title summed up it- they are both consumer nightmares and I no longer use either company.
You just contradicted Betteridge’s law of headlines.
Uber and Expedia? Sounds like the best combination since Jager and orange juice.
They obviously see some tie-in between the businesses. I suspect it would be to push Uber rides to and from flights/hotels booked through Expedia, or maybe even to offer packaged deals on Expedia with Uber rides included in flight/hotel booking, much like there are often flight/hotel/rental car packages now. I see it more as driving more business to Uber, and less about driving business from Uber to Expedia.
Americans