Uber Technologies is adding hotel bookings in its flagship app, marking the ride-hail company’s biggest push yet into the travel market as it seeks to create an everything platform.
The San Francisco-based company has partnered with Expedia Group to make its hotel selection available in the Uber app, starting in the US, Uber said in a statement on April 29 as part of its annual product event. Vacation rentals from Expedia’s Vrbo brand will be added later in 2026.
For every hotel booking, members of the paid Uber One programme can earn 10 per cent back in credits that can be applied towards future rides or delivery orders. Customers can also save as much as 20 per cent on a subset of about 10,000 hotels, Uber added. Uber ride bookings will be added to the Expedia app in June, the travel company said.
Hotel bookings are a strategic addition for Uber’s business, as the company already helps many travelers get to their hotels and deliver them food or travel amenities, chief product officer Sachin Kansal said in an interview ahead of the announcement.
About 15 per cent of its ride-hailing gross bookings happen to or from an airport, he added. More than 1.5 billion trips took place outside a rider’s home city in 2025, according to the company.
The Expedia integration represents a significant move for Uber’s long-telegraphed super app ambitions, which would expand the platform beyond ride-hailing and delivery.
To boost those efforts, Uber has taken a variety of tacks in recent years, including striking partnerships, investing in other companies and making acquisitions. All of this has allowed the rideshare giant to add extras in select markets like bookings for bikes, scooters, trains, buses and flights.
Uber isn’t the only company with ambitions of developing a do-it-all app.
OpenAI and Anthropic PBC are also adding third-party features to their popular chatbots in the hopes of becoming a one-stop shop for consumers’ work and leisure needs.
Uber has made its service available on those artificial intelligence platforms, but it has limited the functionality such that users still have to open the Uber app if they want to view prices and complete a booking.
The upcoming ride-booking integration with Expedia will work similarly, Uber said.
At the same time, Uber is investing in improving its own app, as a majority of Uber users still start their booking experience there, Mr Kansal said.
On April 29, the company showed off an updated search bar in the app that can interpret natural language and more flexibly show rides and takeout options, rather than defaulting to ride destinations.
It also introduced an upcoming OpenAI-powered voice booking tool in the Uber app, which uses a combination of the startup’s real-time API technology and GPT-4o models.
The hotel benefits could be a boon for the company’s Uber One subscription programme, which has more than 46 million members globally and is one of the company’s main avenues for cross-selling its services.
It is also letting members earn Uber One credits on international rides and use credits earned abroad back at home, according to the statement.
For Expedia, where Uber chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi was at the helm for 12 years prior to joining Uber, the partnership will further accelerate growth in its fast-expanding enterprise segment.
Expedia’s business-to-business operation, which contributed about 33 per cent of revenue in 2025, includes licensing its API technology to distribute its lodging supply on corporate travel platforms like Navan, as well as this tie-up with Uber.
During the product event, Uber also announced:
A “travel mode” interface in the Uber app to surface local restaurants so that travellers can more easily order food to their hotels. Utensils are requested by default, underscoring that this is a room-service alternative.
A “Shop for Me” feature where users can have couriers shop for requested items from any store, even those not on Uber Eats.
Customers who book an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV in select markets can soon request to have their driver purchase coffee or other cafe items ahead of their pickup.
Turn-by-turn navigation at airports to Uber pickup areas. BLOOMBERG
