Schedule rides in advance

Hipmunk Takes Flight With the Uber API

November 25, 2014 / Global

Looking for a flight to your next destination? Hipmunk’s app, website and mobile site offer customers the fastest and easiest way to plan travel. The unique visual layout helps customers easily compare top travel sites, so that they can save time and money when it matters the most. But today, as we are all too aware, booking the flight is only half the battle. Booking a place to stay and arranging transportation is the other half. That’s why the team at Hipmunk has decided to use the power of Uber’s API to bridge the gap.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to build a better product and improve user experience. By integrating the Uber API, we can now help users easily arrange transportation to their hotel on the day of their reservation. This allows Hipmunk to solve yet another problem in the travel planning process.”

—Ivan Santana, Director of Mobile at Hipmunk

Bridging the gap between booking and departure

After booking a hotel or vacation rental on Hipmunk, with only a few taps on your iOS mobile device, you can order an Uber to take you to your hotel or rental in a matter of minutes. The days of booking your ride in advance, wondering if your ride is going to arrive, or even having to deal with pulling out cash to pay your driver, are over. Together, Hipmunk and Uber have made traveling even easier. So how does it work?

Hipmunk used Uber’s API to allow customers with an iOS device who have booked a hotel on Hipmunk to have the option to take an Uber right from the app. That’s one less concern that travelers have to think about while planning their trips. The button to request an Uber will magically appear when users book a same-day hotel or pull up their hotel reservation the same day as their check-in. With Uber’s available endpoints, Hipmunk was also able to auto-fill the address to the hotel or vacation rental so that travelers can easily see the estimated price and the time it would take for their Uber to arrive. With this added feature travelers can now pull up their hotel confirmation info, book a same-day trip and not have to worry about how they will get there.

To celebrate the launch of the uber integration with hipmunk, we’re working to make thanksgiving travel this year a little less stressful

Are you heading to the airport in Philadelphia or Houston the day before Thanksgiving? Hipmunk is giving out free Uber rides to Thanksgiving travelers to help take the agony out of holiday travel.

Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Time: 9 a.m. — 3 p.m. local time
Where: Rides must end at the airport (IAH and PHL respectively)
What: Riders will receive up to $50 off their rides ending at the above locations during the promotional window. Hipmunk greeters also will be on hand the airports providing holiday travel essentials (eye covers, ear plugs, mints, luggage tags, neck pillows, and more)
Offer valid on authorized vehicles allowed to drop off at airports
Visit Uber’s Philly blog to learn more