Ride hailing giant Uber wants to go beyond simply transporting people from A to B.
The company has registered a new patent which would allow it to enter the online trip planning business.
Tentatively called ‘Uber Travel,’ a search tool acts much like one found at an online travel agency but adds in Uber rides.
The patent description says the idea is to display recommended flights, hotel, and the cost of an Uber ride based on search preferences.
Uber said it will base results on airlines’ on-time performance in order to best coordinate Uber airport pickups.
"The information may include a location at the airport where the user can be picked up in connection with receiving the on-demand transportation service, and a timing indicator to indicate when the user should make a request to receive the on-demand transportation service based on a real-time determination of a number of available service providers in a vicinity of the airport," the patent said.
At the moment the service is likely to be fairly limited in scope as Uber is only legally authorized to pickup from a relatively small number of US airports.
