Uber finally introduces Scheduled Rides in London, letting people book their cars in advance

Until now, Uber customers had been forced to wait until their journey time and hope that there was a car available. Now the app will introduce a feature like booking a traditional taxi

The London trial is expected to last until Tuesday next week (YouTube)

Uber is finally letting its users book taxis in advance, adding perhaps its most obviously lacking feature.

Until now, even if people knew when they were going to be making a journey they were forced to wait until the time came, and then hope that there was a car around. But now the company will let people book their cars in advance – up to 30 days before they’re actually happening.

The Scheduled Rides feature is rolling out in London now and will be coming elsewhere soon. It will initially be available to Uber users who have a business account or profile, but will be rolled out to everybody soon after that.

The feature is accessed by heading to the app as normal, but selecting “schedule a ride” rather than booking the journey. The app will then let people pick the time, date and location they want to be picked up, and will go on to confirm the ride.

The app will send reminders the day before the journey begins, and another notification to say that a car is on its way.

Scheduled rides cost the same as a normal Uber journey, and is subject to any surge pricing that is in place when the journey is booked. They can be cancelled any time up until five minutes before the car is scheduled to arrive.

It’s also only initially available for UberX, the normal Uber journeys.

“Many of our riders, especially business customers, have asked us to introduce this feature and we’re really excited to bring it to Londoners from today,” said Tom Elvidge, the general manager of Uber in London. “Whether it’s having a car ready at the end of a meeting or to take you to the airport, scheduling your Uber in advance means there’s one less thing to worry about.”

London is the first city in Europe to add the new feature. It began with a rollout in Seattle in June, and the company says that it is rolling it out globally but initially to “top business travel cities”.