Uber Indonesia rolls out new tourist-friendly feature

Uber logo (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Getting lost in unfamiliar terrain can be quite a drag for most tourists, and online transportation company Uber is finally doing something to address this concern.

To accommodate the growing number of visitors in Bali, Indonesia, the company has launched UberTrip, which offers passengers the luxury to grab a car for five hours at a flat rate, and travel to whichever destination they please.

Furthermore, Uber guarantees to give out no limits on stops.

“It’s the first of its kind in the Uber world. Bali is the first city for the rollout,” Uber Indonesia spokesperson Dian Safitri described the feature to Tech in Asia.

The Uber executive said the latest feature gives travelers another option when it comes to half or full-day car rental services, but for a fixed amount of time.

The exclusive ride charges $22.30 (P1,113) for the 5-hour ride, which also includes the gas and the driver’s fare. Once the allowed time is up, passengers will be charged $0.07 (P3.49) per minute.

The move is slightly different from Uber’s traditional way of charging passengers based on time and distance traveled and which is usually reserved for single trips.

Based on the company’s latest statistics, six out of 10 Uber passengers are tourists.

“UberTrip was developed by the Bali team to answer the needs of visitors to discover the island,” Dian said. “It is early days for UberTrip, but it is [a] model that can be brought to other markets.”

The rides in Bali can’t be scheduled ahead and are only currently available on demand, but a scheduling feature might be added later.

Uber has yet to announce if it’ll add this feature in other countries in the near future.  Khristian Ibarrola