Egypt: Uber Travel Arrives in MENA With Egypt Launch

Uber has launched the Uber Travel feature suite in Egypt. Specifically, “Smart Itineraries” has been launched in the country, allowing users to sync their travel plans with the Uber app and reserve a ride in advance based on hotel and flight bookings.

“Uber Travel forms an integral part of Uber’s vision to make movement and local and international travel more seamless,” Norhen Ali, Uber’s head of communications for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said in a press release on Tuesday (January 3, 2022).

Ali added that “we’re excited to introduce Smart Itineraries to the MENA region, as an enhanced offering to help ease the stress of travel, and we will continue to expand our services to accommodate increasing travel needs through the power of our technology.”

Uber said it planned to introduce Uber Travel across the region soon.

Uber Travel, which is already available in all major cities in the United States and Canada, allows users to link travel plans from their Google, Outlook or Hotmail email accounts, enabling a more integrated experience.

The ride-hailing firm has been promoting the product as an easy way for customers to plan their travel arrangements, allowing them to book Ubers for an entire trip in one go rather than having to hail them individually as needed. In November, the company announced that Uber Travel has been expanded to an additional 10,000 cities globally.

Tuesday’s release said that every time riders reserve a ride with Uber Travel, they will receive 10% of the value back in Uber Cash — Uber’s in-app currency that can be used across its services.

In its parallel efforts to make business travel more convenient, last year Uber also announced that Uber for Business will accept Airplus International’s AirPlus Company Account as a means of payment.

The AirPlus Company Account is a corporate expense solution that allows employees to book and pay for their travel and accommodation via a single unified account. An app then combines business travel expenses in a combined electronic statement for easy reconciliation.