If you’re hosting an event, it lets you pay the transportation costs for everyone who’s coming; if you’re a guest, you get a free ride to the location. Uber for Business customers can receive and send out guest passes via email, and then the chosen few use their codes to redeem a free ride on Uber. Like most new Uber features, it’s rolling out slowly at first, and is currently only available in New York City.
“When planning a company happy hour, client appreciation dinner, or even upcoming nuptials, there is a lot that goes into ensuring that your event goes off without a hitch — including how your guests can safely get to and from without any fuss,” writes Uber’s Kimiko Ninomiya. “We want to make the experience of planning transportation logistics as seamless as ordering a ride at the touch of button.”
Dig down into the small print and you’ll find guest passes are valid for a period of 14 days and you can’t splash any more than $10,000 dollars on transport for one particular event. Of course all of your guests who don’t already have an Uber account will be presented with a quick and seamless sign-up process so they can take advantage of the free ride.
UberEvents could prove popular for business users and wedding planners with enough cash to take advantage of it — though it would depend on good local Uber coverage, otherwise it might end up being more hassle than it’s worth. The next time you’re heading to a glitzy event in NYC you might find the host picking up the Uber tab.
