FILE PHOTO: The logo of Uber is seen on an iPad, during a news conference to announce Uber resumes ride-hailing service, in Taipei, Taiwan April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo - RC177BFACD80
Wanna save money on your next Uber?
Sorry, you have to work for the ride-hailing company to get word of the less pricey lift.
Uber is experimenting with a new feature that offers customers a less expensive trip if they put off booking the ride for a bit — but only employees are getting to use the feature, the company said Tuesday.
The less pricey rides are usually a few minutes later than the requested pickup.
In a now-deleted screenshot posted to Twitter, an Uber employee showed how the app provided the choice of a ride for $10.18 or waiting five minutes and getting the same trip for $8.15 — a 20 percent savings.
An Uber spokesperson confirmed the existence of the feature to The Post.
“Affordability is a top reason riders choose shared rides, and we’re internally experimenting with a way to save money in exchange for a later pickup,” the spokesperson said.
The feature is still being tested internally, and public rollout would hinge on its proving viability as a concept, the spokesperson said.
It’s the latest novel idea to come out of Uber in recent days.
Last week, the San Francisco company applied for a patent for a system that would allow drivers to know if customers ordering a ride are drunk or otherwise impaired — even before picking them up.
The system imagines a world in which you might stumble out of a bar at 2 a.m. and the app will be able to know if you are drunk based on the angle you’re holding your phone, how you are walking, how you are interacting with the app — and where you are located — compared with other times you’ve used it.
This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
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