Uber Adds Rider-Friendly Multiple Stop Option

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The changes continue to roll in for ride-sharing service Uber. Earlier this week, the company made some driver-friendly changes resulting in potentially more fees for riders. Now, the company announced it’s making a much-desired change to benefit riders — the option to make multiple stops on a trip.

On Thursday, Uber announced that passengers will now be allowed to make up to three stops along your trip. Riders can manually add or remove stops to or from your itinerary from the Uber app. Stops can be added either when you’re requesting a ride or while you’re in the middle of a ride.

To add a stop, go to the “Where to?” field and select the “+” icon. Enter your stop information and the app will calculate the best route, as well as the fare. If you need to make changes to your itinerary, you can do so in real time. The driver’s app will show a change in directions, so there’s no need to inform the driver of your routing change.

If you’re planning on making use of the multi-stop feature, be prepared to pay a bit more. Because Uber calculates its fares based on time and distance, and since stops will take up more time, expect to have a higher fare. In addition, the fare you get is calculated for a stop to take three minutes or less. If your stop takes more than three minutes, Uber says that your fare may change.

As of Friday morning, this multi-stop feature is available in most Uber cities. If you’re splitting a fare, you can do so even with multi-stop itineraries. However, you can’t split the fare by the cost of each stop — just by the total of the entire ride.

Overall, this is surely a welcome change for Uber passengers. Previously, multi-stop routing had to be communicated to the driver by the passenger, but now, it’s a much more seamless — and digitalized — experience. With this new feature, Uber joins the like of its direct competitor, Lyft, which already offers riders a multi-stop feature since 2016.

If you don’t yet have an Uber account, you can sign up now to get a $20 credit from TPG. With the Platinum Card from American Express, you can also get $200 in credits per year for Uber rides. In addition, on Wednesday, Uber and Barclaycard announced a new no-fee credit card, the Uber Visa Card. With it, you’ll earn 4% back on restaurants, takeout and bars, including UberEats, 3% back on airfare, hotel and vacation home rentals, 2% back on online purchases including Uber, online shopping and video and music streaming services and 1% back on all other purchases.