Getting Your Next Uber Ride to JFK or LGA Might Be a Little Easier
Uber announced a change to its app on Monday that streamlines passengers' trips to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
Now, Uber riders can select their airline after they choose either JFK or LGA as their destination. On the driver side, the app will show the terminal and the airline's exact door where the passenger should be dropped.
Uber says this change will help riders have more accurate pricing and ETAs. It will also save passengers the trouble of telling their drivers what airline, terminal and door they're departing from once they enter the vehicle. The app feature is already available with Uber's chief ride-sharing competitor Lyft.
In addition to LGA and JFK, the new app feature is launching at airports around the US and a couple international locations, including Atlanta (ATL), Paris (CDG), Mexico City (MEX), Oakland (OAK), San Diego (SAN), Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO).
Uber's Head of Product for Expansion Marcus Womack says the company wants to make the airport arrival process "as seamless and stress-free as possible," and says that more airport updates are coming soon.
Although the drop-off service at the two New York airports might be getting more streamlined, the pickup process at both LGA and JFK is still a headache. In April, LaGuardia did overhaul its process for arriving passengers meeting a for-hire car. The airport and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, working with the ride-sharing companies, opened up a floor of Terminal B's new parking garage dedicated to app-based car service pickups. But recent data from Lyft shows that passengers trying to leave the two New York City area airports face the longest rides in the US to their ultimate destination, with passengers leaving JFK facing the longest average ride time in the country.
