Hailing a ride for someone else using your Uber account isn’t exactly new. Granted sometimes drivers might have a hard time locating their passengers if the person waiting for the ride does not look like the person in the photos, but it has been done before. However Uber is now making the feature more official.According to Uber’s announcement, “We’re excited to share that we’re offering a feature so you can easily request a ride for your loved ones right from your Uber app. Now, when you set the pickup away from your current location, we’ll automatically ask whether the ride is for a family member or friend. You can then select the rider from your address book, set their destination, and request the ride on their behalf.”
Once the driver is close to reaching the pickup location, users will receive a text message that contains the driver’s details and contact information, as well as a link that will allow them to track the driver’s route. Granted this isn’t too different from what people have been doing in the past, but if you’re trying to help your parents or grandparents hail and Uber and they don’t know how, we guess at least there’s an official way of doing so now.