Uber's super app push takes shape with hotel bookings and Uber One expansion

At a glance:

• Uber now lets U.S. users book hotels inside the app via an Expedia Group partnership covering more than 700,000 properties worldwide, with Uber One members receiving 20% off a rotating list of 10,000 hotels and 10% back in credits.
• Uber One has 50 million paying subscribers, and delivery revenue hit $5.07 billion in Q1, up 34% year over year — nearly matching mobility in gross bookings.
• Upcoming additions include Vrbo vacation rentals, OpenTable restaurant reservations, and a "Shop for Me" feature for ordering from stores outside the platform.

A super app at last

Uber has spent years talking about becoming a super app, but the conversation turned urgent when Waymo started picking up passengers in San Francisco. At its annual GO-GET product event in New York, the company moved from vague ambition to something closer to a concrete plan: users in the U.S. can now book hotels directly inside the Uber app through a partnership with Expedia Group, gaining access to more than 700,000 properties worldwide.

The announcement, paired with a suite of other features, is the clearest picture yet of how Uber intends to turn its 199 million monthly active users into a one-stop platform. Uber One members — the company's subscription tier at $9.99 a month — get 20% off a rotating list of 10,000 hotels and 10% back in credits. Vacation rentals through Vrbo will follow later this year, along with restaurant reservations via OpenTable. A "Shop for Me" feature already lets users order from stores that aren't even on the platform.

The membership logic behind the expansion

Praveen Neppalli Naga, Uber's CTO, laid out the company's thinking at TechCrunch's StrictlyVC event in San Francisco. He pointed out that the super app concept has thrived in India and Southeast Asia but that U.S. versions have mostly failed by bolting services onto traffic without giving people a reason to stay.

His answer: membership. Every new category — food, groceries, now hotels — gives someone another reason to pay for Uber One. "I take Uber, go to the airport, take a flight, take another Uber, go to a hotel, go to a restaurant," Naga said. "There is a flow you can actually build into it."

Flights are not available yet, though Naga didn't rule them out. Uber tried flight booking in Europe years ago without success. "First let's get the hotel things done," he said. Financial services are also on the table — Uber already offers a debit card to drivers in Mexico — but timelines remain unclear. "Never say never," Naga added.

Uber Eats as the growth engine

Uber's most recent earnings, reported just before the GO-GET event, offer some of the strongest evidence that the thesis is working. Delivery revenue grew 34% year over year in the first quarter, to $5.07 billion, making it easily the fastest-growing part of the business and pulling almost even with mobility in gross bookings.

That growth is the practical argument for bundling new services under the Uber One umbrella. The company says 50 million people now pay for Uber One, and together they account for roughly half of Uber's total bookings. Wall Street hasn't fully bought in — Uber's stock is still down about 8% from a year ago — but the numbers suggest the installed base is doing some of the heavy lifting. Convincing someone who already has a credit card on file to book a hotel or order from an unfamiliar store is a shorter jump than asking them to download something new.

Competition is heating up

Uber isn't the only one racing to become an everything app. Airbnb, arguably the company most directly threatened by Uber's hotel push, announced its own transportation ambitions in late March — a partnership with Welcome Pickups to offer airport transfers in 125 cities across Asia, Europe, and Latin America, structured to keep users inside the Airbnb app rather than sending them to Uber.

Elon Musk has spent three years promising to turn X into an everything app in the WeChat mold, and is now nearing what he describes as a long-stated goal: X Money, a banking and payments platform built inside the social network, is expected to launch publicly soon. X claims 500 million monthly active users.

The big question is how many super apps the American market can actually sustain. WeChat works in China partly because the alternative was a patchwork of inferior options. In the U.S., people already have apps they like for most of what Uber wants to do. Getting them to consolidate inside a single platform requires either a compelling reason — Uber One's discounts, say — or a seamless enough experience that switching feels worth it.

What to watch next

The next milestones will reveal whether Uber can turn breadth into stickiness. Vrbo vacation rentals and OpenTable restaurant reservations are slated for later this year, and the "Shop for Me" feature is already live. If hotel bookings gain traction and Uber Eats keeps its 34% growth rate, the company could reach a point where mobility and delivery are just two reasons among many to open the app. Flights, financial services, and deeper merchant integrations remain open questions — but Naga's "never say never" signal suggests Uber is laying groundwork for all of them.

Tags: uber, super app, uber one, expedia, uber eats, go-get Dek: Uber opened hotel booking inside its app via Expedia, expanded Uber One perks, and is betting its 199 million users and 50 million subscribers will turn it into a U.S. super app. Primary rubric: business Cover type: company Company logo domain: uber.com Cover keyword: Uber app on a phone screen showing hotel booking confirmation next to an airport gate Slug: uber-super-app-push-hotel-bookings-uber-one-expansion Faq:

• Q: What does Uber One cost and what perks does it include? A: Uber One costs $9.99 per month and gives members 20% off a rotating list of 10,000 hotels and 10% back in credits. The subscription tier had 50 million paying subscribers as of the latest earnings, accounting for roughly half of Uber's total bookings.
• Q: How fast is Uber Eats growing? A: Delivery revenue grew 34% year over year in Q1 to $5.07 billion, making it the fastest-growing segment of Uber's business and pulling almost even with mobility in gross bookings.
• Q: What new features is Uber adding beyond ride-hailing? A: Uber now offers hotel booking via Expedia Group (700,000+ properties), a "Shop for Me" feature for ordering from stores outside the platform, and plans to add Vrbo vacation rentals and OpenTable restaurant reservations later this year. Entities:
• Uber: Ride-hailing and delivery platform expanding into a super app with 199 million monthly active users
• Expedia Group: Travel booking partner providing 700,000+ hotel properties for Uber's new feature
• Praveen Neppalli Naga: Uber's CTO who outlined the super app strategy at StrictlyVC
• Airbnb: Travel platform launching its own airport transfer service via Welcome Pickups to compete with Uber
• X (formerly Twitter): Elon Musk's platform pursuing an everything app strategy with upcoming X Money banking service
• Welcome Pickups: Airport transfer provider partnering with Airbnb in 125 cities across Asia, Europe, and Latin America
• Vrbo: Vacation rental platform whose properties will be accessible through Uber later this year
• OpenTable: Restaurant reservation service that will integrate with Uber's app Sentiment: 7