UberSELECT, Uber’s higher-end car offering has finally rolled out to those in San Francisco. The service allows folks in the 7×7 to choose luxury cars for their ride, including BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, and Mercedes C-Class, according to a post on Uber’s blog.
UberSELECT rolled out to other cities around the world such as Toronto and Seattle earlier this year but was not something Uber management thought about for the Bay Area until now – instead choosing to focus on other offerings such as UberPOOL and UberEATS first.
You may be wondering why Uber needs another high-end service. Isn’t this just like UberBLACK? You are not wrong in asking this question. After all, how many luxury car services does one rideshare platform need? However, this is about luxury for less, Uber tells us.
While the SELECT cars offer arguably less of a luxury than the UberBLACK standard S-class S550 Mercedez, SELECT allows riders to grab a nicer ride at a lower price point.
Riders won’t be able to choose which car actually picks them up, but Uber said anything from a Tesla to a BMW could appear to whisk you and that special someone to your destination.
The base fare is $5 on UberSELECT versus $8 for UberBLACK and the cost goes up from there for the same journey. Uber uses the example of riding in a BMW Series 3 from the Marina to the FiDi on SELECT for $12.10. According to Uber, that same ride would be $17.20 with UberBLACK.
It seems like Uber is cannibalizing its own services with this new option. But Uber tells us it simply sees the two options differently – SELECT is for fancy affairs and date nights and BLACK is for business.
UberSELECT drivers could motor up for those on a budget, too. These types of drivers will serve both UberX and SELECT riders, but it’s a crap shoot according to Uber. Riders choosing UberX can’t control if an Audi or a Prius comes for them. The rest of us will just have to hope our date isn’t the shallow sort when they realize we got them UberX instead.