You can reserve an Uber Black in advance with Uber Reserve, in select cities, up to 90 days ahead. You enter the pickup, the destination and the time, and for an airport run your airline and flight. The app shows an upfront price that includes a reservation fee, and that price is locked: no surge on the day. For many trips, that is a genuinely useful tool.
What a reservation is not, on Uber's own wording, is a guarantee of a car. Uber says it does not guarantee that a driver will accept your request and that the ride is confirmed once you receive driver details. Cancellation fees for reserved trips are higher than for on-demand rides. A chauffeur booked through Elly8.net is a different arrangement: the booking is confirmed by email when you pay, the vehicle class is fixed, and the cancellation terms are published in advance. This guide compares the two step by step.
How do Uber Black reservations work?
With Uber Reserve you book an Uber Black up to 90 days ahead in select cities. The upfront price is locked and includes a reservation fee for the driver's extra travel and waiting. Uber does not guarantee a driver will accept; the ride is confirmed once you receive driver details. Cancellation fees are higher than on demand.
Uber's Reserve page sets out the basics: book up to 90 days ahead, lock in your price with no surges or spikes, and for airport rides select your airline and flight and confirm the pickup time. Its footnotes add the limits. The upfront price may change if you add stops, change the destination, the route or duration changes significantly, or you pass through a toll that was not in the estimate. Uber does not guarantee that a driver will accept the request, and Reserve is available in select cities. Cancellation fees are higher than on demand and depend on the circumstances, with the details in the Reservations Terms and Conditions in the app.
What the reservation fee pays for
Uber is unusually direct about the fee. A footnote on its Uber Comfort page says that when you request an Uber Reserve trip, the price you see is an estimate that includes a reservation fee, which may vary with the pickup location and the day and time, and that it is paid "for their driver's additional wait time and time/distance spent traveling to the pickup location."
That sentence explains most of the price difference between on-demand rides and anything booked ahead. A car that is committed to your time, and that travels to you specifically, costs more to provide than one matched from a few streets away. It is the same economics a chauffeur service runs on, and it is why our fares sit above the app's on-demand averages.
Cancelling and changing a reservation
Uber's airport pages, such as its San Francisco airport page, say that if you reserve and your plans change, you can cancel for free until one hour before pickup or if no driver has accepted the trip yet. The Reserve page adds that fees for reserved trips are higher than on demand and vary by location and ride type. Read the terms in the app for your city before relying on a particular deadline.
Our terms are the same everywhere and published on the cancellation policy page: free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% within 72 hours, 50% within 48 hours, and 100% within 24 hours or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. That is a longer commitment window than the app's, and it reflects a car and chauffeur held for your time from the moment you book. If your plans are fluid until the last hour, the app's terms suit you better.
Side by side
| Uber Black with Uber Reserve | Elly8.net pre-booked chauffeur | |
|---|---|---|
| How far ahead | Up to 90 days, select cities | As soon as you know the trip, in 141 cities |
| Price | Upfront, locked, includes a reservation fee | Fixed, all-in, per vehicle, set at booking |
| Confirmation | When you receive driver details; acceptance not guaranteed | By email when the booking is paid |
| Vehicle | Any eligible Black car nearby | Vehicle class you choose, such as an S-Class or similar |
| Airport meeting | App pickup zone set by the airport | Inside arrivals with a name board |
| Flight delays | Uber says its flight tracking notifies the driver of delays | Flight tracked; waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary |
| Tip | Added in the app | Standard gratuity included |
| Cancellation | Free until one hour before or before a driver accepts, per Uber's airport pages; fees higher than on demand | Free over 72 hours; 10%, 50%, 100% inside 72, 48 and 24 hours |
Airport arrivals: the hard case
Reservations are easiest for departures: you know when you will leave home. Arrivals are harder, because the flight decides the time. Uber's Toronto Pearson page says you can reserve a trip for when you land and that its flight-tracking technology notifies the driver of your flight status, including delays. That is a real improvement on requesting from the baggage hall.
The pickup itself still follows the airport's rules for app rides. At SFO, the airport's guidance sends Uber Black and Black SUV to marked doors on the Arrivals level of the domestic terminals, and other tiers to Level 5 of the Domestic Garage. Most large airports send app rides to designated zones in a similar way. And Uber's Black page gives a two-minute grace period at airport pickups before wait fees, with a possible cancellation fee after five.
A pre-booked chauffeur meets you inside arrivals with a name board instead, and the waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary. For a late international arrival with a long passport queue, that difference is the whole point. Our airport meet and greet page explains the routine.
What the two cost on real routes
Uber publishes on-demand averages, not reservation prices, so the fair comparison is the on-demand average plus a reservation fee whose amount Uber does not publish. On its airport pages, the past-month average for Uber Black was US$94 from Pacific Heights to SFO and US$107 from Capitol Hill to Seattle-Tacoma.
Our fixed fares on comparable routes are US$180 from SFO to Union Square and US$170 from Seattle-Tacoma to downtown Seattle in a Business Sedan, or US$315 and US$300 in a First Class Sedan, all-in and per vehicle, the same in either direction. In Washington, Dulles to downtown DC is US$255 in a Business Sedan. Full lists are on our San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC pages.
On an ordinary day the app, even reserved, will usually cost less. What the higher fare buys is the confirmation at booking, the chosen vehicle class, the meeting inside arrivals and the included gratuity.
A worked example: the 6 a.m. flight
A consultant in downtown Seattle has a 6 a.m. flight from Seattle-Tacoma and wants a premium car at 4 a.m.
With Uber Reserve. She books Uber Black the evening before, sees the locked price including the reservation fee, and goes to bed. Uber's terms say the ride is confirmed once she receives driver details, so the sensible habit is to check the app before sleeping and again on waking. If no driver has accepted, she can cancel free and make other plans, but at 4 a.m. other plans are a taxi or an on-demand request. Most mornings this works smoothly. The risk sits in the rare morning it does not.
With a pre-booked chauffeur. She books a First Class Sedan, an S-Class or similar, for US$300 from downtown to Seattle-Tacoma, the same fare as the arrival direction, and receives the confirmation by email when she pays. The booking is held by the 24/7 desk, which she can call at 3:45 a.m. if anything changes. The price was fixed when she booked and does not depend on who is awake that night.
Reserving for a group
Uber's airport pages say you can use Reserve to schedule multiple rides with the same or different pickup and drop-off details, and that one account holder can request up to three on-demand rides at once. Each Uber Black carries up to four passengers and Black SUV up to six, and Uber says luggage space is not guaranteed and varies by vehicle.
For a group, the simpler reservation is often one larger vehicle. Our Business SUV and First Class SUV carry up to six passengers and six bags, and the Executive Sprinter up to twelve passengers and twelve bags, each priced once per vehicle. One booking, one confirmation, one chauffeur, and nobody wondering whether the second car has been accepted.
Round trips booked once
Many trips have a known return. Our price lists include round-trip airport fares, for example SFO to Union Square and back from US$345 in a Business Sedan or US$895 in an Executive Sprinter, so both legs are fixed before you travel. With Uber Reserve, each leg is its own reservation, with its own reservation fee and its own driver acceptance.
For companies and assistants
Uber offers its own business layer. Its Pearson page describes Uber Business Black as a premium car service for Uber for Business customers, with dedicated support for travellers and executive assistants and delegate booking to simplify expense reports. If your company already runs on that platform, it is worth using.
Elly8.net's equivalent is a corporate account with monthly invoicing, bookings across 141 cities in the USA, Canada and Europe, NDAs on request, and a 24/7 desk that holds every booking. Travel agents and hotels have their own accounts through the travel agent and hotel sign-ups. For multi-meeting days, see the roadshow chauffeur service.
How booking with Elly8.net works
- Pickup and drop-off. Choose the route on the city price list, or enter any address in the web booker. Add the flight number for airport pickups.
- Vehicle. Business Sedan, First Class Sedan, Business or First Class SUV, or Executive Sprinter, chosen by passengers and bags.
- Reserve now. Pay by card at a fixed price; the confirmation arrives by email.
Rides in Toronto and the GTA are operated by the Elly8 fleet; in every other city they are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network, with Elly8.net taking the booking, fixing the price and running the 24/7 desk.
Changing a booking after you make it
Plans move. Uber's Reserve footnotes say the upfront price may change if you add stops, change the destination, if the route or duration changes significantly, or if you pass through a toll that was not in the estimate. That is fair, and similar in spirit to how a fixed fare works: the price covers the trip you booked.
With Elly8.net, contact the 24/7 desk as early as you can with the new time, address or flight number. Tolls, parking and waiting beyond the included time are billed at cost, and the cancellation tiers apply if the trip is called off. For airport pickups, a new flight number is the most useful thing you can send us, because the chauffeur tracks that flight.
Which to use
Use Uber Reserve for departures from home, flexible plans that may change until the last hour, and short trips where any premium car will do. Use a pre-booked chauffeur for arrivals, groups and luggage, child seats, clients, events and anything where a declined request would be a problem. If a wedding is on the calendar, our guide to Uber Black for a wedding covers why hourly booking matters, and for the step-by-step at the kerb, how to get an Uber from the airport. The Uber Black vs Premier guide compares the app's tiers.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance can you reserve Uber Black?
Uber says you can book with Uber Reserve up to 90 days ahead, in select cities. Elly8.net bookings are made at the fixed fare on the city price list, or through the web booker for other addresses, in any of our 141 cities; book as soon as you know the trip.
Is an Uber Black reservation guaranteed?
Not in the sense of a confirmed car at booking. Uber's Reserve page says it does not guarantee a driver will accept the request and that the ride is confirmed once you receive driver details. An Elly8.net booking is confirmed by email when it is paid, with the vehicle class fixed.
Does Uber charge extra to reserve a ride?
Yes. Uber says the estimate for a Reserve trip includes a reservation fee, which may vary by pickup location, day and time, and is paid for the driver's additional wait time and travel to the pickup. The upfront price is then locked, apart from changes such as added stops or a new destination.
What happens if you cancel an Uber reservation?
Uber's airport pages say you can cancel for free until one hour before pickup or if no driver has accepted yet; the Reserve page says reserved-trip cancellation fees are higher than on demand and vary by location and ride type. Elly8.net cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, then 10%, 50% and 100%.
Can Uber Reserve track your flight?
Uber's Pearson page says that when you reserve a ride for when you land, its flight-tracking technology notifies the driver of your flight status, including delays. Elly8.net tracks every airport pickup and the chauffeur waits inside arrivals; waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary.
Which is better for a business trip?
For a departure from home or a short hop between meetings, a reserved Uber Black works well. For arrivals with clients, multi-city itineraries and company billing, a pre-booked chauffeur on a corporate account with monthly invoicing is easier to plan, confirm and expense.
