Uber Knows When Your Battery is Low and Will Accept Surge Pricing Plus Goldfish Kicked Off a Flight

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • Uber knows when your phone’s battery is dying, and that you’re highly likely to accept surge pricing when it is. But they promise not to use that information to charge you more. (Plus, for those of you who don’t live in Austin, here’s what it’s like to live in a city without Uber.)

  • Meanwhile, should you tip your Uber driver? from Stephanie Rosenbloom in the New York Times. This seems right to me:

    Uber said that its creators considered building a tipping option into the app but ultimately decided against it “because we felt it would be better for riders and drivers to know for sure what they would pay or earn on each trip — without the uncertainty of tipping.” Uber said that’s still the case: “Tipping is not included, nor is it expected or required. In fact riders tell us that one of the things they like most about Uber is that it’s hassle-free. And that’s how we intend to keep it.”

  • Fitbit buys Coin to integrate mobile payments but the deal excludes Coin’s universal payment card. (HT: David H.)

  • A passenger’s goldfish was kicked off a flight because the airline doesn’t allow transport of live animals.

    The flight was stopped mid-taxi and turned around back to the terminal so Ayr and Lil’ B could disembark.

    The flight, JQ252, remained on the tarmac with all other passengers waiting while Ayr tried to figured out what to do with the fish.

    …the duty manager at Wellington Airport offered to take Lil’ b home to his fish-tank, which he gladly accepted.

  • Class war in the airport lounge (HT: Head for Points)

  • A touching video from KLM (HT: TravelZork)


About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Told you uber was up to no good. I now walk or take public transit whenever possible. To hell with uber…

  2. Anon, AUS does have car rentals, but it’s illegal over there to drive a rental car while drunk!

  3. . . .as well as a violation of the Rental Agreement! Get convicted of driving a rental car while drunk, then that rental-car company will put you on their Do Not Rent list, in addition to usual judicial punishments!

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