• Tony Bradley in Uber

Uber Rolls Out Family Profiles Feature to Let 10 People Share Account

Uber is awesome, and simple, and convenient. It does cost money, though, which means that my adult kids may or may not be able to take advantage of it when they need it most. Thanks to Family Profiles–a new feature from Uber–I can now add my kids to my Family Profile and allow them to get a ride from Uber using my credit card as the payment method.

I’m a big fan of Uber. On my recent trip to San Francisco for the RSA Conference I used Uber frequently to get around town—including one free trip that was sponsored and paid for by the vendor hosting the event I was attending. I also used Uber to get from the airport to my home upon return to Houston. Now, Uber is introducing Family Profiles—a new feature that will let me extend the convenience and simplicity of Uber to the rest of my family.

Ironically, my wife and I just had a conversation a week or two ago about this very topic. I was explaining to her how awesome Uber is, and I suggested that I should add my credit card as the default payment for Uber on my children’s smartphones. With a 22-year-old, 21-year-old, 19-year-old (almost), and an 18-year-old, there is plenty of room for broken down vehicles or questionable decision-making at 2am on a Saturday.

I would hope that my kids would have enough common sense to just call me for help no matter what time or day it was—or at least that they would call a taxi on their own. I’m actually fairly confident in that. Having Uber available and knowing that it was ready to use at a moment’s notice without regard for how much it will cost, though, ensures that they would get home safely.

I had no idea that Uber Family Profiles were on the horizon, but here they are. Now I don’t have to invent my own way of hacking the Uber app to ensure my kids can get a ride using my credit card as payment. Now, it’s just going to be a feature of the app. You can add up to 10 riders to the Family Profile, and share one payment method.

See the full story on Forbes: Uber Gives Parents Peace Of Mind With Family Profiles.

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Tony Bradley: I have a passion for technology and gadgets--with a focus on Microsoft and security--and a desire to help others understand how technology can affect or improve their lives. I also love spending time with my wife, 7 kids, 4 dogs, 7 cats, a pot-bellied pig, and sulcata tortoise, and I like to think I enjoy reading and golf even though I never find time for either. You can contact me directly at tony@xpective.net. For more from me, you can follow me on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

View Comments (5)

  • Hmmm. Letting your drunk kids have access to what amounts to a chauffeur on your dime. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

    • Well , it has never come up yet as an issue, but if it did I think my answer would be, "A lot less can go wrong than if they're stranded or try to drive home drunk or with drunk friends."

      I'll gladly pick up the tab and discuss it after the fact.