Business travelers in the fourth quarter of 2014 expensed more Uber rides compared with the previous quarter, according to expense data filed through Certify's expense management system.
Expenses filed for the mobile-based transportation network rose 2 percentage points to represent 5 percent of "general expenses." That broad category represented 46 percent of expenses filed in the fourth quarter and included parking, shipping, Wi-Fi and others, according to Certify. The average Uber expense per trip was $32.48, which was $1.90 higher than the average fare paid for a regular taxi, the report showed.
"Uber may also be posing a threat to car rental companies," the report stated. "The service was expensed 127 percent more often than the most frequently expensed car rental company, National."
Certify processed more than 20 million receipts and expenses in 2014, or about five million expenses per quarter, a Certify spokesperson wrote in an email to Business Travel News. Certify has customers ranging in the "mid-hundreds," according to the spokesperson.
While Delta in the fourth quarter was the most frequently expensed airline, comprising 20.1 percent of airline receipts filed, United's average transaction price ($411.11) was higher than Delta's ($403.46). United was the second-most-expensed airline, comprising 14.2 percent of airline receipts. Airline receipts represented 15 percent of all Certify receipts filed.
Marriott in the fourth quarter was the most expensed hotel company, representing 8.7 percent and an average cost of $242.69 per transaction.