Why aren’t minicab bookings integrated with train and airline ticket websites?

This is not the end of the journey. So why not sell you a ticket all the way through to the end?

Getting to a station or an airport is rarely the point of a journey. It’s only part way to your destination. Which makes it rather odd that when you are buying your tickets for the journey, you then have to go somewhere else to reserve and pay for the rest of your trip rather than being able to buy the whole lot in one easy go.

Websites for selling you the train ticket or airline ticket are often built and tested by fearsomely skilled teams, optimised to the nth degree. (And then there are those that are so embarrassingly clunky you wonder how they ever got launched, but that’s another story.)

What’s more, it’s the norm to be cross-sold a hotel or a ticket for some forms of public transport. But minicabs? Don’t think I’ve ever seen an option to book one at the same time as getting the ticket that delivers me to just the point where I need one.

It’d be a win for everyone. For the traveller – sorting the full journey in one go. For the ticket selling website – selling extra convenience with an extra service is both good for customer retention and an opportunity to earn an extra margin. For the minicab firm – volume orders in advance help planning, boost market share compared to hail and ride taxis or other forms of transport – and the added convenience for the traveller gives scope for both minicab firm and ticket seller to benefit.

So why doesn’t it happen?