Fill every seat
before you send a car.
SeatMax automatically groups travelers arriving on different flights into optimized shared rides, reducing transport costs and coordination chaos. Built for teams that move people. Covers 60+ airports across the USA and Canada.
No subscription.
No apps to download — works over SMS.
Pay only when we save your company money.
Optional receipt capture for finance-grade audit trails.
The problem
Corporate events waste thousands
on uncoordinated ground transport.
Scattered arrivals
People land at different times across different terminals and airports.
No visibility
No one knows who should share a ride or who's even arriving when.
Planners become dispatchers
Event organizers spend hours coordinating rides instead of running events.
The numbers
Ground transport is a bigger line item
than most companies realize.
According to the Global Business Travel Association, global business travel spending hit $1.48 trillion in 2024. Ground transportation — taxis, rideshares, and car services — accounts for 11–12% of total trip cost, and 70.5% of those ground transport receipts are ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, not rental cars.
For a 100-person corporate event, that adds up fast. At an average of $103 per traveler in ground transport per trip, a single event can easily generate $10,000+ in rideshare charges — most of it one-person-per-car rides from the airport.
$103
Average ground transport cost per business traveler per trip
70.5%
Of corporate ground transport spend goes to ride-hailing
30–40%
Potential savings from consolidating rides into shared vehicles
Sources: GBTA 2024 Business Travel Forecast; Expensify Business Travel Statistics 2024; Detailed Drivers Corporate Ground Transportation Report
The solution
SeatMax handles it automatically.
1
Track flights
Enter flight numbers. SeatMax pulls real-time arrival data and monitors for delays.
2
Group arrivals
Travelers landing within the same time window at the same terminal are grouped together.
3
Fill vehicles
Groups are packed into UberX or UberXL vehicles. Every seat gets filled before a new car is added.
4
Adapt to delays
When flights are delayed, SeatMax re-groups automatically so no one waits and no seat is wasted.
5
Dispatch the ride
When everyone's at the curb, the Ride Captain gets a one-tap Uber link with pickup and destination pre-filled. SeatMax watches the whole event live — flights, bags, captains, and rides.
6
Capture every receipt
Optional: for +$1 per Rider (free on Enterprise), Captains forward their Uber receipts to a private SeatMax address. AI parses the fare and your post-event report shows verified actuals next to estimates — usually 20–40% higher than our conservative numbers.
Example event
See the difference instantly.
Acme Sales Kickoff — Las Vegas. 86 travelers arriving on scattered flights between 11:30 AM and 3:10 PM.
86 solo rides
86
Travelers
86 Ubers
23
Vehicles
$0
$2,800+
Savings
No subscription. SeatMax takes a percentage of verified savings. If we don't save, you don't pay.
Side by side
Ad-hoc rides vs. SeatMax
Most companies expense rideshares after the fact with no coordination. Here's how that compares to grouping travelers automatically.
| Ad-hoc rideshares | SeatMax | |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle utilization | 1 person per car (typical) | 3–6 per car, optimized mix of UberX & UberXL |
| Planner effort | Hours of spreadsheets & messaging | 30 seconds to create event, auto from there |
| Flight delay handling | Manual re-coordination | Automatic re-grouping in real time |
| Cost visibility | After-the-fact expense reports | Upfront Uber estimates per vehicle |
| Multi-airport support | Separate coordination per airport | All airports grouped simultaneously |
| Receipt capture | Riders submit weeks later, half get lost | AI-parsed Uber/Lyft receipts auto-attached to your invoice (+$1/Rider, free on Enterprise) |
| Post-event reporting | Manually rebuild costs from expense data | One-click PDF: every ride, baseline vs. actual, total saved |
| Rider communications | Group threads, missed updates | Slack DM + SMS + Rider portal — Riders text CHANGE to update flights |
| Captain coordination | "Who has the Uber?" chaos at the curb | Auto-assigned Ride Captain, auto-reassigned on delay |
| Day-of visibility | Hope it works | Live dashboard — flights landed, bags cleared, rides dispatched |
The proof
You don't have to take our word for the savings.
Finance teams care about the paper trail, not just the live grouping. SeatMax produces an audit-ready record of every ride — from baseline estimate to actual receipt.
Verified by receipts
Captains forward Uber/Lyft receipts to a private SeatMax email. Claude AI parses every fare. Your invoice shows Verified, Estimated, or Missing on each ride.
Pro: +$1/Rider · Enterprise: included
Built-in PDF
Download a finance-ready PDF: every vehicle, every route, baseline vs. actual, savings per group, and the total — with the original receipt emails appended as exhibits.
Real Uber pricing
Baseline costs come from the live Uber API for every airport→venue route — not estimates or averages. Open Uber on your phone and check.
Built for
Built for anyone who moves groups.
Whether you're running a 20-person offsite or a 200-person conference, SeatMax eliminates the most time-consuming part of event day.
Sales Kickoffs
Get your entire sales team from the airport to the hotel without 80 separate Ubers.
Company Offsites
Coordinate arrivals across time zones and airports into a handful of shared rides.
Conferences & Summits
Hundreds of attendees, dozens of flights. SeatMax groups arrivals automatically and keeps everyone informed.
PE Portfolio Summits
Portfolio company leaders arrive coordinated, not chaotic.
Accelerator Programs
Founders arriving for Demo Day, grouped by terminal and time.
Nonprofits & Retreats
Donor weekends, team retreats, mission trips. Maximize your transport budget with shared rides.
Why teams switch
Captain coordination
Every vehicle gets an auto-assigned Ride Captain. If their flight is delayed or cancelled, the role transfers to another eligible traveler — automatically.
Live event dashboard
Watch the day unfold in real time: flights landing, bags clearing, captains confirming, rides dispatching. No status meetings, no Slack pings.
Finance-grade reports
Verified Uber receipts attached to your invoice. One-click PDF with baseline vs. actual costs and original receipts appended as exhibits.
How it works
Three steps. Zero spreadsheets.
01
Create an event
Name your event, set the destination, pick the dates. Takes 30 seconds.
02
Add travelers
Enter names and flight numbers. SeatMax fetches arrival times, airports, and terminals automatically.
03
Review & notify
SeatMax groups travelers, assigns vehicles, and notifies everyone via Slack or email with their ride details.
Under the hood
How the grouping algorithm works
SeatMax doesn't just sort by time — it optimizes across multiple dimensions to pack every vehicle as full as possible while keeping wait times short.
1
Partition by date and airport
Travelers are split by arrival date and airport. Multi-airport events (e.g., ORD + MDW for Chicago) are handled separately.
2
Zone by terminal
Within each airport, travelers are grouped by terminal zone. Adjacent terminals (like JFK T1/T2) share a zone so nearby arrivals can share a ride.
3
Bucket by time window
Within each zone, travelers are sorted by estimated arrival and bucketed into configurable time windows (default: 45 minutes). This keeps wait times reasonable.
4
Pack vehicles optimally
Each bucket is filled with the best mix of UberX (4 seats) and UberXL (6 seats) using a bin-packing algorithm. The optimizer picks the combination that minimizes total cost.
5
Re-group on delay
When a flight is delayed, the traveler is moved to a later time bucket and vehicles are re-optimized. No manual intervention needed.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does SeatMax cost?
No subscription. SeatMax takes a percentage of verified savings. If we save you $1,000 on a small event, our fee is $250 and you keep $750. If we don't save your company money, you don't pay.
What airports do you support?
SeatMax covers 60+ airports across the US and Canada, including all major hubs (JFK, LAX, ORD, SFO, DEN, MIA, and more). We pull real-time flight data from AeroDataBox and AviationStack.
How do you handle flight delays?
SeatMax monitors flight status in real time. When a flight is delayed, the affected traveler is automatically moved to a later vehicle group. No manual re-coordination needed.
Do travelers need to install anything?
No. Travelers get their ride assignment via Slack DM or email. They can also view details on a mobile-friendly Rider portal — no app install required.
Can I import travelers from a spreadsheet?
Yes. SeatMax supports CSV upload, clipboard paste, and AI-powered import for messy data. Column mapping is automatic.
What about departures (going to the airport)?
SeatMax handles both directions. Outgoing groups are built the same way — travelers heading to the same airport around the same time share a ride.
Do you capture the actual Uber receipts?
Yes, optionally. For +$1/Rider (free on Enterprise), Ride Captains forward receipts to a private SeatMax address. Claude AI parses fare, pickup, dropoff, and date. Your invoice shows verified actuals next to our estimates — actuals are typically 20–40% higher because real fares include surge.
Can multiple planners on my team manage events?
Yes. Invite teammates by email; owners control granular permissions (create events, manage billing, send invites, configure integrations). Every action is logged in an immutable audit trail.
What if a Ride Captain's flight gets delayed?
SeatMax automatically reassigns the Captain role to another eligible traveler in the same group. The new Captain is notified, and the rest of the group keeps moving. No planner intervention required.
Can I see the event running live?
Yes — a live dashboard shows flights landing, bags clearing, captains confirming, and rides dispatching as they happen. Planners watch the whole day unfold without lifting a finger.
Learn more
Guides for every scenario
Deep dives on how SeatMax handles the logistics that trip up every event.
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