Airline reservation system that supports guaranteed reservations for a preferred category of seating
First Claim
1. A method for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
- receiving a request for the preferred category of seating;
determining if the preferred category of seating is available;
providing notification that the preferred category of seating is available;
guaranteeing the preferred category of seating;
assigning a passenger to a “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating;
reassigning the passenger to a different “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating based on another request; and
converting the “
flexible”
seat assignment to a “
permanent”
seat assignment.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An airline reservation system that supports guaranteed reservations for a preferred category of seating. The system comprises a method for receiving a request for the preferred category of seating, determining if the preferred category of seating is available, guaranteeing the preferred category of seating, and assigning a passenger to a seat within the guaranteed category of seating. Moreover, the passenger can be reassigned to a different seat within the guaranteed category of seating in order to accommodate an additional seating request. Seating arrangements are finalized at a predetermined time prior to a flight'"'"'s departure and passengers are permanently assigned to a seat within their preferred category of seating.
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Citations
92 Claims
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1. A method for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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receiving a request for the preferred category of seating;
determining if the preferred category of seating is available;
providing notification that the preferred category of seating is available;
guaranteeing the preferred category of seating;
assigning a passenger to a “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating;
reassigning the passenger to a different “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating based on another request; and
converting the “
flexible”
seat assignment to a “
permanent”
seat assignment.
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2. A method for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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receiving a request for at least one preferred category of seating;
determining if the at least one preferred category of seating is available; and
guaranteeing the at least one preferred category of seating. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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27. A method for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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receiving a request for multiple preferred categories of seating;
determining which of the multiple preferred categories of seating are available; and
guaranteeing at least one preferred category of seating.
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37. A method for requesting an airline reservation for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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transmitting a request for at least one preferred category of seating; and
receiving notification guaranteeing the at least one preferred category of seating.
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38. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for receiving a request for the preferred category of seating;
means for determining if the preferred category of seating is available;
means for providing notification that the preferred category of seating is available;
means for guaranteeing the preferred category of seating;
means for assigning a passenger to a “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating;
means for reassigning the passenger to a different “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating based on another request; and
means for converting the “
flexible”
seat assignment to a “
permanent”
seat assignment.
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39. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for receiving a request for at least one preferred category of seating;
means for determining if the at least one preferred category of seating is available; and
means for guaranteeing the at least one preferred category of seating.
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56. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for receiving a request for multiple preferred categories of seating;
means for determining which of the multiple preferred categories of seating are available; and
means for guaranteeing at least one preferred category of seating.
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64. A system for requesting an airline reservation for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for transmitting a request for at least one preferred category of seating; and
means for receiving notification guaranteeing the at least one preferred category of seating.
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65. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, the system comprising:
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a storage device storing a program;
a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor operative with the program to;
receive a request for the preferred category of seating;
determine if the preferred category of seating is available;
provide notification that the preferred category of seating is available;
guarantee the preferred category of seating;
assign a passenger to a “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating;
reassign the passenger to a different “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating based on another request; and
convert the “
flexible”
seat assignment to a “
permanent”
seat assignment.
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66. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, the system comprising:
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a storage device storing a program;
a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor operative with the program to;
receive a request for at least one preferred category of seating;
determine if the at least one preferred category of seating is available;
guarantee the at least one preferred category of seating.
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67. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, the system comprising:
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a storage device storing a program;
a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor operative with the program to;
receive a request for multiple preferred categories of seating;
determine which of the multiple preferred categories of seating are available; and
guarantee at least one preferred category of seating.
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68. A system for processing airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, the system comprising:
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a storage device storing a program;
a processor in communication with the storage device, the processor operative with the program to;
transmit a request for at least one preferred category of seating; and
receive notification guaranteeing the at least one preferred category of seating.
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69. An article of manufacture for causing a computer to process airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for causing the computer to receive a request for the preferred category of seating;
means for causing the computer to determine if the preferred category of seating is available;
means for causing the computer to provide notification that the preferred category of seating is available;
means for causing the computer to guarantee the preferred category of seating;
means for causing the computer to assign a passenger to a “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating;
means for causing the computer to reassign the passenger to a different “
flexible”
seat assignment within the guaranteed category of seating based on another request; and
means for causing the computer to convert the “
flexible”
seat assignment to a “
permanent”
seat assignment.
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70. An article of manufacture for causing a computer to process airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for causing the computer to receive a request for at least one preferred category of seating;
means for causing the computer to determine if the at least one preferred category of seating is available;
means for causing the computer to guarantee the at least one preferred category of seating.
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71. An article of manufacture for causing a computer to process airline reservations for a preferred category of seating, comprising:
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means for causing the computer to receive a request for multiple preferred categories of seating;
means for causing the computer to determine which of the multiple preferred categories of seating are available; and
means for causing the computer to guarantee at least one preferred category of seating.
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72. A method for processing reservations for a preferred category of service, comprising:
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receiving a request for the preferred category of service;
determining if the preferred category of service is available;
guaranteeing the preferred category of service;
assigning an individual to a “
flexible”
assignment within the guaranteed category of service;
converting the “
flexible”
assignment to a “
permanent”
assignment; and
prohibiting the reallocation of the permanent assignment. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A method wherein reservations for a preferred category of service are finalized based on a transition point, the method comprising:
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assigning an individual to a “
flexible”
assignment within the preferred category of service; and
converting the flexible assignment to a permanent assignment at the transition point. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)
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Specification