Method and apparatus for customer direct on-line reservation of rental vehicles
First Claim
1. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-booking entity via a computer network connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction requiring submission of at least three different types of reservation data from the customer for successful completion thereof, each reservation data type having one of a plurality of different values, wherein each reservation data type value is dependent upon other reservation data type values, the method comprising:
- (a) displaying a page on the customer computer, the page including (1) a request that the customer submit values for at least two of the different data types, and (2) for each requested data value, a data submitter through which the customer can submit a data value to the automated reservation transaction processor;
(b) receiving data at the automated reservation transaction processor from the customer computer that corresponds to a submission of a data value for at least one of the data types;
(c) determining from the received data at least one data type, if any, that remains unsubmitted;
(d) if any unsubmitted data type is determined to remain, determining, on the basis of the interdependence of the different data values for the different reservation data types, a list of remaining acceptable values for the at least one unsubmitted reservation data type;
(e) displaying another page on the customer computer, the another page including (1) said at least one determined list of acceptable data submission values, and (2) for each said determined list, a data submitter for submitting at least one of said acceptable values to the automated reservation transaction processor; and
(f) repeating steps (b) through (e) as necessary until all required data types are successfully submitted to the automated reservation transaction processor, thereby completing the reservation.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-booking entity via a computer network inter-connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction requiring submission of at least three different types of reservation data from the customer for successful completion thereof, each reservation data type having one of a plurality of different values, wherein each reservation data type value is dependent upon other reservation data type values, the method including presenting an initial page for data value entry for a plurality of reservation data types, accepting for partial data entry data values for less than all of said reservation data types, and determining, on the basis of the interdependence of the different data values for the different reservation data types, a list of acceptable data values for any un-entered reservation data types. Also, the processor provides the customer with a less than full page summary section on many of the reservation booking pages, the summary section including a list of submitted data values for the reservation transaction and an edit link associated with each listed data value that is selectable to initiate a revision of its associated data value. Further, the present invention supports promotional deep-linking, promotion reservation with notification upon customer violation of the promotion rules, and corporate account deep-linking.
180 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-booking entity via a computer network connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction requiring submission of at least three different types of reservation data from the customer for successful completion thereof, each reservation data type having one of a plurality of different values, wherein each reservation data type value is dependent upon other reservation data type values, the method comprising:
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(a) displaying a page on the customer computer, the page including (1) a request that the customer submit values for at least two of the different data types, and (2) for each requested data value, a data submitter through which the customer can submit a data value to the automated reservation transaction processor;
(b) receiving data at the automated reservation transaction processor from the customer computer that corresponds to a submission of a data value for at least one of the data types;
(c) determining from the received data at least one data type, if any, that remains unsubmitted;
(d) if any unsubmitted data type is determined to remain, determining, on the basis of the interdependence of the different data values for the different reservation data types, a list of remaining acceptable values for the at least one unsubmitted reservation data type;
(e) displaying another page on the customer computer, the another page including (1) said at least one determined list of acceptable data submission values, and (2) for each said determined list, a data submitter for submitting at least one of said acceptable values to the automated reservation transaction processor; and
(f) repeating steps (b) through (e) as necessary until all required data types are successfully submitted to the automated reservation transaction processor, thereby completing the reservation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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- 17. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-booking entity via a computer network inter-connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction requiring submission of at least three different types of reservation data from the customer for successful completion thereof, each reservation data type having one of a plurality of different values, wherein each reservation data type value is dependent upon other reservation data type values, the method including presenting an initial page for data value entry for a plurality of reservation data types, accepting for partial data entry data values for less than all of said reservation data types, and determining, on the basis of the interdependence of the different data values for the different reservation data types, a list of acceptable data values for any un-entered reservation data types.
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23. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and a reservation-booking entity via a computer network connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction requiring a plurality of customer-entered pieces of information that are necessary for successful completion thereof, the method comprising displaying a page on the customer'"'"'s computer, the page being configured with:
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(1) at least one field for the customer to submit a piece of necessary information, and (2) a summary that includes (a) a list comprised of any pieces of said necessary information previously submitted by the customer and (b) at least one selectable edit link for requesting a data submitter for entering at least one revised data value for at least one piece of said necessary information. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An apparatus for processing a reservation transaction between a customer and a reservation-booking entity via a computer network, the reservation transaction requiring a plurality of customer-submitted pieces of information that are necessary for successful completion thereof, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor configured to create a page for display on a customer computer, the page having;
(1) at least one field for the customer to submit a piece of necessary information; and
(2) a summary that includes (a) a list comprised of any pieces of said necessary information previously submitted by the customer and (b) at least one selectable edit link for requesting a data submitter for entering at least one revised data value for at least one piece of said necessary information. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-making entity via a reservation booking website accessed over a computer network that connects a customer computer with the website host, the reservation transaction having at least three different data types for which the customer must submit a data value to effect a completion thereof, the method comprising:
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receiving data from the customer computer that is indicative of a selection of a promotional link, the promotional link having a promotion associated therewith, the promotion having at least one condition, the at least one condition corresponding to a particular promotional data value that one of the reservation data types must exhibit for the promotion to be valid;
creating a reservation transaction for the customer computer; and
deep-linking the customer computer into the reservation booking website such that, for the customer computer'"'"'s reservation transaction, any of the data types that correspond to the at least one promotion condition are set equal to the particular promotional data value. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-making entity via a reservation booking website accessed over a computer network that connects a customer computer with a website host, the reservation transaction having at least three different data types for which the customer must submit a data value to effect a completion thereof, the website comprising a plurality of interactive pages through which the customer submits data values to the host, the method comprising:
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receiving data from the customer computer that is indicative of a selection of a promotional link, the promotional link having a promotion associated therewith, the promotion having at least one condition that corresponds to a range of data values that one of the reservation data types must exhibit for the promotion to be valid;
creating a reservation transaction for the customer computer;
linking the customer computer to a page of the website;
receiving data from the customer computer that corresponds to a submission of a data value for a data type that corresponds to the at least one promotion condition;
identifying whether a violation of the at least one promotion condition exists by determining whether the submitted data value is within the condition'"'"'s range of valid data values;
if a promotion condition violation is identified, linking the customer computer to another page of the website, the another page being configured to notify the customer of the promotion condition violation; and
permitting the customer to complete the reservation either within the promotion condition or outside the promotion condition. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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51. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-making entity via a reservation booking website accessed over a computer network that connects a customer computer with a website host, the reservation transaction having at least three different data types for which the customer must submit a data value to effect a completion thereof, the website comprising a plurality of interactive pages through which the customer submits data values to the host, the method comprising:
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receiving data from the customer computer that is indicative of a selection of a promotional link, the promotional link having a promotion associated therewith, the promotion having at least one condition that corresponds to a range of required data values;
receiving data submitted from the customer computer corresponding to a reservation;
identifying whether a violation of the at least one promotion condition exists by determining whether at least one submitted data value is within the condition'"'"'s range of valid data values;
if a promotion condition violation is identified, notifying the customer of the promotion condition violation; and
permitting the customer to continue with either the promotion or with a standard reservation outside the promotion. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-making entity via a reservation booking website accessed over a computer network that connects a customer computer with the website host, the reservation transaction having at least three different data types for which the customer must submit a data value to effect a completion thereof, the method comprising:
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receiving data from the customer computer that is indicative of a selection of a corporate account, the corporate account having a pricing rate associated therewith and further having at least one parameter associated therewith, the parameter defining at least one condition corresponding to a particular data value that one of the reservation data types must exhibit for the corporate account pricing rate to carry over to the reservation transaction;
creating a reservation transaction for the customer computer;
deep-linking the customer computer into the reservation booking website such that, for the customer computer'"'"'s reservation transaction, any of the data types that correspond to the at least one parameter are set equal to the particular data value corresponding thereto; and
permitting the customer to complete the reservation as a corporate account reservation or outside the corporate account. - View Dependent Claims (57)
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58. A method of processing a reservation transaction between a customer and reservation-making entity via a reservation booking website accessed over a computer network that connects a customer computer with a website host, the reservation transaction having at least three different data types for which the customer must submit a data value to effect a completion thereof, the website comprising a plurality of interactive pages through which the customer submits data values to the host, the method comprising:
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receiving data from the customer computer that is indicative of a selection of a corporate account, the corporate account having a pricing rate associated therewith and further having at least one parameter associated therewith, the parameter defining at least one condition corresponding to a range of acceptable data values that a data value of one of the reservation data types must exhibit for the corporate account pricing rate to carry over to the reservation transaction;
creating a reservation transaction for the customer computer;
linking the customer computer to a page of the website;
receiving data from the customer computer that corresponds to a submission of a data value for a data type that corresponds to the at least one parameter;
identifying whether a violation of the at least one parameter exists by determining whether the submitted data value is within the parameter'"'"'s range of acceptable data values;
if a parameter violation is identified, linking the customer computer to another page of the website, the another page being configured to notify the customer of the parameter violation; and
permitting the customer to proceed either with a corporate account reservation or outside the corporate account parameters. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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60. A system for processing a reservation transaction between a customer and a reservation-making entity via a computer network connecting a customer computer with an automated reservation transaction processor, the reservation transaction comprising a plurality of data values, the automatic reservation transaction processor being programmed to display any one of a plurality of display pages, said plurality of display pages being inter-connected in a network so that most of said display pages offer movement to any one of a plurality of further display pages, wherein said processor is configured to move from one display page to another in response to data values not yet received, and wherein at least some of said another displayed pages include at least partial data corresponding to data values not yet received.
Specification