Internet based airline ticket purchasing and vacation planning system and method

• US 20050021424A1
• Filed: 07/01/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emirates
• Original Assignee: Emirates
• Inventors: Lewis, Simon, Meskovic, Amir, Chagani, Hassnain
• Granted Patent: US 7,363,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A system and method of processing a travel plan request from a customer includes (1) receiving customer information from a customer; (2) storing in a database the customer information; (3) sending to an agent a notification by an email, the notification including a link to the website, wherein the agent can access package request details by navigating to the link; (4) sending to the agent periodic re-notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time; (5) displaying to the agent the package request details on the website; (6) receiving via the website a response to the email from the agent; (7) storing in the database the response from the agent; (8) sending to the customer a notification of the response from the agent; (9) sending a re-notification to the customer if the customer fails to respond within a second predetermined period of time; (10) displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent, wherein the package quotation includes any combination of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers (adults, children, infants), additional remarks; (11) from the customer receiving a response indicating an acceptance or a rejection; (12) upon acceptance, sending an email to the agent with details of customer acceptance.

Claims

1. A method of processing a travel-related package request from a customer comprising:

receiving customer information from a customer;

storing the customer information in a database;

sending a notification to an agent via email, the notification including a link to a website, wherein the agent can access package request details by navigating to the link;

sending periodic re-notifications to the agent if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time;

displaying on the website the package request details to the agent;

receiving via the website a response to the email from the agent;

storing in the database the response from the agent;

sending to the customer notification of the response from the agent;

sending a re-notification to the customer if the customer fails to respond within a second predetermined period of time;

displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent;

receiving a response from the customer indicating one of an acceptance or a rejection; and

upon acceptance, sending an email to the agent with details of customer acceptance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the notification to the agent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after sending to the customer notification of the response from the agent.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

6. A method of processing a travel-related request from a customer comprising:

receiving customer information;

storing the customer information;

sending a notification to an agent, wherein the agent can access package request details;

sending periodic re-notifications to the agent if the agent does not respond within a first predetermined period of time;

displaying to the agent the package request details;

storing a response from the agent;

displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent; and

upon acceptance by the customer, notifying the agent of the acceptance.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the notification to an agent.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after displaying to the customer the package quotation based on the response from the agent.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

11. A system for processing a travel-related package request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving customer information;

means for storing in a database the customer information;

means for sending to an agent a notification by an email, the notification including a link to a website, wherein the agent can access package request details by navigating to the link;

means for sending to the agent periodic re-notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the agent the package request details on the website;

means for receiving from the agent a response to the email via the website;

means for storing in the database the response from the agent;

means for sending to the customer notification of the response from the agent;

means for sending to the customer a re-notification if the customer fails to respond within a second predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent;

means for notifying the agent of the acceptance by the customer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the notification to the agent.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after sending to the customer notification of the response from the agent.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

16. A system for processing a travel-related request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving customer information;

means for storing in a database the customer information;

means for sending a notification to an agent, wherein the agent can access package request details in the database;

means for sending to the agent periodic re-notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the agent the package request details;

means for receiving a response from the agent;

means for storing in the database the response from the agent;

means for notifying the customer of the response;

means for displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks;

means for receiving from the customer an acceptance or rejection; and

means for notifying the agent of the details of the acceptance.

17. A method of processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

receiving flight request information from a customer;

querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

displaying only the available fares to the customer; and

periodically notifying the customer of available fares.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation also queries a Private Fares database for the quotation.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the flight request information comprises flexible travel dates.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving customer information from a customer that includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks,

wherein the notification is based on the customer information.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising storing the flight request information in a local database.

22. A method of processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

receiving flight request information from a customer;

querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight request information; and

removing the customer from an active search list after the notifying step.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation also queries a Private Fares database for the quotation.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the flight request information comprises flexible travel dates.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising receiving customer information from a customer that includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks,

wherein the notification is based on the customer information.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising displaying only the available fares to the customer.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight request information.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising storing the flight request information in a local database.

29. A method of processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

receiving flight request information from a customer;

querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

storing fares from the previous searches for other customers in a local database;

displaying only the available fares to the customer based on the previous searches and the quotation from the Global Distribution System.

30. A system for processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

means for displaying only the available fares to the customer; and

means for periodically notifying the customer of available fares.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation also queries a Private Fares database for the quotation.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the flight request information comprises flexible travel dates.

33. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for receiving customer information from the customer that includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks,

wherein the notification is based on the customer information.

34. The system of claim 30, further comprising means for storing the flight request information in a local database.

35. A system for processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

means for notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight request information; and

means for removing the customer from an active search list after the notifying step.

36. A system for processing a flight booking request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

means for storing fares from the previous searches for other customers in a local database;

means for displaying only the available fares to the customer based on the previous searches and the quotation from the Global Distribution System.

37. A computer program product for processing a flight booking request from a customer, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for controlling a processor, the computer program logic comprising:

computer program means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

computer program means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

computer program means for displaying only the available fares to the customer; and

computer program means for periodically notifying the customer of available fares.

38. A computer program product for processing a flight booking request from a customer, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for controlling a processor, the computer program logic comprising:

computer program code means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

computer program code means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

computer program code means for notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight request information; and

computer program code means for removing the customer from an active search list after the notifying step.

39. A computer program product for processing a flight booking request from a customer, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for controlling a processor, the computer program logic comprising:

computer program code means for receiving flight request information from a customer;

computer program code means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation;

computer program code means for storing fares from the previous searches for other customers in a local database;

computer program code means for displaying only the available fares to the customer based on the previous searches and the quotation from the Global Distribution System.