Mileage purchase options for frequent traveler award redemption by rule

• US 20060053052A1
• Filed: 09/09/2004
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Daughtrey, Rodney S., Baggett, David M., Thumim, Daniel J., Vogel, Thomas C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,615,425 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.330
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward

Abstract

Techniques, for automatically determining frequent traveler award redemptions by rule are disclosed. The frequent travel award redemption program is encoded in rules using predefined data structures based on fare by rule data structures. The techniques automatically determine a travel itinerary based on a query and the rules. Also included is a graphical user interface that displays a plurality of possible travel options for redemption using a frequent travel award. The rules include fields to determine co-pay options and for calculating mileage purchase options.

Claims

1. A method executed in a computer-based network comprising:

receiving rules for frequent travel award redemption programs, with the rules encoded in predefined data structures including fields to enable determination of a permitted deficit in award credit and a rate to purchase award credit; and

automatically calculating a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit and the rate to purchase award credit fields.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a currency.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein automatically calculating a cost comprises automatically calculating a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, and the currency fields.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein automatically calculating a cost comprises automatically calculating a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles and a field to indicate a currency.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein automatically calculating a cost comprises automatically calculating a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined data structures comprise a category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the fields to indicate the minimum balance in earned miles needed, permitted deficit in award credit needed and the rate to purchase award credit are located in filler areas in the category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein calculation of purchasable travel award credit comprises:

retrieving a Category 25, Record 3 ATPCO data structure;

reading the permitted deficit field to determine if the field has a non-null or non-zero value; and

if the value is non-null or non-zero, determining the purchase rate by using a value from a number of miles field and a value from a purchase rate field to determine the purchase rate for the purchasable travel award credit.

11. A system comprising:

a computing device adapted to;

receive rules for frequent travel award redemption programs, with the rules encoded in predefined data structures including fields to enable determination of a permitted deficit in award credit and a rate to purchase award credit; and

automatically calculate a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit and the rate to purchase award credit fields.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a currency.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the system automatically calculates a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, and the currency fields.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the system automatically calculates a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles and a field to indicate a currency.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the system automatically calculates a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the predefined data structures comprise a category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the fields to indicate the minimum balance in earned miles needed, permitted deficit in award credit needed and the rate to purchase award credit are located in filler areas in the category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein the system calculates purchasable travel award credit by:

retrieving a Category 25, Record 3 ATPCO data structure;

reading the permitted deficit field to determine if the field has a non-null or non-zero value; and

if the value is non-null or non-zero, determining the purchase rate by using a value from a number of miles field and a value from a purchase rate field to determine the purchase rate for the purchasable travel award credit.

21. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product comprising instructions operable to cause data processing apparatus to:

receive rules for frequent travel award redemption programs, with the rules encoded in predefined data structures including fields to enable determination of a permitted deficit in award credit and a rate to purchase award credit; and

automatically calculate a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit and the rate to purchase award credit fields.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a currency.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the product further comprises instructions to automatically calculate a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, and the currency fields.

24. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles.

25. The computer program product of claim 24 wherein the product further comprises instructions to automatically calculate a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

26. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the predefined data structures include a field to indicate a number of miles and a field to indicate a currency.

27. The computer program product of claim 26 wherein the product further comprises instructions to automatically calculate a cost for a travel itinerary based on values associated with the permitted deficit, the rate to purchase award credit, the currency, and the number of miles fields.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the predefined data structures comprise a category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

29. The computer program product of claim 28 wherein the fields to indicate the minimum balance in earned miles needed, permitted deficit in award credit needed, and the rate to purchase award credit are located in filler areas in the category 25 record 3 ATPCO data structure.

30. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein instructions to calculate purchasable travel award credit comprise instructions to:

retrieve a Category 25, Record 3 ATPCO data structure;

read the permitted deficit field to determine if the field has a non-null or non-zero value; and

if the value is non-null or non-zero,

determine the purchase rate by using a value from a number of miles field and a value from a purchase rate field to determine the purchase rate for the purchasable travel award credit.