Method and system for an online rental vehicle reservation-booking website including a travel agent path
First Claim
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1. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
- providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user, wherein at least one of the pages of the travel agent path is configured to accept user input that defines a commission to be owed to a travel agent for a rental vehicle reservation booked by that user.
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Abstract
A system and method is disclosed herein for providing a travel agent path through a rental vehicle reservation-booking website. Among the features described as embodiments of the invention include the ability to quickly load travel agent client information into a renter information page of the website and the ability for travel agents to control their commission percentages. Also described is a confirmation page for the website having user-configurable features.
136 Citations
67 Claims
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1. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user, wherein at least one of the pages of the travel agent path is configured to accept user input that defines a commission to be owed to a travel agent for a rental vehicle reservation booked by that user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a rental vehicle reservation is stored; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; wherein the server is configured to provide a travel agent path through the website for access by a user, wherein at least one of the website pages of the travel agent path is configured to accept user input that defines a commission to be owed to a travel agent for a rental vehicle reservation booked by that user. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a rental vehicle reservation is stored; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; wherein the server is configured to (1) provide a travel agent path through the website for access by a user, and (2) within the travel agent path, accept input from the user on a per rental vehicle reservation basis that defines a commission to be owed to a travel agent for each rental vehicle reservation booked for that travel agent.
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8. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
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providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user; storing a client list for the travel agent; and providing at least one page of the travel agent path that is configured to accept input from the user selecting a client from the stored client list as a renter for a rental vehicle reservation booked by that user. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which a client list for a travel agent is stored; a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; and wherein the server is configured to provide a travel agent path through the website for access by a user of the user computer, wherein at least one of the website pages of the travel agent path is configured to accept input from the user selecting a client from the stored client list as a renter for a rental vehicle reservation booked by that user. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
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providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user; maintaining a profile for the travel agent; storing a client list for the travel agent in the travel agent profile, the client list for access from at least one page of the travel agent path by the user when booking a rental vehicle reservation on behalf of a client. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which a profile for a travel agent user is stored; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; and wherein the server is configured to provide a travel agent path through the website for access by the user; and wherein the travel agent profile is configured to store a client list for the travel agent, the client list for access from at least one page of the travel agent path by the user when booking a rental vehicle reservation on behalf of a client. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
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providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user; maintaining a profile for the travel agent; storing a plurality of travel agent identifiers in the travel agent profile, each travel agent identifier being selectable by the user for association with a rental vehicle reservation booked by the user to track a commission for the travel agent.
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29. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which a profile for a travel agent user is stored; a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; and wherein the server is configured to provide a travel agent path through the website for access by the user; and wherein the travel agent profile is configured to store a plurality of travel agent identifiers, each travel agent identifier being selectable by the user for association with a rental vehicle reservation booked by the user to track a commission for the travel agent.
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30. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
associating a plurality of commission tracking identifiers with a single rental vehicle reservation that is booked through a travel agent path of the website such that a plurality of commissions are payable to a plurality of parties for the single rental vehicle reservation. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a rental vehicle reservation is stored; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; wherein the server is configured to associate a plurality of commission tracking identifiers with a single rental vehicle reservation that is booked through a travel agent path of the website such that a plurality of commissions are payable to a plurality of parties for the single rental vehicle reservation. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
providing a confirmation page for display on the user computer, the confirmation page including a user-configurable display feature. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a rental vehicle reservation is stored; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; and wherein at least one of the pages comprises a confirmation page, the confirmation page including a user-configurable display feature. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
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providing a travel agent path through the website for access by a user to book a rental vehicle reservation on behalf of a client; receiving from the user an email address of the client; and responsive to the user booking the rental vehicle reservation for the client through the travel agent path, sending an email from a server for the website to the client'"'"'s email address that summarizes the rental vehicle reservation booked by the user.
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61. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a client of a travel agent is stored, the data including an email address of the client; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider; wherein the server is configured to (1) provide a travel agent path through the website for access by a user to book a rental vehicle reservation on behalf of the client, and (2) send an email from a server to the client'"'"'s stored email address that summarizes the rental vehicle reservation booked by the user on behalf of the client.
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62. A method for providing rental vehicle reservation booking services through an Internet website, the website being accessible by a user computer over the Internet and comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, the method comprising:
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associating each of a plurality of travel destinations with at least one branch location of a rental vehicle service provider; providing a page of the website for access by the user computer that lists at least a plurality of the travel destinations for selection by a user of the user computer; receiving from the user a selection of one of the listed destinations; and determining a branch location eligible for a rental vehicle reservation to be booked by the user based at least in part upon which at least one branch location is associated with the selected destination. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64)
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65. A system for providing rental vehicle reservation creation services, the system comprising:
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a memory in which data for a rental vehicle reservation is stored, the data including a plurality of associations between a plurality of branch locations of a rental vehicle service provider and a plurality of travel destinations; and a server in communication with the memory and the Internet, wherein the server is configured to provide an Internet website for access over the Internet by a user computer to book a rental vehicle reservation, the website comprising a plurality of pages for display on the user computer, wherein a plurality of the pages are user-interactive to accept user input regarding a creation of a rental vehicle reservation with the rental vehicle service provider; wherein the server is further configured to (1) provide at least one page of the website for display on the user computer that lists a plurality of the travel destinations for selection by the user, the at least one page being configured to accept user input corresponding to a selection of one of the listed destinations, and (2) determine at least one branch location eligible for the rental vehicle reservation based at least in part upon the associations between branch locations and travel destinations stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67)
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Specification