Market-level inventory control system and method
First Claim
1. An automated method of managing physical routes provided by a transportation carrier, comprising:
- defining one or more market groups, each including a selected amount of space to be accommodated on any one or more of the physical routes selected for inclusion in the market group;
booking at least some of the space to one or more customers of the transportation carrier; and
after the booking step is completed, mapping the space that was booked to the one or more customers to any one or more of the physical routes selected for inclusion in the market group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for managing inventory on a market basis is disclosed. When employed by a transportation carrier, the system allows for the creation of a market group that includes a limited amount of space that is provided by any one or more of a certain group of physical routes (e.g., airline flights traveling between predetermined departure and destination points flying on selected dates). A qualifying customer or request may book one or more seats to this market group rather than to a specific physical route. The customer is guaranteed a seat on one of the physical routes, but is not informed as to the route on which travel will occur until a time closer to departure when the space allocated to the market group is mapped to the physical routes. In one embodiment, the market groups are defined using programmable business rules of a type interpreted by a rules engine.
34 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An automated method of managing physical routes provided by a transportation carrier, comprising:
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defining one or more market groups, each including a selected amount of space to be accommodated on any one or more of the physical routes selected for inclusion in the market group; booking at least some of the space to one or more customers of the transportation carrier; and after the booking step is completed, mapping the space that was booked to the one or more customers to any one or more of the physical routes selected for inclusion in the market group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10-16. -16. (not entered)
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17. A data processing system for use by a transportation carrier, comprising:
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means for defining market groups, each including selected space on selected routes provided by the transportation carrier; and booking means for booking passengers on at least part of the selected space of one or more of the market groups without determining which of the selected routes the passengers will travel. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22-24. -24. (not entered)
Specification