POST-BOOKING TRAVEL ASSISTANCE AND ORGANIZATION

• US 20100228577A1
• Filed: 03/09/2010
• Published: 09/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sabre GLBL Inc. (Sabre Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sabre Incorporated (Sabre Corp.)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Thomas B., Samuel, John, Grassanovits, Robyn
• Granted Patent: US 10,204,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

To address post-booking and other issues, an application may be run on a user device, such as a mobile device, to provide improved, real-time travel organization and messaging. Some embodiments may also be configured to create, maintain, update, and delete a trip container to which trip content can be automatically or manually associated. In some instances, a user may be required to pay a fee to download the application and/or be required to pay a periodic subscription fee to facilitate ongoing functionality of the application. In addition to or instead of downloading the application, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware and/or other particular machine components can be configured to implement some or all aspects of the application.

Claims

1. A method of accessing and displaying information comprising:

accessing travel information associated with a previously planned travel itinerary;

determining a physical location of a user device associated with the travel information; and

generating event information using circuitry, wherein the generating is based on the physical location and the travel information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a current time, wherein the generating the event information is also based on the current time.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a service that is available, wherein the service helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the event information; and

generating a user-selectable option offering to provide the service.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

receiving an indication of a user'"'"'s desire to select the option; and

in response to receiving the indication, assisting in enabling the utilization of the service.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the assisting further comprises at least one of facilitating the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitating the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitating the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitating a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a purchase of goods, obtaining a coupon for a good, or obtaining a coupon for a service.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the assisting further comprises:

generating a message including information related to the event information; and

sending the message to another device.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the service is associated with at least one of the physical location and the travel information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the determining a physical location is performed by a user device; and

the generating the event information is performed by a network device located remotely from the user device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing the travel information comprises a user device obtaining the travel information from at least one of a network device located remotely from the user device and a local storage component of the user device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a new trip container comprising the event information.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

storing the new trip container in local storage of the user device; and

storing a copy of the new trip container in a network storage device located remotely from the user device.

12. An apparatus configured to access, download and display travel information from at least one remote source, comprising:

a processor configured to;

download travel information associated with a previously planned travel itinerary;

determine a physical location of the apparatus; and

generate event information based on the physical location and the travel information.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to generate, for inclusion in a display, a selectable option to share the event information with another user device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a current time, wherein the event information is also based on the current time.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a service that is available, wherein the service helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the event information; and

generate a user-selectable option, for inclusion in a display, that offers to provide the service.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the user-selectable option has been selected; and

in response, assist in enabling the utilization of the service.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to facilitate the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitate the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitate the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitate a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a purchase of goods, obtain a coupon for a good, or obtain a coupon for a service.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

facilitate payment for a good, a service or both; and

generate a display that includes a coupon with a scannable barcode associated with the payment for the good, the service, or both.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a new trip container comprising the event information.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a new trip container from a remote device comprising the event information.

21. A method of storing information comprising:

receiving trip content;

determining, using circuitry, whether the trip content is new to a trip container; and

in response to determining the trip content is new;

adding the trip content to the trip container; and

dynamically rebuilding the trip container.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein receiving the trip content comprises receiving at least one of travel itinerary information, digital picture data, or a message sent to another.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein dynamically rebuilding the trip container comprises:

determining whether the trip content includes a change to existing trip content; and

in response to determining the trip content includes the change, analyzing the impact of the trip content on the existing trip content.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein dynamically rebuilding the trip container comprises:

determining whether the trip content includes information that conflicts with existing trip content; and

in response to determining the trip content includes the information conflicting the change, analyzing the impact of the trip content on the existing trip content.

25. The method of claim 21 further comprising identifying the trip container based on data included in the trip content.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein identifying the trip content further comprises determining at least one of a physical location or current time associated with the trip content.

27. An apparatus configured to storing information comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive trip content;

determine whether the trip content is new to a trip container; and

in response to determining the trip content is new;

add the trip content to the trip container; and

dynamically rebuild the trip container.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the trip content comprises at least one of travel itinerary information, digital picture data, or a message sent to another.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the trip content includes a change to existing trip content; and

in response to determining the trip content includes the change, analyze the impact of the trip content on the existing trip content.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine whether the trip content includes information that conflicts with existing trip content; and

in response to determining the trip content includes information that conflicts, analyze the impact of the trip content on the existing trip content.

31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one of a physical location or current time associated with the trip content.