SMART REROUTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TRAVELERS

• US 20170200095A1
• Filed: 01/07/2016
• Published: 07/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2016
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Carvajal, Herbert Barrientos, Bhogal, Kulvir S., Hernandez Magro, Agueda Martinez, Hamilton, II, Rick A.
• Application Number:
  US14/990,188
• Publication Number:
  US 20170200095A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/14 Travel agencies

Abstract

A system, method and program product for providing rerouting options for airline travelers. A system is disclosed that includes: a passenger scanning system that detects enabled mobile devices in geospatial zones associated with a plurality of airports; a passenger management system that verifies passengers associated with detected enabled mobile devices, retrieves itineraries for verified passengers, and handles communications with verified passengers; an itinerary management system that monitors for special conditions associated with retrieved itineraries and handles itinerary modifications in response to identified special conditions; and a passenger database that stores state information for each verified passenger.

Claims

1. A rerouting system that provides rerouting options to airline passengers, comprising:

a passenger scanning system that detects enabled mobile devices in geospatial zones associated with a plurality of airports;

a passenger management system that verifies passengers associated with detected enabled mobile devices, retrieves itineraries for verified passengers, and handles communications with verified passengers;

an itinerary management system that monitors for special conditions associated with retrieved itineraries and handles itinerary modifications in response to identified special conditions; and

a passenger database that stores state information for each verified passenger.

2. The rerouting system of claim 1, wherein the passenger scanning system utilizes a GPS (global positioning system) location service to detect enabled mobile devices.

3. The rerouting system of claim 1, wherein itineraries are retrieved via an airline reservation system.

4. The rerouting system of claim 1, wherein a detected special condition includes a condition selected from a group consisting of:

an overbooked flight, a delayed flight, a canceled flight, a flight with a tight connection, a waitlist condition, a staff/family space availability situation, an upgrade availability, and a cost.

5. The rerouting system of claim 1, wherein handling of an itinerary modification includes:

searching for an alternative itinerary at an airline reservation system through which an original itinerary was booked;

presenting the alternative itinerary to the passenger on an enabled mobile device;

in response to the alternative itinerary being accepted, interfacing with the airline reservation system to generate a modified itinerary.

6. The rerouting system of claim 5, further comprising searching for the alternative itinerary at a partner airline reservation system in response to no alternative itinerary being available at the airline reservation system.

7. The rerouting system of claim 5, further comprising a baggage management system for rerouting passenger baggage in response to the alternative itinerary being accepted.

8. A computer program product stored on a computer readable storage medium, which when executed by a computing system, provides rerouting options to airline passengers, the computer program product comprising:

programming logic that tracks detected enabled mobile devices in geospatial zones associated with a plurality of airports;

programming logic that verifies passengers associated with detected enabled mobile devices, retrieves itineraries for verified passengers, and handles communications with verified passengers;

programming logic that monitors for special conditions associated with retrieved itineraries and handles itinerary modifications in response to identified special conditions; and

programming logic that maintains a passenger database of state information for each verified passenger.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein enabled mobile devices are detected with a GPS (global positioning system) location service.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein itineraries are retrieved via an airline reservation system.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein a special condition includes a condition selected from a group consisting of:

an overbooked flight, a delayed flight, a canceled flight, a flight with a tight connection, a waitlist condition, a staff/family space availability situation, an upgrade availability, and a cost.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein handling of an itinerary modification includes:

searching for an alternative itinerary at an airline reservation system through which an original itinerary was booked;

presenting the alternative itinerary to the passenger on an enabled mobile device;

in response to the alternative itinerary being accepted, interfacing with the airline reservation system to generate a modified itinerary.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising searching for the alternative itinerary at a partner airline reservation system in response to no alternative itinerary being available at the airline reservation system.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising programming logic for rerouting passenger baggage in response to the alternative itinerary being accepted.

15. A method for providing rerouting options to airline passengers, comprising:

detecting enabled mobile devices in geospatial zones associated with a plurality of airports;

verifying passengers associated with detected enabled mobile devices;

retrieving itineraries for verified passengers;

monitoring for special conditions associated with retrieved itineraries;

proposing alternative itineraries in response to identified special conditions; and

generating a modified reservation in response to an acceptance of a proposed alternative itinerary.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein itineraries are retrieved via an airline reservation system.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein a special condition includes a condition selected from a group consisting of:

an overbooked flight, a delayed flight, a canceled flight, a flight with a tight connection, a waitlist condition, a staff/family space availability situation, an upgrade availability, and a cost.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein handling of an itinerary modification includes:

searching for an alternative itinerary at an airline reservation system through which an original itinerary was booked; and

searching for the alternative itinerary at a partner airline reservation system in response to no alternative itinerary being available at the airline reservation system.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising rerouting passenger baggage in response to the alternative itinerary being accepted.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising storing and maintaining state information of verified passengers in a passenger database.