Computerized system with means to automatically clear and sell wait-listed customer reservations
First Claim
1. A reservation system for use by travel agents which electronically and automatically clears travel requests and which comprises:
- means for communicating with a storage device storing an inventory of seats on a particular mode of transportation, said seats being categorized as unavailable if sold or reserved and being categorized as available if unsold or unreserved;
said inventory of seats being changeable as a result of cancellation and non-cancellation events;
said communicating means including means for enabling at least one agent to request a desired seat on a desired mode of transportation by specifying a desired set of criteria;
means for evaluating the seat request to determine the availability of the desired seat and for providing an indication to said at least one agent of a completed transaction if said requested seat is in said available category and of a non-completed transaction if said requested seat is in said unavailable category;
means for compiling and storing a set of wait-listed requests comprising a plurality of said non-completed transactions; and
said communicating means further including means for automatically clearing and selling said wait-listed seat requests without further intervention of said at least one agent by continuously and automatically querying said changeable seat inventory in said storage device about each said wait-listed request and re-evaluating each said wait-listed request until each said wait-listed request is filled.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to an electronic inventory clearing system having particular utility as an airline reservation system. The system includes one or more devices for storing information from which transactions can be generated, at least one transaction forwarding and storage station for requesting a desired transaction and an information processing unit for evaluating requested items with respect to the stored information. The information processing unit is capable of compiling a list of uncompleted transactions and of automatically querying the information storage device(s) for the availability of items to fill each transaction on the list. A process for using the system is also described.
239 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A reservation system for use by travel agents which electronically and automatically clears travel requests and which comprises:
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means for communicating with a storage device storing an inventory of seats on a particular mode of transportation, said seats being categorized as unavailable if sold or reserved and being categorized as available if unsold or unreserved; said inventory of seats being changeable as a result of cancellation and non-cancellation events; said communicating means including means for enabling at least one agent to request a desired seat on a desired mode of transportation by specifying a desired set of criteria; means for evaluating the seat request to determine the availability of the desired seat and for providing an indication to said at least one agent of a completed transaction if said requested seat is in said available category and of a non-completed transaction if said requested seat is in said unavailable category; means for compiling and storing a set of wait-listed requests comprising a plurality of said non-completed transactions; and said communicating means further including means for automatically clearing and selling said wait-listed seat requests without further intervention of said at least one agent by continuously and automatically querying said changeable seat inventory in said storage device about each said wait-listed request and re-evaluating each said wait-listed request until each said wait-listed request is filled. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A process for electronically and automatically clearing travel requests which comprises:
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communicating with at least one storage device for storing an inventory of seats on a particular mode of transportation, said seats being categorized as unavailable if sold or reserved and being categorized as available if unsold or unreserved; said inventory of seats being changeable as a result of cancellation and non-cancellation events; said communicating step comprising requesting a desired seat on a desired mode of transportation by specifying a desired set of criteria; evaluating the seat request to determine the availability of the desired seat; providing an indication to an agent of a completed transaction if the requested seat is in the available category and a non-completed transaction if the requested seat is in the unavailable category; compiling and storing a set of wait-listed seat requests comprising a plurality of said non-completed transactions; and said communicating step further comprising automatically clearing and selling said wait-listed seat requests without further intervention of the agent by continuously and automatically querying said inventory in said at least one storage device about each said wait-listed request and re-evaluating each said wait-listed request until each said wait-listed request is filled. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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12. A process as in claim 21 further comprising halting said querying step as a result of an operator issuing instruction to stop said querying.
- 13. A process as in claim 21 wherein said indication providing step further comprises notifying said agent of the completion of a previously uncompleted transaction.
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19. A process for electronically and automatically processing travel requests which comprises:
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communicating with at least one storage device for storing information about an inventory of seats on a particular mode of transportation; collecting a plurality of requests made by at least one requester about desired seats on said mode of transportation; storing said collected requests for later processing; said communicating step including continuously and automatically processing each said stored request by continuously and automatically querying said inventory; and notifying a requester about a particular one of said collected requests which is available in said inventory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification