Method and apparatus for selling international travel tickets in combination with duty free goods
First Claim
1. A method of selling international travel tickets in combination with duty free items from a single merchant, comprising the steps of:
- offering to sell to a customer, via a computing device associated with said merchant over a computer network, a specific international travel ticket for travel with a first passenger carrier at a discounted price and one or more specific duty free items;
in conjunction with said offer to sell said specific international travel ticket at said discounted price, the computing device requiring said customer to select for purchase as part of a single transaction both the specific international travel ticket and at least one specific duty free item selected from a group of one or more specific duty free items, the at least one specific duty free item to be delivered to the customer at or near an exit point or on board the passenger carrier during the travel associated with the specific international travel ticket said merchant having arranged with the first passenger carrier for delivery of the at least one specific duty free item to said customer during the travel associated with said specific international travel ticket without the merchant being required to pay at least a portion of a concession fee otherwise charged by the first passenger carrier to merchants for selling or delivering such duty free items;
acknowledging, via the computing device, said customer'"'"'s decision to purchase said specific international travel ticket and said at least one specific duty free item, the acknowledgment being made over said computer network;
accepting, via the computing device, payment over said computer network from said customer for said specific international travel ticket and said specific duty free item;
arranging for delivery, using the computing device, of said specific international travel ticket to said customer;
advising, via the computing device, said customer of the method of delivery of said specific duty free item to said customer, said method of delivery being connected to said customer engaging in the international travel associated with said specific international travel ticket; and
determining, via the computing device, the discounted price of said specific international travel ticket based at least in part on a dollar value of one or more duty free items which are or must be purchased from the merchant such that the portion of the concession fee not paid by the merchant on the dollar value is sufficient to allow the merchant to sell the specific international ticket at the discounted price.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for selling a combination of travel tickets and consumer items to customers and, in particular, for selling international travel tickets and duty free items to international travelers. By acquiring surplus international travel tickets in bulk at discounted prices and by selling the duty free items in a way which avoids the overhead typically associated with such sales, the selling merchant is able to offer the combination of an international travel ticket and a duty free item to a consumer at a price below what the consumer would pay if the consumer separately acquired the ticket and duty free item from third parties. In one implementation, the selling merchant offers the consumer a free duty free item upon purchase of an international travel ticket, or vice versa. In a preferred embodiment, both the consumer and the selling merchant employ computers communicating over a computer network to carry out the inventive method.
12 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of selling international travel tickets in combination with duty free items from a single merchant, comprising the steps of:
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offering to sell to a customer, via a computing device associated with said merchant over a computer network, a specific international travel ticket for travel with a first passenger carrier at a discounted price and one or more specific duty free items; in conjunction with said offer to sell said specific international travel ticket at said discounted price, the computing device requiring said customer to select for purchase as part of a single transaction both the specific international travel ticket and at least one specific duty free item selected from a group of one or more specific duty free items, the at least one specific duty free item to be delivered to the customer at or near an exit point or on board the passenger carrier during the travel associated with the specific international travel ticket said merchant having arranged with the first passenger carrier for delivery of the at least one specific duty free item to said customer during the travel associated with said specific international travel ticket without the merchant being required to pay at least a portion of a concession fee otherwise charged by the first passenger carrier to merchants for selling or delivering such duty free items; acknowledging, via the computing device, said customer'"'"'s decision to purchase said specific international travel ticket and said at least one specific duty free item, the acknowledgment being made over said computer network; accepting, via the computing device, payment over said computer network from said customer for said specific international travel ticket and said specific duty free item; arranging for delivery, using the computing device, of said specific international travel ticket to said customer; advising, via the computing device, said customer of the method of delivery of said specific duty free item to said customer, said method of delivery being connected to said customer engaging in the international travel associated with said specific international travel ticket; and determining, via the computing device, the discounted price of said specific international travel ticket based at least in part on a dollar value of one or more duty free items which are or must be purchased from the merchant such that the portion of the concession fee not paid by the merchant on the dollar value is sufficient to allow the merchant to sell the specific international ticket at the discounted price. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of selling duty free items in combination with international travel tickets from a single merchant, comprising:
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offering to sell to a customer, via a computing device over a computer network, at least one of a plurality of specific duty free items at an offering price; in conjunction with said offer to sell said at least one specific duty free item at said offering price, the computing device requiring said customer to select for purchase as part of a single transaction both the specific duty free item and at least one specific international travel ticket to be selected from the group of one or more specific international travel tickets, the at least one specific duty free item to be delivered to the customer at or near an exit point or on board the passenger carrier during the travel associated with said at least one-specific international travel ticket said merchant having arranged with the first passenger carrier for delivery of the at least one specific duty free item to said customer during the travel associated with said at least one specific international travel ticket without the merchant being required to pay at least a portion of a concession fee otherwise charged by the passenger carrier to merchants for selling or delivering such duty free items; acknowledging, via the computing device, said customer'"'"'s decision to purchase said at least one specific duty free item and said at least one specific international travel ticket, the acknowledgment being made over said computer network; accepting, via the computing device, payment over said computer network from said customer for said at least one specific duty free item; advising, via the computing device, said customer of the method of delivery of said at least one specific duty free item to said customer;
said method of delivery being connected to said customer engaging in the international travel associated with said at least one specific international travel ticket;arranging for delivery, using the computing device, of said at least one specific international travel ticket to said customer; and determining, via the computing device, the offering price of said at least one specific duty free item such that the portion of the concession fee not paid by the merchant on the offering price is sufficient to allow the merchant to sell the specific international travel ticket. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer implemented method for offering a combination of an international travel ticket and a duty free item to a consumer, the method comprising:
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offering, via a merchant server, a plurality of international travel tickets and a plurality of duty free items to a customer; allowing, via the merchant server, the customer to select at least one of the international travel tickets for travel on a first passenger carrier or at least one of the duty free items for purchase; if the customer has selected at least one of the international travel tickets, the merchant server requiring the customer to select at least one of the duty free items to obtain in combination with the selected international travel ticket at a first price; if the customer has selected at least one of the duty free items, the merchant server requiring the customer to select at least one of the international travel tickets to obtain in combination with the selected duty free item at a second price; selling, via the merchant server, the at least one selected international travel tickets and the at least one selected duty free items to the customer in a single transaction; and arranging for delivery, using the merchant server, of the at least one selected duty free items to the customer in association with the customer'"'"'s travel using the at least one selected international travel tickets at or near an exit point or on board the first passenger carrier; wherein the first price and the second price are each determined such that at least a portion of a concession fee otherwise charged by the first passenger carrier to merchants for selling or delivering such duty free items is not included in the first and second prices. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification