Fare compare—a system for collecting and displaying price information

• US 8,751,272 B1
• Filed: 09/28/1999
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Expedia Inc. (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Expedia Inc. (Expedia Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seybold, Charles A., Zimmerman, Jon P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dean T
• Application Number:
  US09/406,959
• Time in Patent Office: 5,369 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5, 705/26, 705/227, 705/37, 705/1, 705/6, 705/22, 705/27, 705/1.1, 705/7.29, 701/201, 701/208, 701/211, 295/226, 295/228, 295/238, 340/825.3
• US Class Current: 705/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0629 for generating comparisons

Abstract

A service for pricing items of inventory contained in a searchable database is available for access via the Internet. Where multiple items can satisfy a consumer'"'"'s request, it is typical for a service to perform an inventory search for items that match a consumer'"'"'s request. When the inventory is stored in an inventory database, the inventory database is queried for the purpose of retrieving a result set which matches the consumer'"'"'s request. A separate fare server database containing inventory recently known to be available, located local to the Internet server for fast and efficient access, can also be provided for performing searches related to the consumer'"'"'s request. Some inventory, even though recently known to have been available, is filtered out before being stored in the fare server database and inventory is removed when outdated, no longer available or purchased. Searches that are less specific than the search performed in the inventory database based on the consumer request can be performed in the fare server database to retrieve information about similar inventory. In addition to displaying the result set from the inventory database to the consumer, a market summary can be presented to the consumer that reflects information concerning similar inventory. Information from the searches in the fare server database forms the basis for providing the market summary. A consumer is also given the option to purchase the similar inventory returned from the fare server database. As a result, a consumer is not only more informed about the market for which a purchase is being considered, but also has the additional option to purchase similar inventory. A consumer can also directly query the fare server database for flexible searching and for fast and efficient access to market information. The fare server database can be used for multiple client services.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory, the method comprising:

under control of one or more configured computer systems;

accepting information input specifying characteristics of an item to be priced;

retrieving, from a first database of dynamic inventory, a first pricing result set for the item that satisfies the specified characteristics;

automatically determining relaxed specified characteristics by removing at least one characteristic from the specified characteristics according to one or more pre-determined rules, wherein the relaxed specified characteristics are determined automatically without receipt of additional information input specifying characteristics of the item to be priced;

retrieving, from a second database of dynamic inventory that is different than the first database, a second pricing result set for the item that satisfies the automatically determined relaxed specified characteristics, wherein the second database comprises dynamic inventory that has been returned from prior searches of the first database and is stored in the second database for less than a selected time period;

preparing market summary information from said second pricing result set for the item, wherein said market summary comprises prices; and

displaying the first pricing result set for the item and said prepared market summary.

2. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein the second database consists essentially of dynamic inventory that has been returned from prior searches of the first database and is stored in the second database for less than the selected time period.

3. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein the second database is automatically updated with dynamic inventory retrieved from said first database.

4. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said method is implemented on an Internet-based travel service.

5. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 4, wherein said Internet-based service comprises a Web site capable of displaying information to a consumer and receiving offers from the consumer.

6. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said first database is a global distribution system.

7. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said first database comprises a plurality of databases, each different from said second database.

8. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said market summary information further comprises a lowest price, a highest price, and an average price.

9. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said second pricing result set comprises a departure city characteristic.

10. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said second pricing result set comprises a departure city and a destination city characteristic.

11. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said second pricing result set comprises a departure city, a destination city, and an earliest departure date characteristic.

12. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein said second pricing result set comprises a departure city, a destination city, an earliest departure date, and a latest departure date characteristic.

13. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory according to claim 1, wherein lowest priced displayed items, as determined by a prescribed algorithm, are displayed differently than other priced items.

14. A computer-implemented method for pricing dynamic inventory for a user, the method comprising:

under control of one or more configured computer systems,

receiving information input specifying a selected number of characteristics of an item being priced;

obtaining a first pricing result set from a search of a first database of dynamic inventory according to the received information;

automatically obtaining a second pricing result set in response to obtaining the first pricing result set from a search of a second database of dynamic inventory, different from the first database, wherein the search of the second database contains less than the selected number of characteristics and wherein the second pricing set is obtained automatically without receipt of additional information input specifying additional characteristics of an item to be priced;

preparing market summary information for the first pricing result set from the second pricing result set; and

outputting, on an output device, the first pricing result set for the item and the market summary information.

15. A computer-implemented method according to claim 14, wherein the second database comprises dynamic inventory that has been returned from prior searches of the first database and is stored in the second database for less than a selected time period.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded thereon instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computing apparatus, cause the computing apparatus to:

accept information input specifying characteristics of an item to be priced;

retrieve from a first database of dynamic inventory, a first pricing result set for the item that satisfies the specified characteristics;

automatically determine relaxed specified characteristics for the item to be priced by removing at least one characteristic from the specified characteristics according to one or more pre-determined rules, wherein the relaxed specified characteristics are determined automatically without receipt of additional information input specifying characteristics of the item to be priced;

retrieve from a second database of dynamic inventory that is different from the first database, a second pricing result for the item that satisfies the relaxed specified characteristics, wherein the second database comprises dynamic inventory that has been returned from prior searches of the first database is stored in the second database for less than a selected time period;

prepare market summary information from said second pricing result set; and

display the first pricing result set for the item and said market summary information.

17. A computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the second database consists essentially of dynamic inventory that has been returned from prior searches of the first database and is stored in the second database for less than the selected time period.