Pre-boarding auction system for airline seat upgrades

• US 9,697,479 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2013
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SeatBoost, LLC
• Original Assignee: SeatBoost, LLC
• Inventors: Stamler, Kevin M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Joseph, Tonya
• Application Number:
  US13/926,985
• Publication Number:
  US 20140006070A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,470 Days
• Field of Search: 705 5, 705 6, 705 711, 705 141- 1473, 705 16, 705 20, 705 22, 705 261- 30, 705 37, 705 39, 705400
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A system for upgrading airline seats during an online pre-boarding auction that is accessible through travelers'"'"' mobile devices. The auction starts at or after check-in but prior to the boarding of a flight. During the auction, travelers that have confirmed reservations for an airline flight are permitted to bid on one or more seat upgrades through their mobile devices. For example, the travelers may be bidding on upgrades from economy to first class, and the bids may be submitted through bidding applications installed on the travelers'"'"' mobile devices. The auction can be a live auction that updates the travelers on the status of the auction and receives bids from the travelers throughout the auction. The auction ends prior to boarding, and the winning travelers are sent upgrade confirmations, such as scannable boarding codes that can be used as boarding passes when boarding the flight.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a mobile bidding application to a plurality of travelers for installation on respective mobile devices of the travelers, the mobile bidding application executable on a mobile device to display a first user interface to receive a bid for a seat upgrade;

receiving, at a server, from the mobile device of one of the travelers, a flight confirmation code for the traveler for an airline flight at an airport;

verifying, by comparing the flight information code to a flight manifest for the airline flight, that the traveler has a confirmed reservation for the airline flight;

determining from a flight data system that the airline flight that has not yet begun boarding at the airport;

receiving, from the mobile bidding applications of the mobile devices, GPS location information identifying current locations of the mobile devices of the travelers that have reservations for the airline flight;

receiving, from the flight data system, flight reservation information comprising a number of the travelers with reservations for the flight;

determining, from the current locations of the mobile devices of the plurality of travelers that have reservations for the flight, a number of the travelers who are at a location of the airport;

determining, from the number of travelers that have reservations for the flight and the number of travelers that have reservations for the flight and are at the location of the airport, a percentage of the travelers that have reservations for the flight that are at the location of airport;

comparing the determined percentage of travelers to a threshold percentage;

determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction for at least one seat upgrade for the airline flight in response to the determined percentage being above the threshold percentage, the auction start time being at or after check-in time for the airline flight but prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;

beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time;

receiving, during the live online pre-boarding auction, a plurality of bids for the at least one seat upgrade from the first user interface of the mobile bidding applications of the plurality of mobile devices of travelers that have reservations for the airline flight;

transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction, information to the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing a respective bid, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers, wherein the information is displayed in the first user interface of the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;

updating, during the live online pre-boarding auction, the information identifying the one or more highest bidding travelers as the bids are received, wherein the updated information is displayed in the first user interface of the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;

ending the live online pre-boarding auction prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;

determining, after ending the auction and prior to the boarding time, which traveler that submitted at least one bid is a winner of the at least one seat upgrade based on the plurality of bids; and

responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the at least one seat upgrade, transmitting, prior to the boarding time, a seat upgrade confirmation to the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bidding application is executable to display a second user interface to receive the flight confirmation code, and the server receives the flight confirmation code input by a traveler in the second user interface of the mobile bidding application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving seat upgrade information from the flight data system identifying at least one seat on the airline flight available for auction; and

notifying the traveler of the online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade responsive to the seat upgrade information indicating that there are seats on the airline flight available for auction.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, prior to the boarding time, winning traveler information to the flight data system responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the seat upgrade, the winning traveler information identifying the traveler that is determined to be the winner of the at least one seat upgrade; and

receiving the seat upgrade confirmation from the flight data system, the flight data system generating the seat upgrade confirmation based on the winning traveler information,

wherein the seat upgrade confirmation is transmitted, prior to the boarding time, to the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner responsive to receiving the seat upgrade confirmation from the flight data system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, prior to the boarding time, the seat upgrade confirmation comprises:

transmitting a scannable boarding code for an upgraded seat on the airline flight responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the at least one seat upgrade.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the traveler of the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting notification information to the mobile device of the traveler.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the traveler of the auction start time of the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting start time information to the mobile device of the traveler.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the auction end time is determined to be a pre-determined amount of time prior to the boarding time or a departure time of the airline flight.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the bids for the at least one seat upgrade received during the live online pre-boarding auction is a bid made with frequent flier miles.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, to a display monitor that is separate from the mobile devices and located at a boarding gate for the airline flight during the live online pre-boarding auction, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a number of seat upgrades available for auction,

wherein beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time comprises beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time responsive to determining the number of seat upgrades available for auction.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the auction start time is further determined based on the boarding time or a departure time for the airline flight.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight;

wherein the auction start time is further determined based on the number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user interface includes an interactive bidding element, and the plurality of bids for the at least one seat upgrade are generated responsive to respective finger swipes of the interface bidding element.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile seat upgrade confirmation is displayed in a second user interface of the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of bids received from the first user interface includes at least one bid generated in response to swiping of an interactive bidding element in the first user interface.

10. A system, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for;

providing a mobile bidding application to a plurality of travelers for installation on respective mobile devices of the travelers, the mobile bidding application executable on a mobile device to display a first user interface to receive a bid for a seat upgrade;

receiving, at a server, from a mobile device of one of the travelers a flight confirmation code of the traveler for an airline flight at an airport;

verifying, by comparing the flight information code to a flight manifest for the airline flight, that the traveler has a confirmed reservation for the airline flight;

determining from a flight data system that the airline flight that has not yet begun boarding at the airport;

receiving, from the mobile bidding applications of the mobile devices, GPS location information identifying current locations of the mobile devices of the travelers that have reservations for the airline flight;

receiving, from the flight data system, flight reservation information comprising a number of the travelers with reservations for the flight;

determining, from the current locations of the mobile devices of the plurality of travelers that have reservations for the flight, a number of the travelers who are at a location of the airport;

determining, from the number of travelers that have reservations for the flight and the number of travelers that have reservations for the flight and are at the location of the airport, a percentage of the travelers that have reservations for the flight that are at the location of airport;

comparing the determined percentage of travelers to a threshold percentage;

determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction for at least one seat upgrade for the airline flight in response to the determined percentage being above the threshold percentage, the auction start time being at or after check-in time for the airline flight but prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;

beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time;

receiving, during the live online pre-boarding auction, a plurality of bids for the at least one seat upgrade from the first user interface of the mobile bidding applications of the plurality of mobile devices of travelers that have reservations for the airline flight;

transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction, information to the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing a respective bid, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers, wherein the information is displayed in the first user interface of the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;

updating, during the live online pre-boarding auction, the information identifying the one or more highest bidding travelers as the bids are received, wherein the updated information is displayed in the first user interface of the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;

ending the live online pre-boarding auction prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;

determining, after ending the auction and prior to the boarding time, which traveler that submitted at least one bid is a winner of the at least one seat upgrade based on the plurality of bids; and

responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the at least one seat upgrade, transmitting, prior to the boarding time, a seat upgrade confirmation to the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner; and

a processor to execute the instructions.

11. The system of claim 10, the instructions further comprising instructions for:

transmitting, prior to the boarding time, winning traveler information to the flight data system responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the seat upgrade, the winning traveler information identifying the traveler that is determined to be the winner of the at least one seat upgrade; and

receiving the seat upgrade confirmation from the flight data system, the flight data system generating the seat upgrade confirmation based on the winning traveler information,

wherein the seat upgrade confirmation is transmitted, prior to the boarding time, to the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner responsive to receiving the seat upgrade confirmation from the flight data system.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein transmitting, prior to the boarding time, the seat upgrade confirmation comprises:

transmitting a scannable boarding code for an upgraded seat on the airline flight responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the at least one seat upgrade.

19. The system of claim 10, the instructions further comprising instructions for the mobile bidding application to display a second user interface to receive the flight confirmation code input by the traveler and transmit the received flight confirmation code to the server.