Post-booking travel assistance and organization

• US 10,204,317 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2010
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sabre GLBL Inc. (Sabre Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sabre GLBL Inc. (Sabre Corp.)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Thomas B., Samuel, John, Grassanovits, Robyn
• Primary Examiner(s): Erb, Nathan
• Application Number:
  US12/720,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20100228577A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,262 Days
• Field of Search: 705 5- 6
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

To address post-booking and other issues, an application may be run on a user device, such as a mobile device, to provide improved, real-time travel organization and messaging. Some embodiments may also be configured to create, maintain, update, and delete a trip container to which trip content can be automatically or manually associated. In some instances, a user may be required to pay a fee to download the application and/or be required to pay a periodic subscription fee to facilitate ongoing functionality of the application. In addition to or instead of downloading the application, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware and/or other particular machine components can be configured to implement some or all aspects of the application.

Claims

1. A method of accessing and displaying information comprising:

performing an offline process, the offline process comprising;

surveying known information, the known information comprising information configured for access without having to establish communications with or retrieve from a remote source,

wherein surveying the known information comprises;

accessing, by a processor, known travel information;

determining a physical location of a user computing device associated with the known travel information; and

determining a current time;

dynamically monitoring the physical location by increasing a frequency at which the physical location is determined as the current time approaches a barrier time, the barrier time indicative of a time at which an interference of the known travel information occurs if a barrier location is not reached; and

determining, based on the current time and the physical location, that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information;

only after determining that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information, performing an on-line process,

wherein performing the on-line process comprises;

determining that the message requires retrieved information;

establishing a secure communications link with one or more remote sources;

receiving time variable information that is dynamic; and

determining, based on the known travel information, the current time and the physical location, that the time variable information interferes with the known travel information;

providing the message to a user of the user computing device indicating interference of the known travel information;

determining, based on the time variable information, the current time, the physical location and the known travel information, a service option that is available, wherein the service option helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the interference of the known travel information; and

providing the service option to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

providing the service option to the user comprises generating a user-selectable option offering to provide the service option.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving an indication of the user'"'"'s desire to select the service option; and

in response to receiving the indication, assisting in enabling the utilization of the service option.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the assisting further comprises at least one of facilitating the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitating the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitating the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitating a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a purchase of goods, obtaining a coupon for a good, and obtaining a coupon for a service.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the assisting further comprises:

generating a message including information related to the interference of the known travel information; and

sending the message including information to another computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the determining the physical location is performed by the user computing device; and

the determining the service option is performed by a network computing device located remotely from the user computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing the known travel information comprises the user computing device obtaining the known travel information from at least one of a network computing device located remotely from the user computing device, and a local storage component of the user computing device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a new trip container comprising event information.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

storing the new trip container in local storage of the user computing device; and

storing a copy of the new trip container in a network storage device located remotely from the user computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the service option comprises updating a user interface to indicate the service option, wherein the user interface includes details of the known travel information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the service option comprises an advertisement for goods or services.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the service option comprises a coupon for the goods or the services.

13. An apparatus configured to access, download and display travel information from at least one remote source, comprising:

a processor configured to;

perform an offline process, the offline process configured to;

survey known information, the known information comprising information configured for access without having to establish communications with or retrieve from a remote source,

wherein surveying the known information causes the processor to;

access known travel information;

determine a physical location of the apparatus; and

determine a current time;

dynamically monitor the physical location by increasing a frequency at which the physical location is determined as the current time approaches a barrier time, the barrier time indicative of a time at which an interference of the known travel information occurs if a barrier location is not reached; and

determine, based on the current time and the physical location, that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information;

only after determining that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information, perform an on-line process,

wherein the on-line process is configured to;

determine that the message requires retrieved information;

establish a secure communications link with one or more remote sources;

receive time variable information that is dynamic; and

determine, based on the known travel information, the current time and the physical location, that the time variable information interferes with the known travel information;

provide the message to a user of the apparatus indicating interference of the known travel information;

determine, based on the time variable information, the current time, the physical location, and the known travel information, a service option that is available,

wherein the service option helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the interference of the known travel information; and

provide the service option to the user.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to generate, for inclusion in a display, a selectable option to share information indicating interference of the known travel information with another user computing device.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

provide the service option to the user by generating a user-selectable option, for inclusion in a display, that offers to provide the service option.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine that the user-selectable option has been selected; and

in response, assist in enabling the utilization of the service option.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to at least one of facilitate the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitate the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitate the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitate a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a purchase of goods, obtain a coupon for a good, and obtain a coupon for a service.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

facilitate payment for a good, a service or both; and

generate a display that includes a coupon with a scannable barcode associated with the payment for the good, the service, or both.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a new trip container comprising event information.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a new trip container from a remote computing device comprising event information.

21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

provide the service option by updating a user interface to indicate the service option, wherein the user interface includes details of the known travel information.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the service option comprises an advertisement for goods or services.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the service option comprises a coupon for the goods or the services.