Mobile Device-Enhanced User Selection of Specific Rental Vehicles for a Rental Vehicle Reservation

• US 20140278599A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Reh, E. Paul, Harmon, Michele Muscarella, Connors, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 9,499,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/101 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/103 Near field communication [NFC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/105 Radio frequency identification data [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices

Abstract

A number of techniques are disclosed for making it more convenient and efficient for customers to conduct various rental vehicle transactions. As an example, a technique for performing an automated pickup of a rental vehicle using a mobile device is disclosed. As another example, a technique for performing an automated return administration of a rental vehicle using a mobile device is disclosed. As another example, a technique for permitting customer to select a particular rental vehicle for a rental vehicle transaction using a mobile device is disclosed. Also disclosed is a technique for permitting a customer to keylessly start a rental vehicle using a machine-sensible item such as his/her mobile device without requiring the customer to possess a smart key.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

permitting a customer with a rental vehicle reservation to select a specific rental vehicle for pickup in response to input from the customer via a mobile computing device associated with the customer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising enforcing a time limit on a customer'"'"'s selection that requires the customer to pick up the selected rental vehicle within a specified time window.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

presenting a list of specific rental vehicles that are available for pickup to the customer;

receiving a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list in response to customer input through the mobile computing device;

determining whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for pickup by the customer; and

in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for pickup by the customer, placing a hold on the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is no longer available for pickup by the customer, notifying the customer that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is not available.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the hold is a time-limited hold, the method further comprising:

determining whether the customer picks up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold; and

in response to a determination that the customer has not picked up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold, removing the hold and notifying the customer that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection has been released from the hold.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the reservation is for a vehicle class, the method further comprising:

permitting the customer to change the vehicle class to access a list of specific rental vehicles available for pickup in the changed vehicle class.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein the method steps are performed by a processor.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the plurality of processors include a processor resident on the mobile computing device and a processor resident in a server.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to (1) access rental vehicle reservation data for a customer in response to input from a remote computer, (2) determine a rental vehicle class and a rental vehicle pickup location based on the accessed rental vehicle reservation data, (3) generate a list of specific rental vehicles within the determined rental vehicle class that are available for pickup at the rental vehicle pickup location, (4) communicate data representative of the list to the remote computer for display thereon, (5) receive further input from the remote computer indicative of a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list, and (6) place a hold on the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection to permit a pickup by the customer of the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) determine whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for pickup by the customer, and (2) perform the hold placement in response to a determination that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection is still available for pickup by the customer.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the hold is a time-limited hold, and wherein the processor is further configured to enforce a time limit on the time-limited hold to require the customer to pick up the held specific rental vehicle within the time limit.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) determine whether the customer picks up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold, and (2) in response to a determination that the customer has not picked up the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the received selection before expiration of the time-limited hold, remove the hold.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the remote computer comprises a mobile computing device.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the mobile computing device comprises a smart phone.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the processor is further configured to (1) receive further input from the remote computer indicative of a request to change the rental vehicle class, and (2) in response to the received request, (i) generate a new list of specific rental vehicles within the changed rental vehicle class that are available for pickup at the rental vehicle pickup location, (ii) communicate data representative of the new list to the remote computer for display thereon.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a mobile computing device, the mobile computing device configured to (1) receive data from a remote rental vehicle reservation computer system, the received data being indicative of a plurality of specific rental vehicles available for pickup by a customer in accordance with a rental vehicle reservation of the customer, (2) generate a graphical user interface (GUI) screen for display to the customer, the GUI being configured to present a list of the available specific rental vehicles, (3) receive a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list from the customer through the GUI screen, and (4) communicate the selection to the remote rental vehicle reservation computer system.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to (5) responsive to the selection communication, receive data from the remote rental vehicle reservation computer system indicative of whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, and (6) in response to the received data indicating that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, notify the customer through a GUI screen for display by the mobile computing device that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection will be held for the customer for a specified time period.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to display a remaining amount of time for the time period on a GUI screen.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to notify the customer through a GUI screen when the time period for the hold has expired.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to condition the list GUI screen generation on a current time being within a specified window before a pickup date/time of the rental vehicle reservation.

22. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to permit the customer to access additional information about the specific rental vehicles on the list via a GUI screen.

23. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the mobile computing device comprises a smart phone with a touchscreen user interface.

24. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the mobile computing device comprises a tablet computer with a touchscreen user interface.

25. A computer program product comprising:

a mobile application comprising a plurality of processor-executable instructions that are resident on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions configured to (1) receive data from a remote rental vehicle reservation computer system, the received data being indicative of a plurality of specific rental vehicles available for pickup by a customer in accordance with a rental vehicle reservation of the customer, (2) generate a graphical user interface (GUI) screen for display to the customer, the GUI being configured to present a list of the available specific rental vehicles, (3) receive a selection of a specific rental vehicle from the list from the customer through the GUI screen, and (4) communicate the selection to the remote rental vehicle reservation computer system.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the instructions are further configured to (5) responsive to the selection communication, receive data from the remote rental vehicle reservation computer system indicative of whether the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, and (6) in response to the received data indicating that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection is available for pickup by the customer, notify the customer through a GUI screen for display by the mobile computing device that the specific rental vehicle corresponding to the selection will be held for the customer for a specified time period.

27. The computer program product of claim 26 wherein the instructions are further configured to display a remaining amount of time for the time period on a GUI screen.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the instructions are further configured to notify the customer through a GUI screen when the time period for the hold has expired.

29. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the instructions are further configured to condition the list GUI screen generation on a current time being within a specified window before a pickup date/time of the rental vehicle reservation.

30. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the instructions are further configured to permit the customer to access additional information about the specific rental vehicles on the list via a GUI screen.

31. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the mobile application is configured for execution on a smart phone with a touchscreen user interface.

32. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the mobile application is configured for execution on a tablet computer with a touchscreen user interface.