Internet based airline ticket purchasing and vacation planning system and method

• US 7,363,242 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2004
• Issued: 04/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Emirates
• Original Assignee: Emirates
• Inventors: Lewis, Simon, Meskovic, Amir, Chagani, Hassnain
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunham; Jason B.
• Application Number:
  US10/880,596
• Publication Number:
  US 20050021424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,391 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5, 705/6, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A system and method of processing a travel plan request from a customer includes (1) receiving customer information from a customer; (2) storing in a database the customer information; (3) sending to an agent a notification by an email, the notification including a link to the website, wherein the agent can access package request details by navigating to the link; (4) sending to the agent periodic re-notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time; (5) displaying to the agent the package request details on the website; (6) receiving via the website a response to the email from the agent; (7) storing in the database the response from the agent; (8) sending to the customer a notification of the response from the agent; (9) sending a re-notification to the customer if the customer fails to respond within a second predetermined period of time; (10) displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent, wherein the package quotation includes any combination of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers (adults, children, infants), additional remarks; (11) from the customer receiving a response indicating an acceptance or a rejection; (12) upon acceptance, sending an email to the agent with details of customer acceptance.

Claims

1. A method of processing a travel-related package request from a customer comprising:

receiving customer information regarding a travel related package, including a flight booking request from a customer;

storing the customer information in a database;

sending, from a package management system, a first agent notification to an agent via email, the notification including a link to a website, wherein the agent can access the package request details by navigating to the link;

sending agent notifications to the agent if the agent fails to responds within a first predetermined period of time;

displaying on the website the package request details to the agent;

querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation, including querying a Private Fares database, wherein the Private Fares are offered by a particular airline to a particular travel agent;

receiving via the website a response to the email from the agent;

sending to the customer a first customer notification of the response from the agent;

sending a second customer notification to the customer if the customer fails to responds within a second predetermined period of time;

displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent including only actually available fares to the customer based on the quotation from the Global Distribution System, but not any phantom fares;

receiving a response from the customer indicating one of an acceptance or a rejection; and

upon acceptance, sending an email to the agent with details of the customer acceptance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the first agent notification.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after sending to the customer the first customer notification of the response from the agent.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

6. A method of processing a travel-related request from a customer comprising:

receiving customer information regarding a travel related package, including a flight booking request that includes flexible travel dates;

storing the customer information in a local database;

sending a first notification to an agent, wherein the agent can access package request details, and wherein the package request details are based on Private Fares that are offered by a particular airline to a particular travel agency;

sending agent notifications to the agent if the agent does not respond within a first predetermined period of time;

displaying to the agent the package request details;

querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation, including querying a Private Fares database, wherein the Private Fares are offered by a particular airline to a particular travel agent;

receiving and storing a response from the agent;

notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight booking request;

displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the approval of the package from the agent including only actually available fares to the customer based on the quotation from the Global Distribution System, but not any phantom fares;

upon acceptance by the customer, notifying the agent of the acceptance; and

removing the customer from an active search list.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the first agent notification to an agent.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after displaying to the customer the package quotation based on the response from the agent.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

11. A system for processing a travel-related package request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving customer information regarding a travel related package, including a flight booking request;

means for storing in a database the customer information;

means for sending, from a package management system, a first agent notification to an agent via email, the notification including a link to a website, wherein the agent can access package request details by navigating to the link;

means for sending to the agent agent notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the agent the package request details on the website;

means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation, including querying a Private Fares database, wherein the Private Fares are offered by a particular airline to a particular travel agent;

means for receiving from the agent, via the website, a response from the agent;

means for sending to the customer a first customer notification of the approval of the package from the agent;

means for sending to the customer a second customer notification if the customer fails to respond within a second predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent including only actually available fares to the customer based on the quotation from the Global Distribution System, but not any phantom fares; and

means for notifying the agent of the acceptance by the customer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first predetermined period of time is at least two days after sending the first agent notification to the agent.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the second predetermined period of time is at least one day after sending the first customer notification to the customer of the response from the agent.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the customer information includes any of customer email address, customer name, telephone number, budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks.

16. A system for processing a travel-related request from a customer comprising:

means for receiving customer information regarding a travel related package, including a flight booking request that includes flexible travel dates;

means for storing in a local database the customer information;

means for sending a first agent notification to an agent, wherein the agent can access package request details in the database;

means for sending to the agent agent notifications if the agent fails to respond within a first predetermined period of time;

means for displaying to the agent the package request details;

means for querying a Global Distribution System for a quotation, including querying a Private Fares database, wherein the Private Fares are offered by a particular airline to a particular travel agent;

means for receiving a response from the agent;

means for notifying the customer of the response from the agent;

means for notifying the customer if a flight is available at a fare within a range specified by the customer in the flight booking request;

means for displaying to the customer a package quotation based on the response from the agent, including only actually available fares to the customer based on the quotation from the Global Distribution System, but not any phantom fares, wherein the package quotation includes any of budget, destination, origin, departure and return dates, preference of hotel type, preference of hotel room, preference of meal type, preference of flight type, flight class, number of passengers, and additional remarks;

means for receiving from the customer an acceptance or rejection;

means for notifying the agent of the details of the acceptance; and

means for removing the customer from an active search list.