Digital recreation of original bag tag identifier

Abstract

The disclosure presents a method and system for luggage handling and / or check-in processes for passengers on return travel. After completion of a leg of travel of a passenger with a travel carrier, the process includes electronically acquiring, by at least one electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) printed on an originating printed bag tag from the travel carrier that is on a luggage item to create a digital BTI data record linked to the travel carrier. The method includes accessing information of the originating printed bag tag of the passenger populated in a manifest file. The method includes printing, by a printing device, a return leg travel International Air Transport Association (IATA) bag tag for a return flight linked to the originating printed bag tag.

Description

This disclosure discloses a method and system for baggage handling and / or check-in processes during passenger return journeys. After a passenger completes a travel segment with a transport carrier, the process includes electronically capturing the Original Hard Copy Baggage Tag Identifier (OP-BTI) printed on the original printed baggage tag from the baggage item using at least one electronic capture device, to create a digital BTI data record linked to that transport carrier. The method includes accessing the passenger's original printed baggage tag information, which has been entered into the manifest file. The method also includes printing an International Air Transport Association (IATA) format baggage tag for the return segment of the journey linked to the original printed baggage tag by a printing device. Abstract

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for facilitating check-in of a passenger having a first luggage item, the passenger traveling to and from a destination, the method comprising: after the first luggage item arrives at the destination: a) electronically acquiring, by at least one electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) associated with or printed on a printed bag tag from an originating airline carrier that is on the first luggage item of the passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the originating airline carrier, the BTI data record having a unique identifier; b) accessing, by a processor, a B-type message containing a passenger name record (PNR) number corresponding to the passenger using the unique identifier from a computer system associated with an originating airline carrier; c) retrieving, by the processor, check-in information of a return leg of travel of the passenger with a designated return travel carrier using information associated with the PNR number; and d) checking in, by the processor, the passenger with the designated return travel carrier based on the retrieved check-in information, during a check-in window.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronically acquiring, by the at least one electronic acquiring device, includes one of: a) scanning, by a barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed paper bag tag from the airline carrier that is attached to the first luggage item; b) scanning, by the barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed marker from the airline that is attached to the first luggage item; and c) reading, by a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader, an RFID tag associated with the BTI data record.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OP-BTI includes an International Air Transport Association (IATA) license plate and the BTI data record is representative of the license plate.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the retrieved check-in information includes return leg flight times.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: during the checking in, by the processor, obtaining airline bag tag information for the return leg of travel for checked in luggage items for the passenger; and printing, by a printer, a new bag tag for the return leg of travel that is compatible with an International Air Transport Association (IATA) license plate for each checked in luggage item of the passenger.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of replacing the printed bag tag from the originating airline carrier with the new bag tag for the return leg of travel.

7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of, during the checking in, by the processor, obtaining, by the processor, boarding pass information for the return leg of travel of the passenger; and communicating, by the processor, the boarding pass information to an electronic communication device of the passenger.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the boarding pass information includes bar coded boarding pass information.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the boarding pass information is in an e-ticketing format.

10. A system for facilitating check-in of a passenger having a first luggage item, the passenger traveling to and from a destination, the system comprising: a processor; anda memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, are configured to, after the first luggage item arrives at a destination, cause the processor to: a) electronically acquire, from at least one electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) associated with or printed on a printed bag tag from an originating airline carrier that is on the first luggage item of the passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the originating airline carrier; b) access a B-type message containing a passenger name record (PNR) number corresponding to the passenger using a unique identifier representative of the digital BTI data record from a computer system associated with an originating airline carrier; c) retrieve check-in information of a return leg of travel of the passenger with a designated return travel carrier using information associated with the PNR number; and d) check-in the passenger with the designated return travel carrier based on the retrieved check-in information, during a check-in window.

11. The system according to claim 10, further comprising at least one electronic acquiring device, the at least one electronic acquiring device including at least one of: a barcode scanner; and a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the OP-BTI includes an International Air Transport Association (IATA) license plate and the BTI data record is representative of the license plate, and wherein the retrieved check-in information includes return leg flight times.

13. The system according to claim 10, further comprising: a printer; and wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: during the check-in, obtain airline bag tag information for the return leg of travel for checked in luggage items for the passenger; andprint, by the printer, a new bag tag for the return leg of travel that is compatible with an International Air Transport Association (IATA) license plate for each checked in luggage item of the passenger.

14. The system according to claim 10, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: during the check-in, obtain boarding pass information for the return leg of travel of the passenger; and communicate the boarding pass information to an electronic communication device of the passenger.

15. A method for facilitating check-in of a passenger having a first luggage item, the passenger traveling to and from a destination, the method comprising: a) electronically acquiring, by at least one electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) associated with or printed on a printed bag tag from an originating airline carrier that is on the first luggage item of the passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the originating airline carrier; b) accessing, by a processor, a B-type message containing a passenger name record (PNR) number corresponding to the passenger using a unique identifier representative of the digital BTI from a computer system associated with an originating airline carrier; c) retrieving, by the processor, check-in information of a return leg of travel of the passenger with a designated return travel carrier using information associated with the PNR; and d) checking in, by the processor, the passenger with the designated return travel carrier based on the retrieved check-in information, during a check-in window.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the B-type message containing the passenger name record (PNR) number corresponding to the passenger is one of a baggage transfer message (BTM), a baggage source message (BSM), a baggageprocessed message (BPM), a baggage unload message (BUM), a baggage control message (BCM), a baggage manifest message (BMM), or a baggage request (BRQ).

17. A method comprising: a) electronically acquiring, by at least one electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) associated with or printed on a printed bag tag from a travel carrier that is on a luggage item of a passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the travel carrier; b) accessing, by at least one processor, passenger return flight information from a computer system associated with the travel carrier, based on the BTI data record; and c) printing, by a printing device, a return leg travel International Air Transport Association (IATA) bag tag for a return flight associated with the accessed passenger return flight information.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the OP-BTI associated with the travel carrier on the luggage item of the passenger is acquired from a radio -frequency communication.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the travel carrier is an airline carrier; and the electronically acquiring, by at least one electronic acquiring device, includes one of: a) scanning, by a barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed paper bag tag from the airline carrier that is attached to the luggage item; b) scanning, by the barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed marker from the airline carrier that is attached to the luggage item; c) receiving, by a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader, RFID information associated with the OP-BTI; or d) receiving, by a near field communication (NFC) reader, an NFC signal associated with the OP-BTI.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the OP-BTI includes an IATA license plate.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the accessing, by the at least one processor, the passenger return flight information includes accessing a B-type message using the digital BTI data record, the B-type message containing a passenger name record (PNR) number.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the B-type message includes a baggage source message (BSM).

23. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of checking in, by the at least one processor, the passenger for the return flight with a return flight carrier.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising, during the check in, the steps of: obtaining boarding pass information for the return flight of the passenger; and communicating, by the at least one processor, the boarding pass information to an electronic communication device of the passenger.

25. A method comprising: a) electronically acquiring, by an electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) printed on an originating printed bag tag from a travel carrier that is on a luggage item of a passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the travel carrier; b) accessing, by at least one processor, information of the originating printed bag tag of the passenger populated in a manifest file; and c) printing, by a printing device, a return leg travel IATA bag tag for a return flight linked to the originating printed bag tag from information in the manifest file.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the travel carrier is an airline carrier; and the electronically acquiring, by the electronic acquiring device, includes one of: a) scanning, by a barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed paper bag tag from the airline carrier that is attached to the luggage item; or b) scanning, by the barcode scanner, the OP-BTI on a printed marker from the airline carrier that is attached to the luggage item.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the OP-BTI includes an IATA license plate.

28. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: checking in, by the at least one processor, the passenger for the return flight with a return flight carrier.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising, during the check in: obtaining boarding pass information for the return flight of the passenger; and communicating, by the at least one processor, the boarding pass information to an electronic communication device of the passenger.

30. A system comprising: an acquiring device to electronically acquire an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) printed on an originating printed bag tag from a travel carrier that is on a luggage item of a passenger to create a digital BTI data record linked to the travel carrier; at least one processor to access information of the originating printed bag tag of the passenger populated in a manifest file; and a printing device to print a return leg travel IATA bag tag for a return flight linked to the originating printed bag tag.

31. The system according to claim 30, wherein the travel carrier is an airline carrier; and the electronic acquiring device includes a barcode scanner to scan the 0P- BTI.

32. The system according to claim 30, wherein the OP-BTI includes an IATA license plate.

33. The system according to claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to check-in the passenger for the return flight with a return flight carrier.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured, during the check in, to: obtain boarding pass information for the return flight of the passenger; and communicate the boarding pass information to an electronic communication device of the passenger.

35. The system according to claim 30, wherein the information accessed in the manifest file includes that for a cruise ship.

36. The system according to claim 30, wherein the information accessed in the manifest file includes that for a lodging entity.

37. A method comprising: a) electronically acquiring, by an electronic acquiring device, an originating hardcopy bag tag identifier (OP-BTI) printed on an originating printed bag tag from an airline travel carrier that is on a luggage item of the passenger; b) utilizing, by at least one processor, the OP-BTI as a unique identifier to query a database to retrieve return flight data; and c) printing, by a printing device, a return leg travel IATA bag tag for a return flight from the retrieved return flight data.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the database is queried by at least a substring of integer characters comprising the OP-BTI.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the database is a travel information system of the airline travel carrier.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the return leg travel IATA bag tag includes a human readable character string.

41. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of formatting the return flight data to an IATA bag tag specification prior to printing.

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