158 results about "Airline ticket" patented technology

A system and method for preventing personal identity theft when making online and offline purchases requires a purchaser to first subscribe and become a member user by registering and providing relevant personal identity information. Once registered, the member is assigned a user name and a password. The subscribing member's personal identity information is then encrypted and stored at one or more highly secure locations. The ID protection system obtains a controlled use card (CUC) through a CUC issuer on behalf of the member for use to make each purchase transaction. The CUC is anonymous with respect to user (member) identity and may be a purchase-specific single-use card or a multiple-use stored value card with no traceable connection to any other financial account. When the member makes a secure online purchase, the system software enters anonymous information (i.e. not revealing the member's real name, email address, billing information, etc.) on the merchant's order placement screen, except in instances where the member's real identity information is required (e.g. airline tickets). The merchant receives the completed checkout screen, obtains credit approval through a credit card association, and sends the shipping information to a shipper which independently obtains the correct shipping name and address from the ID protection system prior to shipping the purchased product(s).

A system and method for grouping and selling products or services using a computer system, potentially connected to a network. The computer system includes a computer with multiple terminals, potentially instantiated as a server computer or computers and distributed client computers. The computer system presents a sales interface on some terminals. The sales interface shows products or services and groups of products and / or services that are for sale. The computer system presents a back end interface on some terminals, which can be used to enter new products, services and groupings of products and / or services to be offered for sale on the sales interface. Descriptions of the products or service offerings are entered into the computer system either by data entry operators using the back end interface or by a program reading product or service descriptions from external computer systems. The method groups these products or services according to an affinity algorithm. The groupings may then potentially be reviewed and approved or selected by human operators using the back end interface before being offered for sale on the sales interface. One advantageous application is the dynamic packaging of perishable items such as travel goods and services (e.g., airline tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms, entertainment opportunities, etc.).

A method and system for preventing or obstructing a person from negotiating a transaction with another person, group, or entity in a population, includes verifying and crosschecking the identity of the person and the status of the national identification card carried by the person, as a prerequisite to negotiating or entering into a transaction, such as purchasing an airline ticket. If an irregularity is found during the verification or crosscheck, or if the identification card is found to be invalid or expired, the person is prevented or obstructed from negotiating that or any subsequent transaction with any other person, group or entity in the population.

A method and apparatus for purchasing an airline ticket and other travel services that includes entering into a computer, information describing a service such as a flight desired by a consumer. The present invention is embodied via a graphical user interface for a travel planning system is described. The graphical user interface is implemented as a web page and includes a tabular region of the graphical user interface that displays summarized travel options and comprises a plurality of cells that act as controls.

A system and method for preventing personal identity theft when making online and offline purchases requires a Purchaser to first subscribe and become a Member user by registering, providing relevant personal identity information, and establishing two-way multi-factor authentication information for security purposes. The subscribing Member provides relevant information to any one or more financial sources (e.g. credit card accounts, bank accounts) that will be used to fund subsequent purchase transactions. Once registered, the Member is assigned a user name and a password. The subscribing Member's personal identity information is then encrypted and stored at one or more highly secure locations. The ID protection system obtains a controlled use card (CUC) through a CUC issuer on behalf of the Member for use in making each purchase transaction. The CUC is anonymous with respect to user (Member) identity and may be a purchase-specific single-use card or a multi-purpose card with no traceable connection to any other financial account. The CUC is funded by the Member's one or more financial sources, as selected by the Member. When the Member makes a secure purchase, the Merchant is presented with anonymous information (i.e. not revealing the Member's real name, email address, billing information, etc.), except in instances where the Member's real identity information is required (e.g. airline tickets). The Merchant obtains credit approval and sends the shipping information to a shipper which independently obtains the correct shipping name and address from the ID protection system prior to shipping the purchased product(s) to the ultimate destination selected by the purchasing Member.

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.

A system and method of booking an itinerary on at least one of a multiplicity of host environments include a plurality of host adaptor modules. Each host adaptor module is configured to interact with one of the plurality of host ticketing environments. A booking engine is provided for receiving commands related to booking the air travel itinerary and determining an appropriate host ticketing environment for processing the commands based on a number of predefined criteria. When the booking engine receives a command it forwards the command to a first host adaptor module which is associated with first host ticketing environment selected by the booking engine for processing the command. The host adaptor module receives the command and issues the command to said first host ticketing environment. The first host adaptor module in turn receives a response from the first host ticketing environment and determines whether the response comports with an expected response. If the response does not comport with the expected response, the booking engine identifies a second appropriate host environment for processing the command and forwards the command to a second host adaptor module associated with the second host ticketing environment. The second host adaptor module then issues the command to the second host ticketing environment.

A method for accepting payments from a consumer for a travel ticket from a travel company comprises receiving at a point of sale device a transaction request that includes a transaction identifier that identifies a travel arrangement made with the travel company and a payment amount. The payment amount and the transaction identifier is transmitted to a host computer system for validation. Also, a validation from the host computer system is received indicating that the transaction requested has been validated. A payment is received from the consumer, and at least a portion of the payment is electronically transmitted to the travel company.

An unspecified-time airline ticket representing a purchased seat on a flight to be selected later, by the airlines, for a traveler-specified itinerary (e.g., NY to LA on March 3rd) is disclosed. Various methods and systems for matching an unspecified-time ticket with a flight are also disclosed. An exemplary method includes: (1) making available an unspecified-time ticket; (2) examining a plurality of flights which would fulfill the terms of the unspecified-time ticket to determine which flight to select; and (3) providing notification of the selected flight prior to departure. The disclosed embodiments provide travelers with reduced airfare in return for flight-time flexibility and, in turn, permits airlines to fill seats that would have otherwise gone unbooked. Because of the flexibilities required of the unspecified-time traveler, unspecified-time tickets are likely to attract leisure travelers unwilling to purchase tickets at the available published fares and, at the same time, are likely to “fence out” business travelers unwilling to risk losing a full day at either end of their trip. Moreover, the flexibilities required of the unspecified-time traveler need not be limited to a departure time; the flexibilities may also include the airline, the departing airport, the destination airport, or any other restriction that increases the flexibility afforded the airline in placing the traveler aboard a flight. The disclosed embodiments thus permit airlines to fill otherwise empty seats in a manner that stimulates latent and unfulfilled leisure travel demand while leaving their underlying fare structures intact.

A method is provided for receiving a data stream of an airline ticketing reservations computer, striping-away data bits included for the ordering and identifying and reading and writing of the data stream on magnetic media and selecting and converting the remaining data into multi-dimensional symbology or bar code for printing onto airline ticket and / or boarding documents.

A method for accepting payments from a consumer for a travel ticket from a travel company comprises receiving at a point of sale device a transaction request that includes a transaction identifier that identifies a travel arrangement made with the travel company and a payment amount. The payment amount and the transaction identifier is transmitted to a host computer system for validation. Also, a validation from the host computer system is received indicating that the transaction requested has been validated. A payment is received from the consumer, and at least a portion of the payment is electronically transmitted to the travel company.

The invention discloses a paperless boarding system based on a two-dimension code technology and a biometric identification technology. The adopted technical scheme is that passengers purchase electronic tickets by different ways, select a required flight, and pay by cash or on the network; on the basis of receiving prior noticed passenger information (API data) and payment conformation, airline companies determine traveling reservation and issue the electronic tickets, verify information, such as flight reservation, authentication, bill payment state, travel document and no-fly lists of airline companies and the like, and affirm flight rights of passengers, activate the electronic tickets to help passengers to pass through related facilities of the airport, security check and airline companies and then board the aircraft. The system leaves out ticket delivery and ticket picking up time and timely solves unforeseen situations such as airline ticket loss and the like; tickets reservation is not constricted in space; and electronic tickets only need electronic reservation and the passengers can board airplane successfully by remote, network or telephone payment.

Scent formulation information is imparted onto an authentication token. The scent formulation information may be used in numerous authentication applications, such as security badges, airline tickets, and so forth. Various methods and systems involving such tokens are disclosed.

A system and method for grouping and selling products or services using a computer system, potentially connected to a network. The computer system includes a computer with multiple terminals, potentially instantiated as a server computer or computers and distributed client computers. The computer system presents a sales interface on some terminals. The sales interface shows products or services and groups of products and / or services that are for sale. The computer system presents a back end interface on some terminals, which can be used to enter new products, services and groupings of products and / or services to be offered for sale on the sales interface. Descriptions of the products or service offerings are entered into the computer system either by data entry operators using the back end interface or by a program reading product or service descriptions from external computer systems. The method groups these products or services according to an affinity algorithm. The groupings may then potentially be reviewed and approved or selected by human operators using the back end interface before being offered for sale on the sales interface. One advantageous application is the dynamic packaging of perishable items such as travel goods and services (e.g., airline tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms, entertainment opportunities, etc.).

The invention provides an internet-based convenient tourism service platform which comprises a user management module for managing registering information and login information of a user, a database for storing solutions of tourist routes and scenic spot information, a requirement obtaining module for obtaining a requirement of the user, a tourist route selection module for matching information obtained by the requirement obtaining module with a solution in the database, a tourist route determining module for determining a final tourist route for the selection of the user, a scenic spot information module for pushing scenic spot information by the user according to the tourist route finally determined by the user, an artificial service module for providing a tourist plan ordering service through an online customer service, and a ticket service module for providing an interface for subscribing hotel accommodations, train and airline tickets and scenic spot tickets. The internet-based convenient tourism service platform aims to recommend a quickest and most preferential solution to the user, so that detouring of the user can be avoided, and the user can obtain good tourist experience.

A method and system for reserving future purchases of airline tickets using plural electronic options. The electronic options are used to reserve plural airline fares on a plural airline routes to plural destinations and a plural of fare classes for a pre-determined period. A final airline fare, route, destination and fare class is determined when the electronic option is actually exercised. All other reservations are automatically canceled. The method and system allows the electronic options to be purchased to book now and pay later for airline tickets and other travel related goods and services such rental cars, hotel rooms, event tickets, local attraction tickets, theme park tickets, etc.

A method for the securitization of pre-paid fees for an event is presented. The method includes the steps of registering for at least one event through an interactive medium and a non-interactive medium; providing financial and non-financial information relating to the at least one event; submitting a prepaid fee as a payment to register for the at least one event; processing the payment into at least one cash flow; and utilizing the at least one cash flow to create a special purpose vehicle as collateral to issue and sell at least one bond. A method for securitizing cash flows associated with the payment of airline tickets and a method for offsetting event-related attrition based upon financial and non-financial information are also presented.

An object of the present invention is to realize a natural dialogue with a system having a simple configuration. The dialogue processing system of the present invention to perform a dialogue with a user, comprises: a plurality of slots (slot 11), wherein each of the slots is a storage area storing a preset information item (for example, boarding date, departure point, destination, or flight name) that are required to achieve the purpose of the dialogue with the user (for example, an airline ticket reservation); an analyzer (the speech details analyzer 19) for extracting information corresponding to the information items from information (for example, free sentence entered in natural language) entered by the user in the dialogue and for storing the extracted information in the slot for that information item; and a response processor (the dialogue processor 21) for outputting response information (a sentence prompting the input of insufficient information) to the user in accordance with information storage state of the slots.

A method and system for reserving future purchases of airline services using electronic options. The electronic options are used to reserve plural different types of airline services including selection of: a desired seat row location, a desired seat location in a desired row location, a plural adjacent seats in a desired row, a plural adjacent seats in a plural desired rows, a desired location in an overhead bin to store carry-on luggage, a priority boarding sequence, a priority exiting sequence, priority pre-flight baggage handling, priority post-flight baggage handling, cancellation and change privileges for a purchased airline ticket, a priority list position in a stand-by list and / or a priority list position for an automatic upgrade to a first class seat, business class seat or other non-economy seat and / or other airline services.

An automated system and a method for checking an already issued airline ticket prior to having a requester submitting a change request of the already issued airline ticket are described. The system comprises a ticket data retriever unit for retrieving, with a ticket reference provided by the requester, the already issued airline ticket from a ticket database. Then, an issued fare rule finder element retrieves, from a rule database, one or more rule scenarios applying to the already issued airline ticket and governing what changes are permitted. After which a decision module element combines the one or more rule scenarios into a set of permitted options and restrictions and deliver them to the requester. Hence, the requester knows all about the permitted options and restrictions prior to actually requesting to change the already issued airline ticket.

Systems, methods and computer program products for facilitating the redemption of affinity reward points as contributions are disclosed. In an aspect, “points” or “miles” created through various existing affinity programs prevalent in the credit card and airline industries can be redeemed as (nonprofit) donations. Typically, such reward, award or bonus “points” or “miles” have been redeemed for free or discounted rewards such as airline tickets, hotel room stays, restaurant vouchers or other goods and services. However, millions of vested affinity points or miles are left unused (i.e., unredeemed). The present invention allows a consumer who holds such points or miles to link to a nonprofit organization allowing excess points to be converted into cash donations to such organizations.

The invention provides an active and passive combined airline ticket data acquisition method, system and device and a storage medium. The method includes active query and passive query, all preset storage conditions in a cache database are traversed in active query, and update data are actively acquired from a server of an airline needing update. Passive query responds to a request of a user, second airline ticket data are acquired from the server of the airline, and the second airline ticket data conforming to the preset storage conditions are processed into a preset format and stored in the cache database. By storing hot air route data in passive query, the query frequency of requesting an airline system for acquiring low-price data is decreased, the airline ticket data of hot air routes are traversed by active query, real-time update is realized, the period of active query of the airline ticket data is shortened, the freshness of a tourism platform for displaying low-price cache data of the airline is improved, so that resources can be effectively allocated to air route data needing update in active query, and the use ratio of system resources is increased.

Systems, methods and computer program products for facilitating the redemption of affinity reward points as political contributions are disclosed. In an aspect, “points” or “miles” created through various existing affinity programs prevalent in the credit card and airline industries can be redeemed as political donations. Typically, such reward, award or bonus “points” or “miles” have been redeemed for free or discounted rewards such as airline tickets, hotel room stays, restaurant vouchers or other goods and services. However, millions of vested affinity points or miles are left unused (i.e., unredeemed). The present invention allows a consumer who holds such points or miles to link to a political campaign, political party or political action committee allowing excess points to be converted into cash donations to such political campaigns, political parties or political action committees.

Systems, methods and computer program products for facilitating the redemption of affinity reward points as political contributions are disclosed. In an aspect, “points” or “miles” created through various existing affinity programs prevalent in the credit card and airline industries can be redeemed as political donations. Typically, such reward, award or bonus “points” or “miles” have been redeemed for free or discounted rewards such as airline tickets, hotel room stays, restaurant vouchers or other goods and services. However, millions of vested affinity points or miles are left unused (i.e., unredeemed). The present invention allows a consumer who holds such points or miles to link to a political campaign, political party or political action committee allowing excess points to be converted into cash donations to such political campaigns, political parties or political action committees.