System and Method of Providing Travel-Related Tools for Use with Transportation Services

A method of controlling access to transportation resources through a transportation service system, comprising:

• establishing an electronic communication link between a transportation resource user and transportation resource service provider through the transportation service system;
• providing a database by the transportation resource service provider of available transportation resources controlled by a transportation resource vendor;
• linking the database to a reservation system operated by the transportation resource vendor to update the available transportation resources in the database;
• transmitting a reservation inquiry from the transportation resource user through the electronic communication link to the transportation resource service provider, the reservation inquiry requesting a transportation resource with specified features, wherein the transportation resource service provider searches the database for the available transportation resources that match the specified features in the reservation inquiry;
• presenting the available transportation resources that closely align with the reservation inquiry if no match is found to the specified features or if the number of matches is below a threshold;
• transmitting the available transportation resources corresponding to the matches of the reservation inquiry from the transportation resource service provider to the transportation resource user, wherein the transportation resource user selects one of the available transportation resources;
• providing a plurality of travel-related tools for the transportation resource user to control rendition of transportation services within the transportation service system through the electronic communication link to the database;
• linking the database to external systems to access information utilized by the travel-related tools;
• and
• enabling the transportation resource user to select which of the travel-related tools are available to control rendition of the transportation services through transportation service system.

A method of controlling access to transportation resources through a transportation service system, comprising:

• establishing an electronic communication link between a transportation resource user and transportation resource service provider through the transportation service system;
• providing a database by the transportation resource service provider of available transportation resources controlled by a transportation resource vendor;
• linking the database to a reservation system operated by the transportation resource vendor to update the available transportation resources in the database;
• transmitting a reservation inquiry from the transportation resource user through the electronic communication link to the transportation resource service provider, the reservation inquiry requesting a transportation resource with specified features, wherein the transportation resource service provider searches the database for the available transportation resources that match the specified features in the reservation inquiry;
• transmitting the available transportation resources corresponding to the matches of the reservation inquiry from the transportation resource service provider to the transportation resource user, wherein the transportation resource user selects one of the available transportation resources;
• and
• providing a plurality of travel-related tools for the transportation resource user to control rendition of transportation services within the transportation service system through the electronic communication link to the database.

A computer program product comprising computer readable program code embodied in a computer readable medium, the computer readable program code controlling access to transportation resources through a transportation service system by the steps comprising:

• establishing an electronic communication link between a transportation resource user and transportation resource service provider through the transportation service system;
• providing a database by the transportation resource service provider of available transportation resources controlled by a transportation resource vendor;
• linking the database to a reservation system operated by the transportation resource vendor to update the available transportation resources in the database;
• transmitting a reservation inquiry from the transportation resource user through the electronic communication link to the transportation resource service provider, the reservation inquiry requesting a transportation resource with specified features, wherein the transportation resource service provider searches the database for the available transportation resources that match the specified features in the reservation inquiry;
• transmitting the available transportation resources corresponding to the matches of the reservation inquiry from the transportation resource service provider to the transportation resource user, wherein the transportation resource user selects one of the available transportation resources;
• and
• providing a plurality of travel-related tools for the transportation resource user to control rendition of transportation services within the transportation service system through the electronic communication link to the database.