US 8,275,641 B2 · System and method for boarding passengers based on bids

Abstract

Systems and methods for boarding passengers on flights or other transportation according to bids received from the passengers are provided. Passengers seeking to fly standby on an undersold flight can submit a bid representing the amount the passengers are willing to pay to board the flight. The airline can determine the number of seats available on the flight, and board the highest bidding passengers until the flight is full. Similarly, passengers willing to be bumped from an oversold flight can submit a bid representing the incentive the passengers are willing to accept to be bumped from the flight. The airline can determine the number of passengers that must be bumped from the flight, and bump the lowest bidding passengers (i.e., those willing to accept the least costly incentive) until a sufficient number of passengers have been bumped from the flight.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method for bumping passengers from a transportation vehicle comprising:

receiving, by a computer, a bump bid for each of a plurality of bump passengers having a ticket for the transportation vehicle;
and
selecting, by a computer, at least one bump passenger to bump from the transportation vehicle based on the bump bid for the at least one bump passenger;
wherein selecting the at least one bump passenger comprises:
identifying, by a computer, a first bump passenger from the plurality of bump passengers;
determining, by a computer, a group size of the first bump passenger, the group size being a number of bump passengers traveling in a group with the first bump passenger, including the first bump passenger;
determining, by a computer, whether the group size of the first bump passenger exceeds a number of still-needed seats on the transportation vehicle;
and
selecting, by a computer, the first bump passenger and any bump passengers traveling with the first bump passenger to be bumped from the transportation vehicle in response to a determination that the group size does not exceed the number of still-needed seats on the transportation vehicle.

6 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for selecting bump passengers to be bumped from a transportation vehicle, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code for receiving a bump bid for a plurality of bump passengers having a ticket to board the transportation vehicle;
computer-readable program code for sorting the plurality of bump passengers having a ticket to board the transportation vehicle based on the bump bid for each bump passenger in the plurality of bump passengers, thereby creating a sorted plurality of bump passengers;
and
computer-readable program code for selecting which bump passengers having a ticket to bump from the transportation vehicle based on the sorted plurality of bump passengers,
wherein the transportation vehicle has a number of needed seats, the number of needed seats being a number of total seats subtracted from a number of checked-in passengers,
wherein the number of needed seats and the bump bids for bump passengers other than each respective bump passenger are inaccessible to each respective bump passenger when each respective bump bid is received for each respective bump passenger,
wherein the computer-readable program code for receiving a bump bid for a plurality of bump passengers having a ticket to board the transportation vehicle comprises:
computer-readable program code for receiving a bump bid from a given bump passenger having a ticket to board the transportation vehicle;
wherein the sorted plurality of bump passengers has a first bump passenger, and
wherein the computer-readable program code for selecting which bump passengers having a ticket to board to the transportation vehicle based on the sorted plurality of bump passengers comprises:
computer-readable program code for determining a number of still-needed seats on the transportation vehicle, by subtracting a number of bump passengers already selected to be bumped from the transportation vehicle from the number of needed seats;
computer-readable program code for identifying the first bump passenger in the sorted plurality of bump passengers;
computer-readable program code for identifying a group size of the first bump passenger, the group size being equal to a number of bump passengers traveling in the group with the first bump passenger including the first bump passenger;
computer-readable program code for selecting the first bump passenger and any bump passengers traveling in a group with the first bump passenger to be bumped from the transportation vehicle in response to a determination that the group size of the first bump passenger does not exceed the number of still-needed seats on the transportation vehicle;
and
computer-readable program code for removing the first bump passenger and any bump passengers traveling in a group with the first bump passenger from the sorted plurality of bump passengers.

13 more elements

A computer-implemented method for bumping passengers from a transportation vehicle comprising:

receiving, by a computer, a bump bid for each of a plurality of bump passengers having a ticket for the transportation vehicle, the plurality of bump passengers comprising at least a first bump passenger and a second bump passenger;
determining, by a computer, a first cost associated with providing a first incentive to the first bump passenger, the first incentive being based on the bump bid of the first bump passenger;
determining, by a computer, a second cost associated with providing a second incentive to the second bump passenger, the second incentive being based on the bump bid of the second bump passenger;
comparing, by a computer, the first cost with the second cost;
and
selecting, by a computer, the first bump passenger to bump from the transportation vehicle based on the bump bid for the first bump passenger in response to a determination that the second cost exceeds the first cost;
wherein the bump bid of the first bump passenger comprises a first type of bid selected from:
a request for credits to a frequent traveler account, a request for an upgrade to a higher class of travel on a subsequent transportation vehicle, a request for a voucher for use toward subsequent travel, a request for a monetary payment, a request for a selection of a confirmed seat on a first replacement transportation vehicle, or a request for a selection of a confirmed seat on a second replacement transportation vehicle,
wherein the bump bid of the second bump passenger comprises a second type of bid selected from:
a request for an upgrade to a higher class of travel on a subsequent transportation vehicle, a request for a voucher for use toward subsequent travel, a request for a monetary payment, a request for a selection of a confirmed seat on the first replacement transportation vehicle, or a request for a selection of a confirmed seat on the second replacement transportation vehicle, and
wherein the first type of bid is different from the second type of bid.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method for boarding passengers based on bids

Life of this patent

System and method for boarding passengers based on bids

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20