Maintenance of virtual credit card pool for airline passenger vouchers

1 . A system for operating a virtual credit card pool for travel vouchers, comprising:

one or more databases configured to store virtual credit cards of the virtual credit card pool;

one or more servers configured to:

generate a voucher offer having a voucher value for a qualifying person;

electronically transmit the voucher offer to the qualifying person;

electronically receive a voucher offer acceptance for the voucher offer from the qualifying person;

unlock one of the virtual credit cards stored in the pool for the qualifying person upon receipt of the voucher offer acceptance, wherein the unlocking causes the one or more servers to provide information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of a credit card transaction, and wherein, to unlock one of the virtual credit cards for the qualifying person the one or more servers are configured to:

determine whether at least one of the virtual credit cards in the pool has a card value that equals the voucher value of the voucher offer;

in response to determining that at least one of the virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value, unlock a first virtual credit card having the voucher value for the qualifying person;

in response to determining that none of the virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value, unlock a second virtual credit card having a greater value than that of the voucher value;

remove whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked from the pool; and

provide the information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of the credit card transaction;

determine whether a current date-and-time for a target distribution of virtual credit cards within the virtual credit card pool corresponds with a predefined restocking time to restock the virtual credit card pool, wherein the predefined restocking time is selected to be within a regularly-occurring period of time during which an external server of a card distributer consistently issues virtual credit cards; and

in response to determining that the current date-and-time for the target distribution corresponds with the predefined restocking time:

determine whether, in the virtual credit card pool, a current number of virtual credit cards that have the card value is less than a threshold number of virtual credit cards for the card value based on the target distribution;

in response to determining that the current number is less than the threshold number, transmit a request for a set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the external server of the card distributer; and

add the requested set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the virtual credit card pool upon receipt from the external server.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers is further configured to enable whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked to be operable by the qualifying person for a voucher duration.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein, when the second virtual credit card is unlocked, the one or more servers is configured to transmit a request to the external server to decrease a second card value of the second virtual credit card to the voucher value of the voucher offer.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the one or more servers is configured to intermittently transmit the request until the second card value is decreased by the external server or an end of a voucher duration for the voucher offer is reached.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers is further configured to:

generate a code for whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked; and

electronically transmit the code for presentation to the qualifying person.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the voucher offer generated by the one or more servers includes a time sensitive link.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more servers is configured to select the second virtual credit card for having a next-greater value relative to the voucher value of the voucher offer.

8 . A method for operating a virtual credit card pool for travel vouchers, comprising:

storing virtual credit cards of the virtual credit card pool in one or more databases;

generating, via one or more servers, a voucher offer having a voucher value for a qualifying person;

electronically transmitting, via the one or more servers, the voucher offer to the qualifying person;

electronically receiving, via the one or more servers, a voucher offer acceptance for the voucher offer from the qualifying person;

unlocking, via the one or more servers, one of the virtual credit cards stored in the pool for the qualifying person upon receipt of the voucher offer acceptance by:

determining whether at least one of the virtual credit cards in the pool has a card value that equals the voucher value of the voucher offer;

unlocking a first virtual credit card having the voucher value for the qualifying person in response to determining that at least one of the virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value;

unlocking a second virtual credit card having a greater value than that of the voucher value in response to determining that none of the virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value, wherein the unlocking causes the one or more servers to provide information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of a credit card transaction;

removing whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked from the pool; and

providing the information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of the credit card transaction;

determining whether a current date-and-time for a target distribution of virtual credit cards within the virtual credit card pool corresponds with a predefined restocking time to restock the virtual credit card pool, wherein the predefined restocking time is selected to be within a regularly-occurring period of time during which an external server of a card distributer consistently issues virtual credit cards; and

in response to determining that the current date-and-time for the target distribution corresponds with the predefined restocking time:

determining whether, in the virtual credit card pool, a current number of virtual credit cards that have the card value is less than a threshold number of virtual credit cards for the card value based on the target distribution;

in response to determining that the current number is less than the threshold number, transmitting a request for a set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the external server of the card distributer; and

adding the requested set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the virtual credit card pool upon receipt from the external server.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising enabling, via the one or more servers, whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked to be operable by the qualifying person for a voucher duration.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising, when the second virtual credit card is unlocked, transmitting a request, via the one or more servers, to the external server to decrease a second card value of the second virtual credit card to the voucher value of the voucher offer.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

generating, via the one or more servers, a code for whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked; and

electronically transmitting the code for presentation to the qualifying person.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the voucher offer is generated to include a time sensitive link.

13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting, via the one or more servers, the second virtual credit card for having a next-greater value relative to the voucher value of the voucher offer.

14 . A computer readable medium including instructions, which, when executed, cause a machine to:

generate a voucher offer having a voucher value for a qualifying person;

electronically transmit a voucher offer to the qualifying person;

electronically receive a voucher offer acceptance for the voucher offer from the qualifying person;

unlock one of a plurality of virtual credit cards of a pool for the qualifying person upon receipt of the voucher offer acceptance, wherein the unlocking causes the one or more servers machine to provide information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of a credit card transaction, and wherein, to unlock one of the plurality of virtual credit cards, the instructions are configured to cause the machine to:

determine whether at least one of the plurality of virtual credit cards in the pool has a card value that equals the voucher value of the voucher offer;

unlock a first virtual credit card having the voucher value for the qualifying person in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value;

unlock a second virtual credit card having a greater value than that of the voucher value in response to determining that none of the plurality of virtual credit cards in the pool has the card value that equals the voucher value;

remove whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked from the pool; and

provide the information of the unlocked one of the virtual credit cards in furtherance of the credit card transaction;

determine whether a current date-and-time for a target distribution of virtual credit cards within the virtual credit card pool corresponds with a predefined restocking time to restock the virtual credit card pool, wherein the predefined restocking time is selected to be within a regularly-occurring period of time during which an external server of a card distributer consistently issues virtual credit cards; and

in response to determining that the current date-and-time for the target distribution corresponds with the predefined restocking time:

determine whether, in the virtual credit card pool, a current number of virtual credit cards that have the card value is less than a threshold number of virtual credit cards for the card value based on the target distribution;

in response to determining that the current number is less than the threshold number, transmit a request for a set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the external server of the card distributer; and

add the requested set of virtual credit cards having the card value to the virtual credit card pool upon receipt from the external server.

15 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to enable whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked to be operable by the qualifying person for a voucher duration.

16 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein, when the second virtual credit card is unlocked, the instructions further cause the machine to transmit a request to the external server to decrease a second card value of the second virtual credit card to the voucher value of the voucher offer.

17 . The computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein, to transmit the request, the instructions further cause the machine to intermittently transmit the request until the second card value is decreased by the external server or an end of a voucher duration for the voucher offer is reached.

18 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to:

generate a code for whichever of the first virtual credit card or the second virtual credit card that has been unlocked; and

electronically transmit the code for presentation to the qualifying person.

19 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to generate the voucher offer to include a time sensitive link.

20 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the machine to select the second virtual credit card for having a next-greater value relative to the voucher value of the voucher offer.