Granted Patent B2

US 8,073,719 · App. 11/479,436 · Granted Dec 6, 2011

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, in an electronic service portal computing device, inputs to book a single multi-leg travel itinerary for a user, including:

receiving travel selections for a first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary;

receiving a selection of a first profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the first leg, the first profile to be selected from a group of profiles corresponding to the user, the first profile containing information about a first payment mechanism;

receiving travel selections for a second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary; and

receiving a selection of a second profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the second leg, the second profile to be selected from the group of profiles corresponding to the user, the second profile containing information about a second payment mechanism, wherein the first profile corresponds to an employment of the user, and the second profile corresponds to a personal use of the user, and wherein payment information of the first profile corresponds to an organization separate from the user and payment information of the second profile corresponds to the user;

automatically determining an optimum price alternative for each leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary for the user and prompting the user for acceptance of the optimum price alternative;

if the optimum price alternative is unacceptable to the user, automatically determining another optimum price alternative excluding the optimum price alternative and presenting the another optimum price alternative to the user until an acceptance by the user is received;

automatically determining, by the electronic service portal computing device, whether to replace the first profile for the first leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on a predetermined criterion; and

billing, by the electronic service portal computing device, the first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to first information about a payment mechanism contained in a profile assigned for the first leg and the second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to second information about a payment mechanism contained in a profile assigned for the second leg.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically determining whether to replace the second profile for the second leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on the predetermined criterion.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes a cost criterion.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes a service rating criterion.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes a quality rating criterion.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes predetermined entity rules.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes a combination of one or more of a cost criterion, a service rating criterion, and a quality rating criterion.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the automatically determining whether to replace the first profile includes prompting the user for acceptance of replacement of the first profile.

9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving travel selections for a third leg of the itinerary;

receiving a selection of a profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the third leg;

automatically determining whether to replace the profile for the third leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on the predetermined criterion; and

billing for the first, second, and third legs of the itinerary as a single multi-leg travel itinerary, and billing the third leg of the itinerary to a profile assigned for the third leg.

10. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and second legs of the itinerary include one or more of a flight reservation, a hotel reservation, and a vehicle rental reservation.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second profiles include at least one of payment information, predetermined service preferences, loyalty program information, and a predetermined level of fare to be booked.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined level of fare to be booked includes a level of fare selected from a group comprising two or more of first class, business class, coach class, economy class, and unrestricted.

13. A tangible computer readable non-transitory medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, in an electronic service portal, inputs to book a single multi-leg travel itinerary for a user, including:

receiving travel selections for a first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary;

receiving a selection of a first profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the first leg, the first profile to be selected from a group of profiles corresponding to the user, the first profile containing information about a first payment mechanism;

receiving travel selections for a second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary; and

receiving a selection of a second profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the second leg, the second profile to be selected from the group of profiles corresponding to the user, the second profile containing information about a first payment mechanism, wherein the first profile corresponds to an employment of the user, and the second profile corresponds to a personal use of the user, and wherein payment information of the first profile corresponds to an organization separate from the user and payment information of the second profile corresponds to the user;

automatically determining an optimum price alternative for each leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary for the user and prompting the user for acceptance of the optimum price alternative;

if the optimum price alternative is unacceptable to the user, automatically determining another optimum price alternative excluding the optimum price alternative and presenting the another optimum price alternative to the user until an acceptance by the user is received;

automatically determining, by the electronic service portal, whether to replace the first profile for the first leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on a predetermined criterion; and

billing, by the electronic service portal, the first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to first information about a payment mechanism contained in a profile assigned for the first leg and the second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to second information about a payment mechanism contained in a profile assigned for the second leg.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined criterion includes a combination of one or more of a cost criterion, a service rating criterion, and a quality rating criterion.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the automatically determining whether to replace the first profile includes prompting the user for acceptance of replacement of the first profile.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving travel selections for a third leg of the itinerary;

receiving a selection of a profile to be assigned for the travel selections for the third leg;

automatically determining whether to replace the profile for the third leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on the predetermined criterion; and

billing for the first, second, and third legs of the itinerary as a single multi-leg travel itinerary, and billing the third leg of the itinerary to a profile assigned for the third leg.

17. A system comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

at least one processor to execute the instructions to:

receive inputs to book a single multi-leg travel itinerary for a user, via

receiving travel selections for a first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary, and receiving travel selections for a second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary; and

receiving an assignment of the travel selections for the first leg to a first profile and an assignment of the travel selections for the second leg to a second profile, the first profile containing information about a first payment mechanism, and the second profile containing information about a second payment mechanism, wherein the first profile corresponds to an employment of the user, and the second profile corresponds to a personal use of the user, and wherein payment information of the first profile corresponds to an organization separate from the user and payment information of the second profile corresponds to the user;

automatically determine an optimum price alternative for each leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary for the user and prompt the user for acceptance of the optimum price alternative;

if the optimum price alternative is unacceptable to the user, automatically determine another optimum price alternative excluding the optimum price alternative and presenting the another optimum price alternative to the user until an acceptance by the user is received;

automatically determine whether to replace the profile assigned to the first leg of the itinerary with a selection of a separate profile from the group of profiles, the determination made based on a predetermined criterion; and

bill the first leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to first information about a payment mechanism provided in a profile assigned to the first leg, and the second leg of the single multi-leg travel itinerary according to second information about a payment mechanism provided in a profile assigned to the second leg.

Assignments (13)