Post-booking travel assistance and organization
To address post-booking and other issues, an application may be run on a user device, such as a mobile device, to provide improved, real-time travel organization and messaging. Some embodiments may also be configured to create, maintain, update, and delete a trip container to which trip content can be automatically or manually associated. In some instances, a user may be required to pay a fee to download the application and/or be required to pay a periodic subscription fee to facilitate ongoing functionality of the application. In addition to or instead of downloading the application, hardware (e.g., circuitry), firmware and/or other particular machine components can be configured to implement some or all aspects of the application.
1. A method of accessing and displaying information comprising:
performing an offline process, the offline process comprising:
surveying known information, the known information comprising information configured for access without having to establish communications with or retrieve from a remote source,
wherein surveying the known information comprises:
accessing, by a processor, known travel information;
determining a physical location of a user computing device associated with the known travel information; and
determining a current time;
dynamically monitoring the physical location by increasing a frequency at which the physical location is determined as the current time approaches a barrier time, the barrier time indicative of a time at which an interference of the known travel information occurs if a barrier location is not reached; and
determining, based on the current time and the physical location, that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information;
only after determining that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information, performing an on-line process,
wherein performing the on-line process comprises:
determining that the message requires retrieved information;
establishing a secure communications link with one or more remote sources;
receiving time variable information that is dynamic; and
determining, based on the known travel information, the current time and the physical location, that the time variable information interferes with the known travel information;
providing the message to a user of the user computing device indicating interference of the known travel information;
determining, based on the time variable information, the current time, the physical location and the known travel information, a service option that is available, wherein the service option helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the interference of the known travel information; and
providing the service option to the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
providing the service option to the user comprises generating a user-selectable option offering to provide the service option.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:
receiving an indication of the user's desire to select the service option; and
in response to receiving the indication, assisting in enabling the utilization of the service option.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the assisting further comprises at least one of facilitating the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitating the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitating the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitating a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitating a purchase of goods, obtaining a coupon for a good, and obtaining a coupon for a service.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the assisting further comprises:
generating a message including information related to the interference of the known travel information; and
sending the message including information to another computing device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the determining the physical location is performed by the user computing device; and
the determining the service option is performed by a network computing device located remotely from the user computing device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the accessing the known travel information comprises the user computing device obtaining the known travel information from at least one of a network computing device located remotely from the user computing device, and a local storage component of the user computing device.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a new trip container comprising event information.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
storing the new trip container in local storage of the user computing device; and
storing a copy of the new trip container in a network storage device located remotely from the user computing device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the service option comprises updating a user interface to indicate the service option, wherein the user interface includes details of the known travel information.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service option comprises an advertisement for goods or services.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the service option comprises a coupon for the goods or the services.
13. An apparatus configured to access, download and display travel information from at least one remote source, comprising:
a processor configured to:
perform an offline process, the offline process configured to:
survey known information, the known information comprising information configured for access without having to establish communications with or retrieve from a remote source,
wherein surveying the known information causes the processor to:
access known travel information;
determine a physical location of the apparatus; and
determine a current time;
dynamically monitor the physical location by increasing a frequency at which the physical location is determined as the current time approaches a barrier time, the barrier time indicative of a time at which an interference of the known travel information occurs if a barrier location is not reached; and
determine, based on the current time and the physical location, that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information;
only after determining that the known travel information indicates a potential for a message indicating interference of the known travel information, perform an on-line process,
wherein the on-line process is configured to:
determine that the message requires retrieved information;
establish a secure communications link with one or more remote sources;
receive time variable information that is dynamic; and
determine, based on the known travel information, the current time and the physical location, that the time variable information interferes with the known travel information;
provide the message to a user of the apparatus indicating interference of the known travel information;
determine, based on the time variable information, the current time, the physical location, and the known travel information, a service option that is available,
wherein the service option helps reduce a negative consequence associated with the interference of the known travel information; and
provide the service option to the user.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate, for inclusion in a display, a selectable option to share information indicating interference of the known travel information with another user computing device.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
provide the service option to the user by generating a user-selectable option, for inclusion in a display, that offers to provide the service option.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that the user-selectable option has been selected; and
in response, assist in enabling the utilization of the service option.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least one of facilitate the booking of new travel arrangements, facilitate the booking of a new airline ticket, facilitate the booking of new hotel reservations, facilitate a cancellation of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a modification of existing travel arrangements, facilitate a purchase of goods, obtain a coupon for a good, and obtain a coupon for a service.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
facilitate payment for a good, a service or both; and
generate a display that includes a coupon with a scannable barcode associated with the payment for the good, the service, or both.
19. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a new trip container comprising event information.
20. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a new trip container from a remote computing device comprising event information.
21. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
provide the service option by updating a user interface to indicate the service option, wherein the user interface includes details of the known travel information.
22. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the service option comprises an advertisement for goods or services.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the service option comprises a coupon for the goods or the services.