System and method for optimizing supply of rental vehicles

1. A system for optimizing supply of rental vehicles, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory disposed in communication with the processor and storing processor-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive customer data associated with a plurality of customers from a plurality of sources, the customer data including transaction data, flight data, and vehicle rental data;

for each of the customers:

determine whether the customer is associated with a vehicle rental, based on the flight data and the vehicle rental data of the customer;

in response to a determination that the customer is associated with a vehicle rental, exclude the customer;

in response to a determination that the customer is not associated with a vehicle rental:

classify the customer into one of a plurality of segments based on the transaction data of the customer, wherein each of the segments is indicative of vehicle rental preferences of customers classified in the segment; and

determine a rental location for the customer, based on a destination location and a source location of the customer included in the transaction data and/or the flight data of the customer; and

predict likely vehicle demand for different vehicles at multiple rental locations based on said classification and said determination of the rental location for each of the customers not associated with a vehicle rental.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the customer data further comprises at least one of itinerary data, demographic data, location data, and lodging data.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the data received from a plurality of sources includes one or more of: flight information, origin and destination data, class, travel date and time, transaction date, sequence number of the flight, vehicle rental information, and sequence number.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor in connection with classifying the customer, further cause the processor to associate the flight data and the vehicle rental data with the transaction data.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to predict a car type preference of the customer based on the classification of the customer and the source and destination location of the customer.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to predict a car type preference of the customer and communicate the predicted car type preference to a vehicle rental merchant.

7. A method for optimizing supply of rental vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving customer data associated with a plurality of customers from a plurality of sources, the customer data including transaction data, flight data, and vehicle rental data;

for each of the customers:

determining, by a computing device, whether the customer is associated with a vehicle rental, based on the flight data and the vehicle rental data of the customer;

in response to the customer being associated with the vehicle rental, excluding, by the computing device, the customer;

in response to the customer not being associated with the vehicle rental:

classifying, by the computing device, the customer into one of a plurality of segments, based on the transaction data of the customer, each segment being indicative of vehicle rental preferences of customers classified in the segment; and

determining, by the computing device, a rental location for the customer, based on a destination location and a source location of the customer included in the customer data; and

predicting, by the computing device, likely vehicle demand for different vehicles at multiple rental locations based on said classification and said determination of the rental location for each of the customers that is not excluded.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the customer data further comprises at least one of itinerary data, demographic data, location data, and lodging data.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the data received from a plurality of sources includes one or more of: flight information, origin and destination data, class, travel date and time, transaction date, sequence number of the flight, vehicle rental information, and sequence number.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein classifying the customer further comprises associating the flight data and the vehicle rental data with the transaction data.

11. The method as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising predicting a car type preference of the customer based on the classification of the customer and the source and destination location of the customer.

12. The method as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising predicting a car type preference of the customer and communicating the predicted car type preference of the customer to a vehicle rental merchant in advance.