The subject invention is directed generally to methods for redeeming frequent flier miles.
Virtually all airlines utilize some sort of “frequent flier” program. In these programs, a customer accumulates “miles”, either through previous flights with the concerned airline or through other mechanisms, such as credit card promotions in which miles are accumulated in proportion to the amount spent with the credit card. These accumulated miles can later be “redeemed” in purchasing flights or upgrading flying conditions, e.g., from coach to first class.
As they are presently structured, most frequent flier programs are difficult for customers to utilize, for several reasons. First, airlines significantly limit the availability of flights that can be purchased with frequent flier miles. Second, for flights that can be purchased with frequent flier miles, a substantial lead-time is required when reserving a seat via frequent flier miles redemption. Finally, airlines often utilize a very coarse pricing scheme when determining the number of miles that must be redeemed for each flight, and an equally coarse method of modifying price (in miles) based on demand. Both practices often serve to prohibit purchase of flights through miles redemption and do not represent the “free market” price of such flights. For example, many airlines will simply charge a standard rate, say, 25,000 miles, to travel to a variety of destinations, regardless of the price in dollars. As another example, the Delta SkyChoice® program operates by simply doubling the required number of miles (over the amount that would normally be required) for purchase at more desirable times.
All of these issues experienced with conventional frequent filer programs have some relationship to the lack of relationship between flight pricing, in frequent flier miles, and flight demand Without such a relationship, the airlines are forced to resort to schemes that may deter the use of frequent flier miles in an effort to assure profitability. However, this practice can result in frequent flier miles remaining unused and flights operating at less than full capacity, outcomes that harm both the customer and the airline. The disclosed invention provides a solution to these and other problems.
The present disclosure is directed to a method, system and machine readable program, as appropriate, for determining a number of frequent flier miles necessary to purchase a good or service. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the method includes determining a demand for an airline ticket or class upgrade based, for example, on market data related to a travel destination associated with the ticket. The number of miles required to purchase the ticket or upgrade is established to correlate to the determined demand and/or cost.
A method, system and machine readable program as described above avoids many of the issues currently experienced when using a frequent flier program to purchase airline tickets. These and other aspects of the subject invention will become more readily apparent from the following brief description of the drawings taken in conjunction with the enabling description of the invention.
So that those having ordinary skill in the art to which the subject invention appertains will more readily understand how to make and use the same, reference may be had to the drawing wherein:
The present invention involves a new valuation method, and associated system and machine readable program for airline travel purchase by frequent flier miles, the valuation method bearing a relationship to market forces. In one embodiment, the valuation method can follow traditionally accepted principles of supply and demand economics, such that prices in miles for any of the destinations to which an airline travels can be tailored to the desirability of that destination at that time of travel. In another embodiment, the valuation method can maximize profit given above inputs relative to other flights. In still another embodiment, “miles prices” can result from a direct correlation between dollars and miles, such that the dollar price of the flight can be proportional to the miles price.
If desired, an algorithm to calculate the appropriate miles price can be provided that is uniquely structured to reflect mileage redemption patterns. Specifically, one form of the frequent flier miles valuation algorithm can include parameters such as the number of passengers, the departure city, the destination, the departure date, the return date, the class of in-flight accommodations, the acceptable number of stops, and the number of days in advance of departure that purchase is sought. Additionally, the algorithm might relate to parameters such as the type of plane, the desirability of the destination (potentially as a function of date), the availability of seats on a flight, the price of fuel or other consumables, the crew size, the ticket price, and certain customer characteristics (e.g., “preferred customer”, etc.).
The present invention is also directed to a process for redeeming frequent flier miles over the Internet, a representative embodiment of such process is illustrated schematically in the flow chart of
When one or more flights matching the entered criteria have been identified, the number of frequent flier miles required to purchase the flight is calculated. The flight information is input at step 112 into a “miles pricing model” 114, which returns the appropriate cost in frequent flier miles for the flight. The miles pricing model 114 incorporates concepts related to demand for flights in calculating a “miles price” for the particular flight in question. At step 116, the number of frequent flier miles that the customer has accumulated is determined, typically by examining a frequent flier miles account specific to the airline. At step 118, the miles price for the flight(s) is quoted to the customer. At step 120, the miles price is compared to the number of miles in the customer's frequent flier account to determine whether the customer has sufficient miles to purchase the flight. As before, this comparison can be done manually by an agent or can be automated into an electronic process. If the customer does have sufficient miles to purchase a flight, at step 122 the customer may accept at step 126 or decline. If the customer declines to purchase the flight, at step 128 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 106. If the customer does wish to do so, he/she is returned to step 106 to enter new information and repeat process 100. Otherwise, the process 100 is terminated at 130.
If, at step 120, it is determined that the customer does not have a sufficient number of miles to purchase any flight matching the entered criteria, at step 124 the system determines whether the customer has sufficient miles to book any flights matching at least some of the entered criteria. For example, a customer may have sought to purchase two tickets, but can only afford one. Alternatively, the miles/pricing software can also be developed to determine for the customer whether or not a different number of stops or a lower fair class (economy rather than business) can allow for the desired number of tickets to be obtained or allow for purchase at all. If a flight matching some of the user inputs is available, at step 122 the customer is offered the option to purchase/book the flight. At this point, the customer may either book the flight at step 126 or decline. If the customer does not have sufficient miles to purchase any relevant flights, at step 128 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 106. If the customer declines to purchase the flight, at step 128 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 106. If the customer does wish to do so, he/she is returned to step 106 to enter new information and repeat process 100. Otherwise, the process 100 is terminated at 130.
The present invention is also directed to a process for redeeming frequent flier miles over the telephone, a representative embodiment of such process is illustrated schematically in the flow chart of
When one or more flights matching the entered criteria have been identified, the number of frequent flier miles required to purchase the flight is calculated. The flight information is input at step 212 into a “miles pricing model” 214, which returns the appropriate cost in frequent flier miles for the flight. The miles pricing model 214 incorporates concepts related to demand for flights in calculating a “miles price” for the particular flight in question. At step 216, the number of frequent flier miles that the customer has accumulated is determined, typically by examining a frequent flier miles account specific to the airline. At step 218, the miles price for the flight(s) is quoted to the customer. At step 220, the miles price is compared to the number of miles in the customer's frequent flier account to determine whether the customer has sufficient miles to purchase the flight. As before, this comparison can be done manually or can be automated into an electronic process. If the customer does have sufficient miles to purchase a flight, at step 222 the customer is offered the option to purchase/book the flight. At this point, the customer may either book the flight at step 226 or decline. If the customer declines to purchase the flight, at step 228 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 206. If the customer does wish to do so, he/she is returned to step 206 to enter new information and repeat process 100. Otherwise, the process 200 is terminated at 230.
If, at step 220, it is determined that the customer does not have a sufficient number of miles to purchase any flight matching the entered criteria, it is determined at step 224 whether the customer has sufficient miles to book any flights matching at least some of the entered criteria. If a flight matching some of the user inputs is available, at step 222 the customer is offered the option to purchase/book the flight. At this point, the customer may either book the flight at step 226 or decline. If the customer does not have sufficient miles to purchase any relevant flights, at step 228 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 206. If the customer declines to purchase the flight, at step 228 the customer is asked if he/she desires to make changes to the criteria information originally input at step 206. If the customer does wish to do so, he/she is returned to step 206 to enter new information and repeat process 200. Otherwise, the process 200 is terminated at 230.
It should be readily apparent that, while the processes utilizing the Internet and the telephone have been listed separately, a process making both Internet and telephone options available to users is also within the scope of the disclosure, as depicted in
To further clarify the above-described processes for flight purchase through frequent flier miles redemption, several examples of the application of this process are included below.
A customer and spouse wish to travel from JFK airport to Honolulu, Hi. on December 1 and return December 17, traveling business class on a direct flight. The customer has 850,000 miles in his frequent-flier account and wishes to use these to purchase the flight. The customer calls the airline's frequent-flier redemption telephone number up on July 1. The airline agent checks the availability and finds a flight with 75% of the seats available. However, this flight is rated “highly desirable” by the airline, meaning that it is expected to be a popular flight. The agent then inputs the data from the customer, the flight availability data, the desirability rating, and the date of the call into the miles pricing model. The model says that the cost per ticket is 200,000 miles. The agent also informs the customer of both the miles price and the dollar price for the desired tickets. The customer, having sufficient miles in his account and believing that the miles price is more reasonable than the price in dollars, books the flight using miles.
A customer and spouse wish to travel from JFK airport to Honolulu, Hi. on Saturday, December 1 and return Monday, December 17, traveling business class on a direct flight. The customer has 350,000 miles in his frequent-flier account and wishes to use these to purchase the flight. The customer calls the airline's frequent-flier redemption telephone number up on July 1. The airline agent checks the availability and finds a flight with 75% of the seats available. However, this flight is rated “highly desirable” by the airline, meaning that it is expected to be a popular flight. The miles pricing model says that the cost per ticket is 200,000 miles, and the agent informs the customer that he has insufficient miles in his account and would only be able to obtain one ticket. The agent also quotes the customer of the price in dollars for each ticket. However the agent informs the customer that the miles pricing model indicates that if the customer wishes to fly economy for those dates, the miles needed per ticket would be 160,000. The customer could also fly with one stopover in Atlanta for 165,000 miles per ticket. In addition, the customer could change the departure date from Saturday to Thursday (two days earlier) and fly for 175,000 miles per ticket. The customer chooses the most desirable proposal (whether involving frequent flier miles redemption or dollars) and books the tickets.
A customer and spouse wish to travel from JFK airport to Honolulu, Hi. on December 1 and return December 17, traveling business class on a direct flight. The customer has 850,000 miles in his frequent-flier account and wishes to use these to purchase the flight. The customer calls the airline's frequent-flier redemption telephone number up on November 15. The airline agent checks the availability and finds a flight with 10% of the seats available. However, this flight is rated “highly desirable” by the airline, meaning that it is expected to be a popular flight. The miles pricing model indicates that the cost per ticket is 300,000 miles, and this miles price is reported to the customer. The agent also informs the customer of the price per ticket in dollars. The customer decides that he would rather spend the miles than the dollars and books the tickets.
While the specific Examples illustrated herein are generally directed to redeeming frequent flier miles for purposes of airline tickets, it will be understood that the principles of the method, system and machine readable program of the invention is equally applicable to redeeming other goods and services using frequent flier miles. Such goods and services can include but are not limited to, for example, rental cars, hotel stays, and using miles to purchase any number of goods including gift cards, appliances, electronics, food items, and meals in restaurants, among others.
All statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.
The block diagrams herein, such as those depicted in
In the claims hereof any element expressed as a means for performing a specified function is intended to encompass any way of performing that function including, for example, a) a combination of circuit elements which performs that function or b) software in any form, including, therefore, firmware, microcode or the like, combined with appropriate circuitry for executing that software to perform the function. The invention as defined by such claims resides in the fact that the functionalities provided by the various recited means are combined and brought together in the manner which the claims call for. Applicants thus regard any means which can provide those functionalities as equivalent to those shown herein.
Similarly, it will be appreciated that the system flows in the flow charts depicted in
The methods and systems of the present invention, as described above and shown in the drawings, provide for a method, system, machine readable program and graphical user interface with superior functionality that can facilitate the valuation and redemption of frequent flier miles. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention include modifications and variations that are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/704,228 filed Jul. 29, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60704228 | Jul 2005 | US |