Patent ID: 8688485
Filing Date: 2014-04-01
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer implemented method for managing changes to a previously purchased ticket, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more computers, a travel request for a journey, including a request to use a portion of a previously purchased ticket and information regarding travel arrangements and terms under which the previously purchased ticket was issued; determining that available information in the previously purchased ticket and a passenger name record (PNR) associated with the previously purchased ticket is insufficient to unambiguously determine how the previously purchased ticket was originally priced; locating, by one or more computers, a married segment indicator associated with first and second married flight segments of the previously purchased ticket, with a married segment indicator associated with flight segments to indicate flight segments of inventory held in a passenger name record (PNR) are to be considered together; reconstructing, by the one or more computers, each of a plurality of terms applying to the previously purchased ticket as of a date the previously purchased ticket was issued, by: querying a database of historical information using received information regarding travel arrangements and terms of the previously purchased ticket to identify a plurality of candidate fare records that existed at the time the previously purchased ticket was issued and that correspond to information supplied in the query, wherein each of a plurality of the fare records is associated with information comprising a carrier, a city pair, a fare basis code, and a time period during which information in the fare record is valid; determining, by the one or more computers, based on aspects of the reconstructed ticket, whether changes to flight segments of the previously purchased ticket can retain existing bookings of remaining flight segments corresponding to the first and second married flight segments of the previously purchased ticket; if ticket changes can retain both existing bookings of the first and second married flight segments, if the ticket changes affect at least one of the first and second married flight segments where the ticket changes cannot retain an existing booking of at least one of the first and second married flight segments,