System for Prediction of Materialization of a Reserved Purchase

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for predicting the likelihood of materialization of pending reservations for the purchase of perishable commodities. Details pertaining to perishable commodities for which reservations for purchase have been made in the past, are gathered and analyzed as are details pertaining to perishable commodities for which reservations for purchase are currently pending. Based upon the analysis, the likelihood that a particular pending reservation will actually be purchased or “materialize” is determined and this information is utilized for yield management.

1 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . Computer-readable code embodied on computer-readable media for conducting materialization forecasting with respect to reservations made by persons for the potential purchase of a particular perishable commodity, comprising:
 first subprocesses for gathering past system-wide reservation information relating to past system-wide reservations for perishable commodities that have already perished, said system-wide past reservation information including information unrelated to said particular perishable commodity;   second subprocesses for gathering current reservation information relating to current reservations for said particular perishable commodity, which current reservation has not yet perished;   third subprocesses for comparing said gathered past system-wide reservation information and said current reservation information;   fourth subprocesses for calculating, based on said comparison, the likelihood that said current reservations will materialize; and   fifth subprocesses for outputting materialization forecast results based on said calculated likelihood.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 14 , wherein said past system-wide reservation information includes historical commodity details unrelated to said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 15 , wherein said past system-wide reservation information further includes Point-of-Sale (POS) information included in said past system-wide reservation information that is unrelated to said potential purchase of said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein said past system-wide reservation information further includes materialization information unrelated to said potential purchase of said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 17 , wherein said past system-wide reservation information includes demographic information about persons who made said past reservations. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 18 , wherein said demographic information includes one or more of the following pertaining to said persons making said past reservations: age, sex, national origin, citizenship, country of residence, occupation, education, annual income, marital status, reservation frequency. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 19 , wherein said current reservation information further includes current-commodity details regarding said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 20 , wherein said current reservation information further includes POS information pertaining to said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 21 , wherein said current reservation information includes demographic information about persons making said current reservations for said particular perishable commodity. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 22 , wherein said demographic information includes one or more of the following pertaining to said persons making said current reservations: age, sex, national origin, citizenship, country of residence, occupation, education, annual income, marital status, reservation frequency. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein said perishable commodities comprise airline seats, and wherein said historical commodity details include information related to one or more of the following regarding said airline seats: carrier name, flight origin, flight destination, booking class, flight distance, departure time, connection time, arrival time, departure date, arrival date, flight duration, number of distinct legs comprising a complete one-way itinerary, aircraft type, aircraft capacity. 
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 24 , wherein said POS information includes one or more of the following: POS type, POS country, booking carrier, booking recency, change recency, fare code, number of passengers traveling with said persons making said past reservations, length of stay associated with the reservation, time between booking date and flight date, payment status. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable code as set forth in  claim 25 , wherein said current-commodity details include information related to one or more of the following: carrier name, flight origin, flight destination, booking class, flight distance, departure time, connection time, arrival time, departure date, arrival date, flight duration, number of distinct legs comprising a complete one-way itinerary, aircraft type, aircraft capacity.