Method and apparatus for selling international travel tickets in combination with duty free goods

Abstract

A method and apparatus for selling a combination of travel tickets and consumer items to customers and, in particular, for selling international travel tickets and duty free items to international travelers. By acquiring surplus international travel tickets in bulk at discounted prices and by selling the duty free items in a way which avoids the overhead typically associated with such sales, the selling merchant is able to offer the combination of an international travel ticket and a duty free item to a consumer at a price below what the consumer would pay if the consumer separately acquired the ticket and duty free item from third parties. In one implementation, the selling merchant offers the consumer a free duty free item upon purchase of an international travel ticket, or vice versa. In a preferred embodiment, both the consumer and the selling merchant employ computers communicating over a computer network to carry out the inventive method.

1 . A computer implemented method performed by a merchant, the method comprising:
 arranging for the purchase of a plurality of international travel tickets from a passenger carrier at discounted prices;   in exchange for purchasing the international travel tickets, arranging with the passenger carrier for delivery of duty free items at or beyond a point of international departure, to a traveler using at least one of the plurality of international travel tickets, the merchant providing the duty free items for delivery therewith saving at least a portion of a concession fee otherwise due for the duty free items when sold to the traveler at or beyond the point of international departure;   computing prices for a plurality of combinations of one or more of the plurality of international travel tickets and one or more of the duty free items, wherein at least one of the prices computed reflect a discount covered by the saved concession fee; and   using a server computer coupled to a user computer over a computer network, communicating to the user computer an offer requiring a user to purchase at least one of the plurality of combinations at the computed prices in a single transaction.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, in response to the user purchasing a combination of one or more of the international travel tickets and one or more of the duty free items, communicating a travel reservation to a carrier reservation system and reserving the one or more duty free items purchased by the user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , scheduling delivery at the time of international travel of the one or more duty free items purchased by the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , comprising delivering at the time of international travel the one or more duty free goods purchased. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , comprising delivering the one or more duty free goods to the carrier for distribution during international travel. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising contracting with an airline to purchase a minimum dollar amount of tickets and purchasing one or more international travel tickets in a selected combination after the user has selected the combination. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein computing prices for combinations comprises computing prices based on costs of the international travel tickets and duty free items to the merchant. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein computing prices comprises computing a price for a given ticket combination to ensure recovery of the cost of the international travel ticket in the price of the duty free item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising allowing the user to first select an international travel ticket or duty free item at a first specified price and allowing the user to select the other of an international travel ticket and duty free item at a second specified price, and wherein computing the prices comprises adding the first and second prices. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising allowing the user to first select either a specific international ticket or a specific duty free item and then select a specific duty free item or a specific 
     
     
         11 . A computer implemented method performed by a merchant for offering a combination of an international travel ticket and a duty free item to a consumer, the method comprising:
 purchasing a plurality of international travel tickets and a plurality of duty free items from third parties;   computing prices for combinations, each combination including one or more international travel tickets and one or more duty free items;   offering the combinations to a consumer for purchase;   in response to a consumer selecting a given combination, selling the one or more international travel tickets and the one or more duty free items in the selected combination to the consumer in a single transaction; and   arranging for delivery of the one or more duty free items in the selected combination to the consumer in association with the consumer's travel using the one or more international travel tickets in the selected combination.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein purchasing international travel tickets comprises conditionally purchasing the international travel tickets. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein purchasing duty free items comprises conditionally purchasing the duty free items. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein purchasing international travel tickets comprises purchasing surplus international travel tickets. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein purchasing international travel tickets comprises contracting with an airline to purchase a minimum dollar amount of tickets and purchasing one or more international travel tickets in a selected combination after the consumer has selected the combination. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein computing prices for combinations comprises computing prices based on costs of the international travel tickets and duty free items to the merchant. 
     
     
         17 . The method of claim  91 , wherein computing prices comprises computing a price for a given combination to ensure recovery of the cost of the international travel ticket in the price for the duty free item. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein offering the combinations comprises allowing the consumer to first select an international travel ticket or duty free item at a first specified price and allowing the consumer to select the other of an international travel ticket or duty free item at a second specified price, and wherein computing the prices comprises adding the first and second prices. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the international travel tickets comprise air travel tickets. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein offering the combinations to the consumer comprises allowing the consumer to first select either a specific international travel ticket or a specific duty free item and then select a specific duty free item or a specific international travel ticket, respectively, that forms part of a given one of the combinations.