Pre-boarding auction system for airline seat upgrades

Abstract

A system for upgrading airline seats during an online pre-boarding auction that is accessible through travelers' mobile devices. The auction starts at or after check-in but prior to the boarding of a flight. During the auction, travelers that have confirmed reservations for an airline flight are permitted to bid on one or more seat upgrades through their mobile devices. For example, the travelers may be bidding on upgrades from economy to first class, and the bids may be submitted through bidding applications installed on the travelers' mobile devices. The auction can be a live auction that updates the travelers on the status of the auction and receives bids from the travelers throughout the auction. The auction ends prior to boarding, and the winning travelers are sent upgrade confirmations, such as scannable boarding codes that can be used as boarding passes when boarding the flight.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 providing a mobile bidding application for installation on respective mobile devices of a plurality of travelers, the mobile bidding application executable on a mobile device to display a first user interface to receive a bid for a seat upgrade;   receiving, at a server, from a mobile device of a traveler of the travelers, a flight confirmation code for the traveler for an airline flight at an airport;   verifying, by comparing the flight confirmation code to a flight manifest for the airline flight, that the traveler has a confirmed reservation for the airline flight;   determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction for at least one seat upgrade for the airline flight, the auction start time being at or after check-in time for the airline flight but prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;   beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time;   receiving, during the live online pre-boarding auction, a plurality of bids for the at least one seat upgrade that are entered via the first user interface of the mobile bidding applications of the mobile devices of travelers that have confirmed reservations for the airline flight, wherein at least some of the bids are received from mobile devices of travelers having confirmed reservations for the airline flight and whose mobile devices are present at a location of the airport;   transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction, information to the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing a respective bid, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers, wherein the information is for display by the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;   updating, during the live online pre-boarding auction, the information identifying the one or more highest bidding travelers as the bids are received, wherein the updated information is for display by the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;   ending the live online pre-boarding auction prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;   determining, after ending the auction and prior to the boarding time, which traveler that submitted at least one bid is a winner of the at least one seat upgrade based on the plurality of bids;   transmitting prior to the boarding time, winning traveler information to a flight data system responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the seat upgrade, the winning traveler information identifying the traveler that is determined to be the winner of the at least one seat upgrade, wherein the flight data system generates a scannable boarding code corresponding to an upgraded seat on the airline flight based on the winning traveler information;   receiving the scannable boarding code corresponding to the upgraded seat on the airline flight from the flight data system; and   transmitting, prior to the boarding time, the scannable boarding code to the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile bidding application is executable to display a second user interface to receive the flight confirmation code, and the server receives the flight confirmation code input by a traveler in the second user interface of the mobile bidding application. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving seat upgrade information from the flight data system identifying at least one seat on the airline flight available for auction; and   notifying the traveler of the online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting notification information to the mobile device of the traveler responsive to the seat upgrade information indicating that there are seats on the airline flight available for auction.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the scannable boarding code is a QR code. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 notifying the traveler of the auction start time of the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting start time information to the mobile device of the traveler.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the auction end time is determined to be a pre-determined amount of time prior to the boarding time or a departure time of the airline flight. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction further comprises:
 determining a number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight;   determining the auction start time based on the number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction and to a display monitor that is separate from the mobile devices and located at a boarding gate for the airline flight, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of bids includes at least one bid generated in response to a traveler swiping of an interactive bidding element in the first user interface. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the scannable boarding code is configured for display in a second user interface of the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
 providing a mobile bidding application for installation on respective mobile devices of a plurality of travelers, the mobile bidding application executable on a mobile device to display a first user interface to receive a bid for a seat upgrade;   receiving, at a server, from a mobile device of a traveler of the travelers, a flight confirmation code for the traveler for an airline flight at an airport;   verifying, by comparing the flight confirmation code to a flight manifest for the airline flight, that the traveler has a confirmed reservation for the airline flight;   determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction for at least one seat upgrade for the airline flight, the auction start time being at or after check-in time for the airline flight but prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;   beginning the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade at the auction start time;   receiving, during the live online pre-boarding auction, a plurality of bids for the at least one seat upgrade that are entered via the first user interface of the mobile bidding applications of the mobile devices of travelers that have confirmed reservations for the airline flight, wherein at least some of the bids are received from mobile devices of travelers having confirmed reservations for the airline flight and whose mobile devices are present at a location of the airport;   transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction, information to the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing a respective bid, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers, wherein the information is for display by the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;   updating, during the live online pre-boarding auction, the information identifying the one or more highest bidding travelers as the bids are received, wherein the updated information is for display by the mobile bidding application of at least each of the travelers providing the respective bid;   ending the live online pre-boarding auction prior to the boarding time of the airline flight;   determining, after ending the auction and prior to the boarding time, which traveler that submitted at least one bid is a winner of the at least one seat upgrade based on the plurality of bids;   transmitting prior to the boarding time, winning traveler information to a flight data system responsive to determining which traveler is the winner of the seat upgrade, the winning traveler information identifying the traveler that is determined to be the winner of the at least one seat upgrade, wherein the flight data system generates a scannable boarding code corresponding to an upgraded seat on the airline flight based on the winning traveler information;   receiving the scannable boarding code corresponding to the upgraded seat on the airline flight from the flight data system; and   transmitting, prior to the boarding time, the scannable boarding code to the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the mobile bidding application is executable to display a second user interface to receive the flight confirmation code, and the server receives the flight confirmation code input by a traveler in the second user interface of the mobile bidding application. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving seat upgrade information from the flight data system identifying at least one seat on the airline flight available for auction; and   notifying the traveler of the online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting notification information to the mobile device of the traveler responsive to the seat upgrade information indicating that there are seats on the airline flight available for auction.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
 notifying the traveler of the live online pre-boarding auction for the at least one seat upgrade by transmitting notification information to the mobile device of the traveler.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the scannable boarding code is a QR code. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the auction end time is determined to be a pre-determined amount of time prior to the boarding time or a departure time of the airline flight. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein determining an auction start time of a live online pre-boarding auction further comprises:
 determining a number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight;   determining the auction start time based on the number of travelers that have checked in for the airline flight.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
 transmitting, during the live online pre-boarding auction and to a display monitor that is separate from the mobile devices and located at a boarding gate for the airline flight, the information identifying one or more highest bidding travelers in the live online pre-boarding auction and amounts bid by the one or more highest bidding travelers.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of bids includes at least one bid generated in response to a traveler swiping of an interactive bidding element in the first user interface. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the scannable boarding code is configured for display in a second user interface of the mobile bidding application of the mobile device of the traveler that is determined to be the winner.