WO2006109248A2

WO2006109248A2 - Travel system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2006109248A2
Application number: PCT/IB2006/051110
Authority: WO
Inventors: Shawn Ivor Schubotz; Grant Davon Birch; Dawn Ira Schubotz
Original assignee: Shawn Ivor Schubotz; Grant Davon Birch; Dawn Ira Schubotz
Priority date: 2005-04-12
Filing date: 2006-04-11
Publication date: 2006-10-19

Description

TRAVEL SYSTEM AND METHOD

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a travel system and method and more particularly, but not exclusively to an air, sea or rail travel system and method.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Throughout this specification the word 'traveller' may include persons and entities who may be interested in buying or selling travel besides just using travel.

Airlines care what happens to a ticket after it is sold. They do not want to create a secondary market, where low priced tickets can be resold to travellers who should be paying more to the airline. Hence the usual airline ticket is "not transferable" between travellers.

However, in the European Charter airline model the whole plane load is sold forward. If a tour operator cannot get a plane load of tourists the tour operator (who is chartering the plane) may cancel, provided it is in good time.

The charter model could tolerate a secondary market because the airline has full knowledge of their sales i.e. the whole "plane" is sold. But there is less advantage especially as the airlines have lost the opportunity of revenue management. It is preferable that planeloads of seats are not sold wholesale when revenue management is important.

The problems facing the airline industry is that they are never sure of a sufficiently full (profitable) flight yet they must go ahead with their schedule anyway. The previous solutions were a monopoly position so that higher prices obtained pay for inefficiency of empty seats or allow for fuller flights with reduced services. Secondly, the latest low cost model which in its pure original form attempts only certain routes and times where low prices ensure almost full planes. Thirdly, by chartering the whole plane (charter model). Historically, a legacy airline full-fare ticket has provided the holder with a range of optional choices for changes of reservations. Thus, legacy airlines provided a range of optional choices to travellers, of various flights, various routes, and different service levels. But these tickets were relatively expensive for the traveller. Also, when the traveller is able to change reservations easily, the airline is bereft of precise certainty of reservations in the future.

Historically, purchases of seats on flights, reservation on flights, (since reservations could be changed) and travel on flights have been separate functions. In some cases, reservations on interlining airlines were possible. When reservations are changed, the airline loses a degree of predictability of business. Only after the flight had taken place would the carrying airline be paid for the ticket by the airline clearing house. The airlines carry the risk of over or under providing services because of lack of firm predictable demand. The airline also carries the obligation of meeting optional choices of change of reservations.

The newer low-cost airline ticket provides the holder with fewer, if any, optional choices for change of reservation or route. These tickets are relatively cheaper but do not provide the traveller with many options if the traveller needs to change travel plans. But while the low-cost airline has prepaid reservations, travellers are not likely to reserve their seats far into the future if they are not sure of their travel plans. This, of course, also has an impact on longer term predictability.

So in most airline models, many reservations are only firmed up close to the corresponding flight. It would be desirable if airlines were able to have many confirmed reservations far into the future to provide them with predictable business, thus bringing stability.

A third airline business method, strictly speaking not for scheduled services, mastered in Europe, has provided chartered flights to supply the wholesale demand, which was ordered far in advance. Tickets for travel on these chartered flights are then sold to travellers. Historically, the European charter airline industry was the low-cost model version which operated outside the more regulated environment of the European scheduled airlines. Charter airline services especially catered for seasonal packaged tours. But although providing low-cost services to travellers, travellers have limited choice of choosing and changing reservations, especially when the ticket was provided as part of a packaged tour. As these are chartered services, they do not offer a full range of scheduled flights.

Other large manufacturing industries generally produce to future demand which is created and absorbed by dealerships, or merchants, who are closer to the market.

Referring to Guillebaud D., "The needs of innovation in managing a range of distribution channels", IBM Travel and Transportation Executive Conference, Vancouver (February), Doganis mentions the development of a travel futures market in his book 'The airline business in the twenty-first century" 2001 , reprinted 2003 published by Routledge, of the Taylor and Francis Group, in London. Quoting from this book on page 175: 'There is also some uncertainty about the next logical step which is the development of a travel futures market. Already by late 1998 one company was reported to be trying to set up a travel commodities futures exchange (Guillebaud, 1999). The concept is simple enough. Through the exchange, blocks of, say, 50, 100 or more airline seats for specific routes could be bought for delivery in the future. Prices would move up or down in response to changing patterns of supply and demand in relation to specific delivery dates. Buyers and sellers could speculate on market developments and also hedge their risks as in any other commodity exchange. Airlines might not only be sellers but also buyers when market conditions changed." The quoted reference above does not teach the trading of futures contracts for single airline seats. While it does teach price movement and hedging of price risks of future ticket blocks it does not teach the hedging of traveller risk of not being able to use a purchased travel service; nor does it teach the hedging of traveller risk of being unable to reserve a travel service when needed. This reference does not show how airlines will profit by this method, or why blocks of airline seat inventory are more marketable. Although as suggested above, the concept is simple enough, a method of using this concept to provide appropriate value has not been simple.

Contractual options can be rights to other actions besides buying or selling. Then we can say that generally, although not normally named as such, options on the use of an airline ticket have been used extensively by travellers and airlines. Examples are of airlines over-booking passengers, and then taking the option of bumping certain over-booked passengers off the flight, or in such a case offering over-booked travellers options of getting other rewards for taking another flight. Travellers may take options of not showing up at book in, or of cancelling, or of changing the reservation to another flight. Travellers use their options when they make a reservation and then board an aircraft.

US patent 5797127 entitled "Method, apparatus, and program for pricing, selling, and exercising options to purchase airline tickets" in the name of Walker Asset Management Limited Partnership teaches a traveller option (and method of pricing it) to buy an airline ticket at a preset price from an airline. This document further discloses an apparatus, method, and program for determining a price of an option to purchase an airline ticket, and for facilitating the sale and exercise of those options. By purchasing an option, a customer can lock in a specified airfare without tying up his money and without risking the loss of the ticket price if his travel plans change. Pricing of the options may be based on departure location criteria, destination location criteria, and travel criteria.

US patent 5897620 entitled "Method and apparatus for the sale of airline-specified flight tickets" in the name of Priceline.com lnc teaches an airline option to place traveller on a flight chosen from within a range of flights. US patent 6085169 entitled "Conditional purchase offer management system" in the name of Priceline.com Incorporated teaches an airline option to buy an airline ticket at a preset price. This document discloses an unspecified-time airline ticket representing a purchased seat on a flight to be selected later, by the airlines, for a traveller-specified itinerary (e.g., NY to LA on March 3rd) is disclosed. Various methods and systems for matching an unspecified-time ticket with a flight are also disclosed. An exemplary method includes: (1) making available an unspecified-time ticket; (2) examining a plurality of flights which would fulfill the terms of the unspecified-time ticket to determine which flight to select; and (3) providing notification of the selected flight prior to departure. The disclosed embodiments provide travellers with reduced airfare in return for flight-time flexibility and, in turn, permits airlines to fill seats that would have otherwise gone unbooked. Because of the flexibilities required of the unspecified-time traveller, unspecified-time tickets are likely to attract leisure travellers unwilling to purchase tickets at the available published fares and, at the same time, are likely to "fence out" business travellers unwilling to risk losing a full day at either end of their trip. Moreover, the flexibilities required of the unspecified-time traveller need not be limited to a departure time; the flexibilities may also include the airline, the departing airport, the destination airport, or any other restriction that increases the flexibility afforded the airline in placing the traveller aboard a flight. The disclosed embodiments thus permit airlines to fill otherwise empty seats in a manner that stimulates latent and unfulfilled leisure travel demand while leaving their underlying fare structures intact.

US patent 6658390 entitled "System and method for reselling a previously sold product" in the name of Walker Digital, LLC teaches an airline option to buy back an airline ticket. Most of these air travel options taught are contract party specific and take place between airline party and passenger party for an airline ticket. These methods may not provide a sufficient platform for providing long term industry stability. What is disclosed in this document is that a seller, having previously sold a product to an original purchaser subject to a buyout-provision condition, determines if the buyout-provision condition is satisfied. If the buy-out provision condition is satisfied, the seller retakes the product from the original purchaser and resells the product to a subsequent purchaser.

US patent application 2002/0026405 to Haar teaches trading of futures and options on an airline passenger miles index. 'The prices of airline tickets between fixed points are in general set by a number of cost parameters, including both fixed costs and operating costs, as well as market conditions, which together are difficult to predict. Among operating costs, there are fuel expenditure on various routes, labour costs, and other administrative expenses, including access charges for gates and airports. Fixed costs include aircraft and their financing. Combined with these highly uncertain cost parameters, reflecting the complexity of the business itself, the prices which airlines ultimately set are effected by market conditions including the changing popularity of various routes, seasonal demand and advertising, and competition between various airlines providing services on these and related routes. The unpredictable and complex nature of airline cost structure combined with the vagaries of the market, together suggest, airlines may wish to protect themselves against price uncertainty, and in particular of ticket prices declining. Faced with similar uncertainty, corporations or others who purchase large number of tickets may wish to protect themselves against the price uncertainty, in particular of tickets prices rising. In light of the above, the invention for which this patent application is made concerns a method of pricing and transferring the risks arising from changes in the prices of airline tickets in particular and airline travel in general, which would involve one or more Indices on the prices of airline travel, along with futures, options and other financial products designed to price and transfer risk of changes in the said index or indices. In using the invention, it is envisioned that airlines, corporate buyers of airline tickets, other parties, and those wishing to speculate upon the direction of the prices of airline travel, would take futures and options positions on the said Index or Indices, and by therefore so doing, would eliminate, reduce, or otherwise modify the effects of undesirable and unexpected changes in the prices of airline travel." This method does not provide for reducing waste of inventory non-use. But it is rather a financial instrument hedge than a physical inventory hedge.

The above teachings do not show the open trading of contractual options for individual airline seat inventory to parties other than the airline and the contracting passenger.

Now in both legacy and low-cost business models it is also very important that in order to maximize the revenue of each flight, higher paying and lesser paying passengers are included in the same aircraft flight. When providing scheduled passenger airline services, the standard marketing practice is to divide the travellers into market segments. Traveller market segments may be created according to travel purpose, or according to lifestyle, or according to travel needs, or according to anticipated demand at the time of ticket purchase or according to combinations of these. Different market segments are targeted for different prices for equivalent seats on the same aircraft. The object of market segmentation being to maximize revenue according to what the traveller is willing to pay.

Naturally, there is an unwillingness to lose control of marketing by allowing the resale of any passenger travel ticket to parties other than the contract parties. More to the point, the standard practice that the passenger cannot sell to another passenger prevents anyone from selling a cheaper market segment ticket to another who values the utility sufficiently to pay in a higher bracketed segment. But an article in World Airline News of May 18 2001 , published on the Internet, copyright by Phillips Publishing International Inc. and Gale Group mentions the debut of a new company FairAir. Quoting from a website copy of the article, "A new company set to debut May 22 plans to challenge the age-old airline mantra of non-transferable airline tickets and is partnering with carriers to offer consumers a new concept in ticket purchasing. FairAir is a new website offering consumers the ability to change names or sell tickets previously purchased through the site. In essence, it is a secondary market for airline tickets." Quoting further from the same article "Glickman acknowledged other carriers, including 'big three' U.S. carriers American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, had concerns about potential price dilution. He cited the example of a passenger purchasing a US$300 ticket and then selling it through FairAir closer to the departure date for US$400, while airlines would charge US$500 for the same ticket."

A further similar reference is found in an article published online by Time Magazine by its columnist Joe Klein on May 24 2001.

The airlines did not, however, receive appropriate benefit for providing a transferable ticket.

The scheduled airline industry has historically provided the services, and taken the first risk that there would be sufficient demand, and secondly the risk that the demand could change its reservations. When competitive pressure prevented the airlines from passing on the cost of these risks to travellers, airlines lost profit margins and/or they provided fewer services and fewer options for changing of reservations to travellers.

It is desirable to have a method of shifting the risk of wasting, or not using, inventory, away from both airlines and travellers; and also desirable to provide low price travel and high profit margins merely by reducing the numbers of empty seats.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a travel system and method which, at least partially, alleviates some of the abovementioned difficulties. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a travel system comprising computing means having issuing means for issuing a passage contract to a purchaser on behalf of a passage contract issuer; the passage contract being in respect of a number of future journeys on a transportation means; payment means for receiving payment for a journey from the purchaser so that the purchaser thus receives a right to travel; and trading means to facilitate trading of the right to travel by the purchaser.

The passage contract provides that the issuer has a right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser and if it makes a journey available to the purchaser has an obligation to pay for the journey and thus receives a right to travel.

Each journey is at a predetermined time and date to a predetermined destination.

Each journey is from a predetermined venue.

Each journey is generically related to any other journey of the passage contract by them having an identical generic relation.

The generic relation is a scheduled flight number.

The generic relation is one or more or all of; day of the week; time or time period of the day; departure criteria; destination criteria; service level.

The generic relation is payment price.

Some of the number of future journeys are on different dates.

The different dates, taken in their chronological order, are separated by a regular interval period. The issuing means have offering means for the passage contract issuer to offer the passage contract for acceptance by a purchaser.

The passage contract issuer is any one of the group consisting of an airline company, a railroad company, a shipping company.

The passage contract issuer may be a travel agent.

The trading means facilitates trading of the right to travel by the purchaser with users of the travel system.

The payment means includes computing means for keeping account of payments.

The payment means include computing means for making payments between users of the travel system.

The payment means include computing means for making payments by bank transfer between users of the travel system.

The trading means include computing means for the benefit of a purchaser offering a right to travel for sale.

The computing means hosts a web site including the issuing means and payment means.

A further feature of the invention provides for the computing means host a web site including the trading means

The web site is accessible by any prospective purchaser of a passage contract.

The passage contract provides that the purchaser may trade the right to travel only in accordance with a number of restrictions. A restriction is any one or more of the group consisting of: time period available for trading; trading only with a certain group or class of person; trading only with member of a travel association.

The trading means lists a number of rights to travel for the benefits of prospective further purchasers of such rights.

The trading means include further trading means to facilitate trading of the passage contract.

Further trading means lists a number of passage contracts for the benefits of prospective further purchasers of such passage contracts.

The trading means include a searching means for searching through a list of one or more of the group of passage contracts, rights to travel, put or call options on rights to travel, for the benefits of users of the travel system.

A yet further feature of the invention provides for the purchaser trades a right to travel subject to a trading condition set by the passage contract issuer and/or by the purchaser.

A trading condition is any one or more of the group consisting of: trading with a member of a travel association; trading as a future put or call option.

The computing means includes a timing means.

The choice in respect of the right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser is based on predetermined factors.

The factors include one or more of the group consisting of: a route profit margin, a flight profit margin; demand; business; stability; risk of future sales; market share. The choice is made by software in the computing means subject to prior inputs used in calculations to determine the choice.

The issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the time of a journey.

The issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the date of a journey.

The timing means prevents a further purchaser from purchasing a right to travel within a certain period prior to the time of a journey.

The price payable for a journey is predetermined at the time of issuing the passage contract or at the time of the issuer deciding to make the journey available to the purchaser.

The issuer and purchaser are members of a travel association in accordance with membership rules.

The right to travel includes proof of the right to travel including, any one or more selected from the group consisting of a paper ticket, an e-ticket, an electronic record and a computer record.

Each right to travel is for one passenger only.

The right to travel is not exchangeable for another right to travel with the passage contract issuer.

The right to travel is not refundable by the passage contract issuer.

Each right to travel is for one journey specified by one or more or all of the following criteria; service level; time or period of day; date; departure; destination; transport provider. The trading means has register means to register each right to travel as having the identity of only one holder registered on the computer record at any point in time during the existence of the right to travel.

The trading means has offering means for offering a travel right by the registered holder of the travel right for sale.

The right to travel is transferable between users of the travel system by the trading means.

The trading means comprises means for a registered holder of a travel right to either sell a call option or to buy a put option for the travel right, either to or from a user of the travel system.

A travel method including the steps of: issuing a passage contract to a purchaser by or on behalf of a passage contract issuer, the contract being in respect of a number of future journeys on a transportation means; making a journey available to a purchaser; receiving payment for the journey from the purchaser; issuing a right to travel to the purchaser; facilitating trading of the right to travel by the purchaser.

A travel method of selling rights to travel on a journey, which are tradable after payment, for different payment prices by the method of selling a number of passage contracts in which the payment price for a journey differed from one passage contract to another.

These and other features of the invention are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows timelines of a flight forward contract and three issuing flight right contracts; Figure 2 and

Figure 2A shows a flowchart of an airline method of using the invention;

Figure 3 shows a chart of a first sales target;

Figure 4 shows a chart of a first set of sales;

Figure 5 shows a chart of a second sales target;

Figure 6 shows a chart of second set of sales;

Figure7 shows a chart of a third sales target;

Figure 8 shows a chart of a third set of sales;

Figure 9 shows an example of a search webpage;

Figure 10 shows an example of a member webpage; and

Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of a system for implementing the travel method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In accordance with one method of the invention, an airline obtains an undertaking from a purchaser of a number of airline tickets in accordance with which the purchaser undertakes to pay for such tickets as and when the airline decides to offer such ticket or tickets to the purchaser. The purchaser has no choice but to pay for the offered ticket before a specified time and date, but the airline has a choice whether or not to offer the ticket to the purchaser. Certain rules would apply to the transaction. For example, the airline must offer a specific ticket to the purchaser a predetermined period before the date and time of the ticket, so that, if the airline decides not to offer the ticket, the purchaser would have enough time in which to purchase another ticket, through any traditional route or from another purchaser trading a ticket offered and accepted by such purchaser.

Put in other way, through a computing means 2 (shown in figure 11 , which shows a system for implementing a method of the invention), that hosts a web site on the Internet 3, and thus software that provides issuing, payment and trading means, the issuing means issues a passage contract to a user through a purchaser computer 4 connected to the web site.

The passage contract is in respect of a number of future journeys on a transportation means such as an airplane. The passage contract provides that the issuer has a right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys available to the purchaser who has an obligation to pay for journeys and thus receives a right to travel. The payment is done through the payment means on the website.

Once the purchaser receives the right to travel, he or she may trade it with other (further) purchasers on the web site.

The trading of the right to travel may be subject to conditions imposed by the airline that sold the ticket or issued the ticket and/or subject to conditions or rules of a travel association to which all purchasers and issuers of tickets must below. In addition, the right to travel or the ticket may be subject to conditions imposed by the purchaser.

Each journey sale offered to the purchaser by the issuer or sold on by the initial purchaser is at a predetermined time and date and from a predetermined venue.

In the embodiment described herein the passage contract issuer is an airline company that may also be a railroad company or a shipping company or the like. The passage contract issuer may also be a travel agent. All the right to travel or tickets that the initial purchasers offer to trade are all listed by the trading means on the website so that members of the travel association or the general public , whichever the case my be as allowed by the system, may purchase and choose such tickets.

Timing means associated with the computing means will prevent tickets from being sold on by a purchaser or from being offered to a purchaser by the issuer to be so sold within a predetermined period of the date and/or time of the ticket.

The choice in respect of the right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser is based on predetermined factors as described further below. These factors may be taken into account by a human operator of the system or may be automatically determined through software imbedded in the computing means to produce a result in accordance with a number of inputs received. Once a purchaser has accepted an offer to buy a ticket, the purchaser pays for the ticket and uses the ticket on the specific date and time for the specific flight or the purchaser is allowed to trade the ticket.

The embodiment of the invention described herein provides for a computer program to be implemented on a computer network such as the Internet to facilitate the provision of options to buy tickets at a future date to purchasers, to offer tickets to purchasers, to accept payment from purchasers.

Here follows a detailed description of an embodiment of the invention to teach various possibilities by example.

An entity is formed for the purpose of operating and maintaining use of a travel system. The entity is a service provider and is referred to herein as an Airline System. The Airline System has a set of rules relating to membership and providing for the use of the travel system between members. A major purpose of the travel system is to provide means for the easy entering into of forward contracts between members and the subsequent easy trading of the forward contracts and of other contracts resulting from the forward contracts. At least some of the users of the travel system are the members. Preferably, all users who undertake obligations using the travel system are members, while those only taking rights through the use of the travel system are members and other users.

The Airline System makes the travel system available over the Internet. The travel system software is called Airline System Exchange. The Airline System Exchange allows for, inter alia, the entering into and trading of certain contracts.

The types of contracts made and traded on the travel system are here called flight right contracts; flight forward contracts; and option-contracts.

A registered flight right contract is a flight right contract registered in the travel system. A registered flight forward contract is a flight forward contract registered in the travel system. A registered option-contract is an option-contract registered in the travel system. Each registered flight right contract corresponds to a firm right of the registered holder of that contract to nominate a passenger for firm transport according to the terms of the flight right contract. Contract terms correspond to flight number and date, and departure airport and destination airport and class of service, according to the contractual relationship created by the standing rules of association of the Airline System. Each registered flight right contract bears a number to identify that flight right contract from any other contract. In this embodiment the number is composed of firstly a codename for a flight right contract, secondly for the flight number, which in turn includes the airline code, thirdly the date, and fourthly a seat number which in turn may refer to a specific place on an aircraft or may merely be an identifying number. By example FirmFlyer/X123/2006Jan01/007 is the number registered in the travel system to identify a specific flight right contract, and no other, for a seat (007) on the 1^st of January 2006 on flight X123 by airline X.

Each registered flight forward contract corresponds to a binding undertaking of the registered holder of that contract to purchase a series of specified flight right contracts offered, from the airline party (to the flight forward contract). Each of the flight right contracts in the series is due for payment before a specified period in advance of each corresponding flight journey. Each registered flight forward contract bears a unique identity number. In this embodiment, the number is composed of firstly a codename to identify it as a flight forward contract, secondly the number of the first offered flight right contract, thirdly the period between flight right contract offers in the series of offers, fourthly the amount of flight right contracts offered at each term of the series, and fifthly the number of the last flight right contract offered in the series by the flight forward contract. By example ForwardFlyerm21/2006Jan06/099/52W/1/Y321/2010Jan01/012 is the number registered in the travel system which identifies a single, individual, specific flight forward contract which should issue five flight right contracts beginning with the offer of a single FirmFlyer/Y321/2006Jan06, the next being for 52 weeks later, the third another 52 weeks after that, and the fourth another 52 weeks later, and the last on the 1^st Jan 2010.

Each registered option-contract corresponds to a firm contract between a seller party and a buyer party which provides an obligation on the part of the seller party to the buyer party to either sell or buy (according to which of the two types of option-contract it is) a specified flight right contract for a price set by the same firm contract, to the buyer party if and when the buyer party decides to exercise a buyer party right, provided by the same firm contract, within a time period specified by the same firm contract.

Airline System Exchange software provides for a database of all members and members' information, a register of all flight right contracts, of all flight forward contracts, and of all option-contracts. Airline System Exchange provides means for registering any and all parties of registered contracts, such that there is only one registered holder party, at any point in time, of each of any registered contracts. So the holder registered within the travel system is the only holder party of the corresponding contract recognised by the Airline System. Only the registered holder of any contract has the authority and means within the travel system, to offer up for sale, and to sell the corresponding contract. All contract making and trading activities must take place within the travel system by and between users of the travel system. The Airline System Exchange software provides means for payment between trading users. A database on member details is provided to show each member their ownership of flight forward contracts, flight right contracts, and option-contracts; record of prior contract ownership; record of membership agreement to standing rules and regulations or other contracts; and other useful information. A list is provided in the database, of members who would like to receive promotions of products and services.

The Airline System forms a management; the management manages the Airline System according to the rules and provides electronic identification and trading functionality, to minimize the need for non-electronic transactions.

At least one of the users of the travel system must be an airline. Preferably, it is a member of the Airline System. Airlines, travel agents, and travellers are invited to join as members of the Airline System. In this embodiment of the invention, a plurality of airlines, of travel agents and of travellers join the Airline System as its members.

Members are required to adhere to the rules of the Airline System. The rules regulate the rights and obligations of members, agreement to conferring of powers including the limitations of these powers between members, and codes and regulations of conduct between members, and procedures and protocols for conducting of contracts between members especially where it pertains to the travel system use. No membership may be transferred from any person or entity to another. What all members have in common is that they have registered their information on the Airline System database and have made a legal commitment to the rules of the Airline System.

The rules also govern the contractual relationship between members using standard contracting procedures provided, when using the travel system. This allows for the ease of practical use of the travel system. This is since the rules of association allow for standard terms, conditions and warranties included in contracts, to be set prior to the actual trading and usage of flight inventory, thus preventing a cumbersome contracting process. Also, members bound by the rules of association allows for setting up the practical and other legal pre-requisites necessary for the trading process. The contractual relationship in certain instances waives privity to original holder party and allows novation of contract to latest holder party and in other instances, the provided contractual relationship may allow for assignment of a contract from a seller holder to a buyer holder.

From time to time, suggestions and negotiations may take place between the management, and representatives from each of the groups of airlines, travel agents, and travellers, which from time to time produce some changes to particulars in the rules of association. These changes are ratified by means allowed for in the extant rules.

Trading processes include banking payments and identification. For any member to use the travel system, operated by the Airline System, in the trading process, they are provided means of identifying themselves as a particular member. The identification means are data entries in accordance with preferred state of the art methods of the Airline System. Since a corporation entity member can only operate the airline system via its authorized natural person agents, each such entity must inform the Airline System of their authorized users. In this embodiment members and authorized users of members, receive a secret password and secret Personal Identification Number (PIN). In the process of joining as a member, each joining entity necessarily provides information on him or her or itself to the Airline System management for entering the information into a database register of the travel system. The necessary information includes: i) identity documents issued by governments such as identification document, social security numbers or passports. Registration and/or incorporation documents are required for legal persons. Also authorized users of the travel system within organizations, and their identifying numbers and documents; ii) addresses and other contact means such as telephone, fax, e-mail, for: a) domicilium et executandi b) residence c) work d) financial business e) informative business f) promotional business g) other categories, such as addresses in various countries or branch addresses h) registered address

iii) payment means for payments made and received such as encoded bank account numbers or encoded links to bank accounts, the authorization being enabled or activated by state of the art encrypting and identifying technologies. These include various categories of accounts for various types of payments, such as payable, receivable, local, international, stop order or once off. A preferred feature of the travel system is the ability to facilitate payments to pre-registered bank accounts. This and the ability to identify trading members from the pre-registered database enable quick trading to take place. Promotional activities also take effect easily by the travel system, if they are acceptable to a member.

Documentation and the verification thereof take place initially upon joining to the Airline System membership, prior to trading activity on the travel system. Information is updated once conditions change. This initial registration verification applies for activities within the Airline System. Thus, there is state of the art means provided to enable members to authorize activities easily and quickly, especially trading activities, while these are verified quickly by electronic means.

Only travel system registered contract holders or travel system registered designated authorized persons may sell any contracts held by them. This does not preclude third- party agents acting on behalf of registered holders in certain instances. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A FLIGHT RIGHT CONTRACT

A flight right contract provides a first contractual right solely to a, singular at any point in time, holder party of same flight right contract who is registered in the travel system, to either nominate a passenger to use a specified unit of air transport service or to use same specified unit of air transport by default of such nomination and in addition according to a preference condition of same flight right contract, it provides that said airline party allows a second contractual right solely to the same holder party, to trade and sell this same flight right contract by use of the travel system and in addition according to another preference condition of same flight right contract it provides that said airline party allows a third contractual right to the same holder party to contract with another user of the travel system, by means of the travel system, in taking options to buy or to sell the same flight contract such that after said trading, said first contractual right plus preferred second contractual right plus preferred third contractual right transfer or are assigned solely to a new holder of same flight right contract who has purchased the same flight right contract, by which transfer or assignment, any corresponding first, second, and third contractual rights no longer reside with any previous holder of the same flight right contract. Likewise further trading transfers the same first, second, and third contractual rights to the next purchaser holder of the same flight right contract so that these rights reside solely with the latest holder of any flight right contract. These rights are transferable provided that the airline party has not restricted transfer of any contractual rights.

The above-mentioned phrase "specified unit of air transport service" is used to mean a specified amount and type of space on an aircraft which carries goods or people once off from one place specified by contract, to another place specified by contract, at a time specified by contract. Preferably, the "specified unit of air transport service" is any single seat on an aircraft for a specified flight, and then of course only a single passenger can make use of this first contractual right. Preferably, the "specified unit of air transport service" is any single seat on an aircraft for a specified scheduled flight having scheduled flight number. Preferably, the seat is a single specified seat having specific number on specified type of aircraft. The above-mentioned phrase "specified flight" is used to refer to a flight having time and date and departing point and arrival point.

Once any specified flight has been completed, all flight right contracts attached or corresponding to that flight terminate by performance, whether the first contractual right to use that flight as a passenger was exercised or not.

Normally, any flight right contract issues from a flight forward contract.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN OPTION-CONTRACT

There are two types of option-contracts which may attach to a flight right contract. The first type is an option-contract to sell one flight right contract. The second type is an option-contract to buy one flight right contract. Since each option-contract has two parties to the contract, there are four different possible positions that may be taken. Within the methods of the invention, these four positions correspond to four different market segments. For of ease of communication, we provide contrived names for the four different positions that may be taken. EnsureFlyer holds a flight right contract and holds an attached option-contract to sell that flight right contract. FlexiFlyer holds an option-contract to purchase a flight right contract but of course does not hold the corresponding flight right contract. RelinquishFlyer holds a flight right contract but has taken an obligation to sell it if the FlexiFlyer to that option-contract decides to purchase it. StandbyFlyer does not hold a corresponding flight right contract and has taken an obligation to purchase a flight right contract from an EnsureFlyer if that holder decides to sell it. In this example each option-contract expires one full week before the corresponding flight due time, when rights, not already exercised, and obligations, expire. When an option-contract is exercised, the sale takes place immediately on the travel system for the sale price of the corresponding flight right contract, which had been written into the option-contract This sale price must be distinguished from the consideration-price of the option-contract which was paid over to the party taking on an obligation and is kept by that party regardless of whether any option-contract right is exercised or not.

A first type of option-contract called a NoShow contract is a contract between a buyer party who must also be the holder of a flight right contract and a seller buyer party whereby for a consideration from the buyer party, the seller party takes the obligation to purchase same said flight right contract held by the buyer party for a purchase price that is agreed in said contract if and when the buyer party exercises a provided right to sell within period agreed in said contract. Preferably both seller and buyer party are members of the Airline System. The buyer party of a NoShow contract corresponds to the position of EnsureFlyer and the seller party of a NoShow contract corresponds to the position of StandbyFlyer.

A second type of option-contract called an OverBook contract is a contract between a buyer party and a seller party who must also be the holder of a flight right contract whereby for a consideration from the buyer party, the seller party takes the obligation to sell same said flight right contract for a purchase price that is agreed in said contract if and when the buyer party exercises a provided right to buy within period agreed in said contract. Preferably, both seller and buyer are members of the Airline System. The buyer party of an Overbook contract corresponds to the position of FlexiFlyer and the seller party of an OverBook contract corresponds to the position of RelinquishFlyer.

An option-contract terminates by performance if a party exercises their option to buy or sell the underlying flight right contract, or the option terminates by expiry when its exercise period passes.

The holder of a position of an option-contract is registered in the travel system as the single holder of a position to a specific registered flight right contract. So as an example where an option-contract on a flight right contract has been taken, and while it is in force, that corresponding flight right contract will carry a codename at the end of its number. So FirmFlyer/Z123/2006Jan25/009/EnsureFlyer is the example of a registered number of a flight right contract, where the holder holds a right to sell it to a specific third party. Likewise, this specific third party, a member of the Airline System, will be a holder of a corresponding registered option-contract numbered as

Z123/2006Jan25/009/StandbyFlyer. While the option-contract position holders know the specific flight right contract to which the option-contract relates, they cannot know the identity of the member who is the other position holder. Furthermore, FirmFlyer/Z123/2006Jan25/010/RelinquishFlyer is an example of a flight right contract where the holder of the flight right contract also holds an obligation to sell the same flight right contract to a second holder of option-contract number Z123/2006Jan25/010/FlexiFlyer when that second holder exercises his/her right to buy flight right contract number FirmFlyer/Z123/2006Jan25/010 at the agreed purchase price within the exercise period.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A FLIGHT FORWARD CONTRACT

Any flight forward contract is a binding contract between an airline party and a holder party whereby the holder party undertakes to make a purchase of all terms of a series of generic flight right contracts set in the flight forward contract that are offered by the airline party during a future period of time for each term of the series set in the flight forward contract, on the condition that each purchase be for a price set in the said firm contract and that each purchase will take place automatically by the travel system at the expiration of the said period of time of each term of the series, if the purchase is not already made, but also on the condition that if any of the terms of said series of generic flight right contracts is not offered by the airline party during said period of time or is offered for price other than the said price set, then the holder party may void the firm contract thenceforth but not before by cancelling the firm contract on the travel system before the next term of the said series of flight right contracts is due for offer, but also on the condition that if the said firm contract has not been voided by the holder after such a non-offer or other-price offer, that the said firm contract cannot be cancelled by the holder party and continues in force when any further due flight right contract of said series of generic flight right contracts is offered in due period of time. When any offered flight right contract is purchased on the travel system, then that flight right contract issues as a legal contract. The phrase "terms of a series" refers to terms and series in a mathematical sense and not to contract terms in the legal sense.

A flight forward contract may only be formed, purchased, sold, traded, and offered for sale by a member of the Airline System. Any holder of a flight forward contract is a member of the Airline System. The Airline System Exchange software provides means for changing the registered holder of any flight forward contract from a selling member to another new holder who is a purchasing member, if and when that flight forward contract is traded. Preferably, the rules of association allow that the airline party to a flight forward contract has approval rights to the trade of that flight forward contract. This is because the flight forward contract holder party has an obligation to the airline party, who may want to confirm creditworthiness of new party. After airline party approval to the trade of a flight forward contract, the travel system automatically creates a new contract to replace the previous traded contract.

DETAILED TIMELINE OF FLIGHT FORWARD CONTRACT

An example of a flight forward contract follows with reference to Figure 1 , which is a representation of timelines of the life of the flight forward contract and associated derived flight right contracts. This example is that of a simple case chosen for ease of teaching. Line 120 represents a timeline of the life of the flight forward contract. Line 122 represents a timeline of the life of a first flight right contract issued from the flight forward contract. Line 124 represents a timeline of the life of a second flight right contract issued from the flight forward contract. Line 126 represents a timeline of the life of a third flight right contract issued from the flight forward contract. The flight forward contract issues the first, second, and third flight right contracts in series over time. First, second, and third flight right contracts are for flights having the same scheduled flight number for the same day of the week, but each are for flights on different dates four weeks apart from each other.

Line 128 represents a point in time when an airline party to the flight forward contract offers the flight forward contract up for sale on the travel system of the present invention. Line 130 represents a point in time, later than line 128, when a traveller member of the Airline System purchases the flight forward contract on the travel system. Then the traveller member becomes the holder of the flight forward contract. The flight forward contract calls for the purchase of the specified individual first flight right contract by point in time represented by line 138. Furthermore, it calls for the later purchase of the second flight right contract by the point in time represented by line 140, and still later for the purchase of the third flight right contract by a point in time represented by line 142. But the purchases depend on each of first, second, and third flight right contracts having been offered, as shown below. The flight forward contract also calls for the immediate deposit of a margin sufficient to cover full payment of four weeks worth of flight right contracts. If there are different values for different four week periods then the margin deposit is for the four week period of maximum worth. In this example, the corresponding flights are spaced four weeks apart, all flight right contracts carry the same price, so the margin deposit required is to the price of one flight right contract. Line 132 represents a point in time from when the first flight right contract is put up for sale by the airline party for the contracted price. The holder of the flight forward contract may purchase the first flight right contract from the time 132 until before time 138, but at time 138, automatic purchase takes place if no voluntary purchase has taken place. Line 144 represents the period of time when the holder of the flight forward contract may make voluntary early purchase of the first flight right contract. At point in time represented by line 152, the holder of the flight forward contract makes a voluntary early purchase of the first flight right contract. Then the flight forward contract holder becomes the holder of the first flight right contract, which now issues. Line 154 represents a point in time 7 days before the scheduled flight time, line 156 represents a point in time when check-in commences, line 158 represents a point in time when boarding commences, line 160 represents point in time when departure is expected to take place, and line 162 represents arrival time, of the flight corresponding to the first flight right contract.

Line 192 represents a period of time from the first flight right contract issue (time 152) until 7 days before the flight (time 154) when option-contracts for the first flight right contract may be made and exercised. It may be that the flight forward contract has a condition of attaching a FlexiFlyer position in an option-contract in favour of the airline party, with the issuing of the flight right contract. It may also happen that the holder of the flight right contract takes an option-contract position with another party. But this particular illustration of timelines does not show detailed reference to the option-contract. Line 194 represents a period of time from the first flight right contract issue (time 152) until boarding time commences (time 158) when the first flight right contract may be traded on the travel system. Time 132 is twenty five weeks prior to time 160. Time 138 is four weeks before time 160. In other cases, times prior to flight time 160, such as time 154, time 132, and time 138 may be different from this example, according to Airline System rules, or airline party flight forward contract offers.

Likewise further, line 134 represents a point in time from when the second flight right contract is put up for sale by the airline party for the same contracted price as the first flight right contract. Line 146 represents a period of time when the holder of the flight forward contract may make voluntary purchase of the second flight right contract. But no voluntary purchase of this flight right contract is made, so an automatic purchase takes place at point in time represented by line 140. The travel system makes the necessary, conditional payment from a registered bank account of flight forward contract holder to a registered bank account of the airline party. Then it registers the purchaser, who is also the flight forward contract holder, as the registered holder of the second flight right contract. At this point in time 140, the holder of the flight forward contract has purchased all three of third, first, and second flight right contracts, since this holder has voluntarily purchased the third flight right contract early, at the point in time represented by the line 150. From time 140 until a point in time represented by line 164, the holder of the second flight right contract may contract with other members of the Airline System, by making option-contracts. A line 188 represents this period. Also, the holder of the second flight right contract may offer up the second flight contract for sale on the travel system and trade it during a period of time represented by line 190. Lines 164, 166, 168, 170, and 172, represent points in time corresponding to 7 days ahead, check-in time, boarding time, departure time, arrival time, respectively of the flight for the second flight right contract.

Likewise furthermore, line 136 represents the point in time from when the third flight right contract is available for purchase by the holder of the flight forward contract. As mentioned before, this third flight right contract is purchased earlier than the other flight right contracts - the line 150 being above line 152 and line 140, representing time 150 earlier than time 152 and time 140. This early purchase allows the purchaser a longer period of time, represented by lines 184 and 186, for option-contract taking and flight right contract trading respectively. Likewise as with the other flight right contracts, lines 174, 176, 178, 180, and 182 represent points in time corresponding to 7 days ahead, check-in opening time, start of boarding time, departure time, and arrival time of the flight for the third flight right contract.

The flight forward contract terminates by performance upon the issue of all of the first, second, and third flight right contracts. This is at time 140. The first flight right contract terminates by performance upon flight arrival at time 162. The second flight right contract terminates by performance upon flight arrival at time 172. The third flight right contract terminates by performance upon flight arrival at time 182.

This concludes the description of the timeline of the flight forward contract. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AIRLINE USE OF TRAVEL SYSTEM

A detailed description of use of a travel system by an airline now follows as an example only. An airline applies for membership to the Airline System by approaching the management of the Airline System. Once the Airline System management has received sufficient information on the airline and the Chief Executive Officer of the airline has signed agreement to being bound by the membership rules of association, then registration as a member of the Airline System takes place by Airline System management. The airline joins as a member of an Airline System with powers to issue flight forward contracts on the travel system. In this case, the application takes place in writing, but registration occurs on the travel system. The airline authorizes a number of its employees as travel system authorized users. Each authorized user receives a secret password and a PIN for access to use the travel system.

The airline provisionally sets out a planned schedule in 2006, of a circuitous route AB from point A to point B and repeats again back to point A, for one aircraft B737 for one full calendar year 2007 for possible use by the travel system a year in advance of the beginning of the scheduled year 2007. The airline has decided to test the demand for this circuitous route. The circuitous route repeats thrice a day - morning, afternoon, and evening flights making six provisional flights per day. The circuitous route generates a list of service schedules for these various flights over all days of the calendar year 2007. This annual schedule list generates a list of passenger seat inventory for the coming year.

We refer now to Fig 2, which is a flow chart of important steps taken by an airline in using the travel system. Most steps are those taken by the airline as a method of using the travel system. Process 210 is airline choosing a business aim. Airline chooses a route profit margin, process 212, as a business aim. Then the airline decides a goal to measure aim achievement against, which in this example is process 226. In this process 226, the airline decides a goal of a profit margin of 20% over the complete circuitous route over the year 2007.

Other business aims that may have been chosen in other embodiments are to provide a profit margin for just a single flight alone shown in fig 2 as process 214; or to move demand from peak times to slack times which is shown as process 216; or to provide a measure of business stability shown as process 218; or to shift risk of poor future sales away from the airline which is shown as process 220; or to increase overall demand which is shown as process 222; or to increase market share shown as process 224. Naturally, during process 226 a different goal will be set for other aims in other embodiments to suit achievement of the chosen aim or aims.

To attempt the achievement of the goal of process 226, the airline goes through an extensive process 228 of forecasting demand for all the flights in the circuitous route. Furthermore, the process 228 includes creating and choosing various sales products and their prices, with target levels, for sale on the travel system. These sales products are flight forward contracts which will generate flight right contracts. Also forecasted are sales levels of each flight forward contract, so as to yield maximum revenue on each flight. Here revenue management software is most valuable. Preferably, the revenue management system is part of the Airline System Exchange software. Provisionally there are seven times six times fifty two equals 2184 flights for the years' route. Of these there are 52 morning Tuesday flights from A to B over the period of the year.

Now, only these 52 flights of the 2184 flights are considered further in detail as an example. But similar processes apply to the remainder of the flights. At a nominal 100 seats per flight, the 52 flights generate 5200 seats.

At this stage of this embodiment, each seat per flight will be offered for sale as a flight right contract which will be issued from a flight forward contract. Therefore, 5200 flight right contracts will need to be offered for sale by the airline. The airline does not sell flight right contracts directly as such at this stage of this example but rather sells flight forward contracts which in turn issue the requisite flight right contracts. There are a number of reasons why it is desirable to sell flight forward contracts which issue flight right contracts in due time. The purchaser of a flight forward contract takes an obligation to purchase one or more flight right contracts by the due point or points in time, and so must be creditworthy. Whereas, the purchaser of a flight right contract holds a right (rather than an obligation) to a specified transport, and may hold other rights too as mentioned in the above detailed description of a flight right contract. Incidentally, for the airline the position of rights and obligations is reversed. So, a first reason is that the contracts are so different in their rights and obligations. But also, flight forward contracts are usually for the issue of series of flight right contracts, but flight right contracts are for individual seats. So, a second reason is that the flight forward contracts are so to speak, bundles of inventory which unravel over time, which suit both the purposes of travellers and airlines. The third reason results from the contracts tradability with third parties - the airlines' fear of slippage of market segments by secondary trading is overcome by separation of sales into these two different but interdependent contracts, as is shown elsewhere in this specification.

Different days of the week and flight times have different utility value for travellers, and it is desirable for the airline to have repeating demand for at least a period before scheduling a service.

A revenue management of the airline for these flights suggests a first sales target. Reference now to Figure 3 shows a chart of the first sales target. The chart is a matrix of blocks which contain information within. Chart columns of blocks are from top to bottom of the page. The left most column is of the amount of flight forward contracts targeted for sale. This column is headed by block 310. The second column is headed by block 312 to show that all blocks in that column show the types of flight forward contracts. The third column of blocks of numbers represent the number of flight right contracts issued per annum per flight forward contract and is headed by block 314. The fourth column of blocks headed by block 316 refers to the number of flight right contracts. The fifth column is headed by block 318 and its blocks show the price for each flight right contract. Block 319 is the head of the column which shows revenue in $ possible from the contracts in the corresponding row.

Further reference to figure 3 will reveal that each row from left to right of blocks below the headings contains information on a type of flight forward contract. So the row of blocks 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, and 329 contain information on the first sales target for flight forward contracts which issue flight right contracts weekly. This row shows the flight forward contracts which each issue one flight right contract for every Tuesday (block 322) morning flight from A to B during 2007, at $25 ( block 328) for each flight right contract, until 25 (block 320) flight forward contracts are taken. There should be 52 (block 324) single flight right issues from each flight forward contract so the total number of flight right contracts which are from these flight forward contracts will be 25 (block 320) multiplied by 52 (block 324) giving 1300 (block 326). At $25 each (block 328), the 1300 flight right contracts (block 326) must generate $32500 of revenue (block 329).

Likewise further the first sales target suggests that flight forward contracts are offered that issue flight right contracts for every fourth (block 332) Tuesday morning flight from A to B during 2007, at $30 (block 338) for each flight right contract, until 80 (block 330) of these flight forward contracts are taken. Likewise since each of these flight forward contracts will issue 13 flight right contracts (block 334) there will be 1040 (block 336) flight right contracts issued from these flight forward contracts, which must generate $31200 in revenue (block 339). Although the flight forward contract only issues a flight right contract every fourth week, there are four different types of these flight forward contracts which start at different weeks, thus covering all Tuesdays of the year.

Also likewise the first sales target suggests that twelve different types of flight forward contracts which issue flight right contracts for flights every twelve weeks (block 342) on Tuesday morning flights from A to B, are offered for $35 per flight right contract (block 348), until 260 (block 340) of such flight forward contracts are sold. Since each of these flight forward contracts issues only 4 flight right contracts per annum (block 344) then 1040 (block 346) flight right contracts will be issued by these flight forward contracts over 2007, generating $36400 (block 349).

Also likewise the first sales target suggests fifty two types of flight forward contracts are offered which issue flight right contracts for flights nominally once a year but strictly speaking once every fifty two weeks (block 352) for a period of four years for the Tuesday morning flight from A to B of the same week each year of 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Figure 3 only refers to sales for year 2007 while the sales of 2008, 2009, and 2010 are not regarded further for this purpose of an example. Revenue management of the airline suggests that these are sold for $50 per flight right contract (block 358) until 800 of flight forward contracts (block 350) for the 52 flights are sold. Also since each of these flight forward contracts will only issue one flight right contract per annum (block 354) then only 800 flight right contracts (block 356) will be issued in 2007 generating $40000 of revenue (block 359). Furthermore the first sales target suggests the sale of 780 flight forward contracts (block 360) which only issue a single (block 362) flight right contract once (364). Then only 780 flight right contracts (block 366) may be sold at suggested price of $100 (block 368) to generate $78000 (block 369).

It is a feature of this first sales target that these single issue flight forward contracts (block 362) are not offered for sale in the early sales for the purposes of revenue management.

So one type of weekly flight forward contract, four types of nominally 'monthly' (actually four weekly) flight forward contracts, thirteen types of nominally 'quarterly¹ (actually twelve weekly) flight forward contracts, and fifty two nominally 'annual' (actually fifty- two-weekly) flight forward contracts corresponding to these mentioned above, are offered for sale on the travel system. All this is included in process 230 in fig 2.

The routine traveller market comprising regular users of travel for business and association meetings and conferences, holidays and timeshare, visiting friends and relatives, sporting and other events is targeted for these sales. Such users often can predict dates of travel demand and are thus able to commit to purchase air travel far into the future especially when they have low price incentives, and have choices of trading their commitments to travel in the unlikely event of not needing to travel on the flights committed to. The travel system works in conjunction with advertising media, including advertising on the travel system, to advertise these flight forward contracts.

Referring back to figure 3 the bottom row with block 372, block 376, and block 379 shows information on the totals of all types of flight forward contracts( block 372) above, making the total of fight right contracts mentioned above to 4960 (block 376) which is 95% of the possible 5200 flight right contracts. The total target revenue is $218100 (block 379).

Note in this example revenue management is taking place over a series of flights, rather than for individual flights. This does not exclude the concurrent revenue management of individual flights in other embodiments. In the sales process 230 of figure 2, large companies enter into many such flight forward contracts for workdays. Other flight forward contracts for return flights and other flight inventory, of course are also entered into simultaneously, but are not here mentioned in detail. For large contracts with large companies, negotiations and sales may take place between airline and company representatives and then contracts are made on the travel system. The travel system makes the contract formulation and signing easy and is invaluable in the automatic further generation of the flight right contracts. The less regular flight forward contracts are more suitable for other routine users. Smaller businesses purchase four-weekly repeating series flight forward contracts, visiting families purchase twelve-weekly repeating series flight forward contracts. Regular holidaymakers purchase fifty-two-week repeating series contracts for a period of four years.

After a sales campaign to routine using large companies, for series of fifty-two-weekly flights for 2007, the sales campaign shifts to travel and tour operators for the same series flight forward contracts. The airline targets wholesale trade, tour operators, and travel agents. These travel merchants can purchase flight rights contracts wholesale via any of their flight forward contracts held, and may then take positions of selling to non- routine users, combining with it other travel options, such as hotels and hire cars. When they are able to combine the air travel with hotels and cars, into a travel package, the actual price of the air travel is not easily visible. This flight right contract inventory sold to the public via wholesalers who are travel agents, does not carry the second and third trading rights, and is not tradable or exchangeable by these non-member users. This is because the airline sold all flight forward contracts with restrictions against Airline System non-member tradability.

Refer now to figure 4 which is also a table having a matrix of blocks in horizontal rows and vertical columns such that each block is a part of a row and of a column. The table of figure 4 represents a set of information of actual sales after a period of sales in process 230. Reference to figure 4 shows that the requisite 1300 (block 426) of all Tuesday morning flight right contracts are sold as the weekly flight forward contracts (block 422). At $25 (block 428) per flight right contract, $32500 (block 429) has been sold forward. Since this aspect of the first sales target has been achieved, block 320 matches block 420; block 322 matches block 422; block 324 matches block 424; block 326 matches block 426; block 328 matches block 428; and block 329 matches block 429; since this part of target has been achieved, the airline revenue management now stops further sales of this weekly type of flight forward contract.

Also the 800 of (block 450) fifty-two-weekly flight forward contracts sold (block 452) are due to issue a further 800 ( block 456) of the Tuesday morning flight right contracts of 2007. At the sold price of $50 (block 458) for each flight right contract, revenue of $40000 (block 459) is sold forward. So likewise, the airline revenue management decides to stop selling more fifty-two-weekly flight forward contracts for a price of $50. The sales of the four-weekly flight forward contracts (block 432) and sales of the twelve- weekly flight forward contracts (block 442) have not reached their target levels, being at 60 (block 430) and 65 (block 440) respectively. Now sales of all types of flight forward contracts (block 472) that are due to issue 3140 flight right contracts (block 476), or 60% of the inventory for Tuesday morning flights from A to B during 2007 have been sold for a forward revenue of $105000.

At this stage, the airline revenue management decides to reiterate to process 228 and set a second sales target represented by a table of information shown in figure 5. This reiteration is not shown in figure 2 for the sake of simplicity.

So airline revenue management recalculates target levels at new prices at expected demand. The airline revenue management decides to sell the four weekly flight forward contracts at $35, twelve weekly flight forward contracts at $40, and fifty two weekly flight forward contracts at $60. Refer now to figure 5, which is a table of information of the second sales target. The table is laid out as in figure 3, the first sales target. The second sales target suggests the further sale of 15 flight forward contracts (block 520) each which will issue a flight right contract every four weeks (block 522) at $35 (block 528). Also the second sales target suggests the further sale of 65 flight forward contracts (block 530) each which will issue a flight right contract every twelve weeks (block 532) at $40 (block 538). And also the second sales target suggests the further sales of 200 flight forward contracts (block 540) each which will issue a flight right contract every fifty two weeks (block 542) at $60 (block 548). The second sales target also suggests the later sale of 900 flight forward contracts (block 550) each which will issue a single flight right contract once (block 552) at $100 (block 558). These single issue flight forward contracts are held back from sale on the travel system until later to fetch a higher price and so as not to take up sales earmarked for series issue. So this sales target aims to sell another 1555 flight right contracts (block 566) for more revenue of $38225 (block 569).

Figure 6 is a table of sales achieved. After a period of time, results of sales to the second sales target are such as represented in the table of figure 6. Reference to figure 6 shows that the target of 15 (block 620) four weekly flight forward contracts (block 622) and the target of 200 (block 640) fifty two weekly flight forward contracts (block 642) have been reached. However only 60 (block 630) of the suggested 65 (block 530) twelve weekly flight forward contracts have now been sold. Also, no (block 650) single issue flight forward contracts (block 652) have been sold since they were not yet offered for sale. Block 666 shows that the sum total of flight right contracts due to be issued that have been sold after the second sales target is 635. Block 676 shows the amount of flight right contracts sold between the first and second sales target to be 3140 (this is extracted from block 476). Thus the total of flight right contracts sold in flight forward contracts up to this point in time are shown in block 686 as 3775, being the total of blocks 666 and 676. Likewise, the sold revenue up to this point in time is shown in block 689 as $133425.

Figure 7 is a table of information of a third sales target created by the airline revenue management after receiving the sales information shown on the table in figure 6. This is yet a further reiteration of process 228 after the further reiteration of process 230. Reference to figure 7 shows that the flight forward contracts which issue series of flight right contracts are no longer for sale and now various flight forward contracts which issue single flight right contracts are for sale. Although all the flight forward contracts are single issue and for the same flight number on Tuesday morning flights, they are to be sold for different amounts. This is since flights on some dates are more desirable than others, and also since the more inventory is sold, the higher the price that the airline offers the remainder. So figure 7 is a summary of revenue management projections for the forward sale of flight right contracts.

After a further period of time, a period of sales of flight forward contracts comes to an end. Reference to figure 8 shows information of all flight forward contracts sold at the end of the sales period. This sales period is before any flight right contract is due for automatic payment. Block 820 shows that the target of 400 flight forward contracts of block 720 has been achieved. Block 830 shows that the target of 100 flight forward contracts of block 730 has been achieved. Block 840 shows that 70 of the targeted 100 flight forward contracts at $150 per flight right contract have been sold. Block 850 shows likewise that 150 of the targeted 200 flight forward contracts in block 750 have been sold. Also, block 860 shows that 150 of the targeted 200 flight forward contracts in block 760 have been sold. Further reference to figure 8 shows the sum of the single-issue flight right contracts sold is 870, as found in block 876. Further, block 886 shows the sum in block 476, while block 896 copies block 666. Block 895 shows the total of flight right contracts sold through flight forward contracts as 4645, being the sum of blocks 876, 886, and 896. Block 897 shows the sum total revenue as $216925. So the airline has sold 4645 (block 895) of the possible inventory of 5200 for Tuesday morning flights in 2007 forward, but it has not yet been paid for the inventory.

At the finalizing of the sales period the airline moves to process 234 of figure 2 which is an assessment against the goal set in process 226. Since the aim set in process 226 was 20% overall margin for the route, sales results for all flights over the route must be used to assess whether the goal of process 226 has been achieved. So while only 52 flights have here been described in detail, sales for all 2184 flights must be considered as to whether there is a 20% profit margin sold over the projected costs of these flights.

Having assessed the forward sales against the goal set in process 226, the airline must decide whether the aim of process 212 is achieved. This is illustrated as decision process 238 in figure 2A. Figure 2A is a continuation of figure 2. Reference to figure 2A shows that if airline decides it has achieved its business aim chosen in decision 210 then the airline will allow the travel system automatically to follow the procedure which will issue the flight right contracts. These flight right contracts are so to speak, wrapped up within the flight forward contracts, until they are offered by the airline for sale. This is process 240 which is the offering of flight right contracts before or at due time as shown in the detailed description of a timeline of a flight forward contract.

At least the airline has sold a major portion of the schedule to the wholesale trade and routine users, such that it is able to see in advance and have security of business in advance. The airline has hedged its position by selling this demand far forward, achieving predictability of demand. It is most important to note that although the flight right contracts issued will be tradable on the travel system, at this stage the flight right contracts have not issued yet, and so cannot be yet traded. In other words trading of single seat inventory in the form of flight right contracts only takes place once the airline is satisfied it has achieved its goal of forward sales, and decides to offer the flight right contracts. So single inventory is only available and thus is only available for trading between users AFTER being sold through a flight forward contract.

But also, because the sold demand is via the flight forward contracts only, and since these are of different kinds for different prices, slippage of market segments does not apply if flight forward contracts or flight right contracts are sold to other parties. In other words from the airlines point of view, market segmentation is of the various flight forward contracts, mostly bundles of series of individual inventory - not individual inventory as such. Normally a flight forward contract does not carry different prices, but rather, as shown before, different flight forward contracts are created that carry different price. So market segment slippage by secondary market sales does not feature. Besides the airline still has a right to approving the trading of flight forward contracts. Therefore, sales can be transparent to any user of the travel system.

Because the aim chosen in decision process 210 was for all 2184 flights in 2007, this example further considers all these flights and not just the Tuesday morning flights. But at decision process 238, the airline realizes it has not achieved its aim of 20% profit margin over all 2184 flights in 2007. Upon analysis, the airline discovers that the demand on Saturdays and Sundays is only sufficient for two flights per day and that demand on Wednesdays in general is only sufficient for four flights per day. Now the airline decides in process 256 for the Saturday and Sunday flights that it will not raise prices and as it will not issue the flight right contracts (process 264), it decides in process 266 to cancel all Saturday and Sunday morning and evening flights (process 270). But it keeps the Saturday and Sunday afternoon flights. In a decision not shown as a process in the figure 2A, the airline decides to inform the holders of these Saturday and Sunday morning and evening flight forward contracts that it intends not issuing these corresponding flight right contracts. But the airline informs them that it is willing to convert these morning and evening flight forward contracts into flight forward contracts for the matching afternoon flights provided they are available. The airline does this using the travel system. Since all flight forward holders are members of the Airline System and have been approved by the airline, their contact details are available to the airline from the travel system, to send e-mails to these holders. Then half of these Saturday and Sunday morning and evening flight forward contracts are converted to Saturday or Sunday afternoon flight forward contracts after these holders consent on the travel system.

Also, the airline decides for similar reasons that it should make an extensive sales campaign to sell extra Wednesday flight forward contracts. The airline attempts selling Wednesday flight inventory to those travellers that could just as easily fly on Wednesday as on other days if they had an incentive to do so. So new Wednesday flight forward contracts are designed, advertised, and sold on this basis.

Fortunately, the cancelling of Saturday and Sunday morning and evening flights (notwithstanding the loss of these sales), and the extra Wednesday sales change the profit margin over all the now 1768 flights (416 flights having been cancelled) to 21%. So now the airline can decide in a reiteration to process 238 that, yes, the goal set in process 226 to achieve aim of 212 has been reached. Then the airline in process 240, since it has achieved its aim, henceforth offers all the flight right contracts for the 1768 flights on the travel system, to the corresponding flight forward contract holders. Then the flight forward contract holders may make voluntary early purchase, or the automatic compulsory purchase and issue at each due point in time as shown in the timeline of a flight forward contact will take place. The sooner the airline allows the voluntary early purchase, the sooner the airline may receive actual payment. Also the sooner the flight forward contract holder makes early purchase and thus causes the early issue of the flight right contract, the sooner the flight right contract may be traded (within its trading restrictions or conditions).

The airline wishes to have the option of taking a trading position in the hopes of increasing its profit. Therefore, it proceeds to process 242 near to each flight during the year 2007 and assesses the pressure of demand for that flight. In decision process 244, the airline decides whether there is sufficient outside demand to warrant it taking a trading position. If the airline decides not to take a trading position, it will not do further trading for that flight as represented in termination process 272. However if the airline discovers that there is excess demand for a flight nearer to the time of the flight, and it decides to take a trading position, it proceeds to decide which position it will take. This decision is represented as process 246.

The airline had sold some single-issue flight forward contracts that held attached OverBook option-contract to each flight right contract issued. In a specific example, the airline holds a FlexiFlyer position on a flight right contract for a seat on a Monday morning flight. While the holder of this Monday morning flight purchased his flight right contract by automatic due process from his flight forward contract, the flight forward contract was offered with the condition that the issued flight right contract was subject to an attached OverBook option-contract, putting him in the position of a RelinquishFlyer for this particular flight right contract. He paid the condition price of $100 for the flight right contract, but was refunded $50 immediately by the airline as the consideration-price for taking the RelinquishFlyer position. The agreed price purchase by the OverBook option-contract for the underlying flight right contract is $70. So the holder of the flight right contract had purchased his flight forward contract so that he might either travel himself at $50 ($100 less $50 refund) or he would receive $20 ($70 less $50 paid) if he had to relinquish his seat to the airline. A week before the flight his position would be firm as by then the airlines option to purchase would have expired. His travel and economic needs made this position a good proposition. There was also a lesser chance that the airline had not achieved its aim and would not have issued the flight right contract, in which case he would have paid nothing, received nothing, nor travelled, but would have known 6 weeks beforehand to allow him time to make other arrangements.

As it happens, the airline chooses process 248 for this particular flight, and proceeds to purchase the mentioned flight right contract for $70 from the RelinquishFlyer. The airline uses the travel system to make the purchase. It must do this before the expiry date a week before the flight. The purchase process is automatic once the airline's authorized user chooses this operation on the travel system. The payment is automatically made from the airline's bank account to that of the flight right contract holder, and then the flight right contract is assigned to the airline, who strangely is now both parties to the flight right contract. This the rules of association of the Airline System allow. The holder of the flight right contract is now registered in the travel system as the airline, since the airline purchased it. Now the airline sells the flight right contract for $200 on the travel system two days before the flight takes place. This is shown as process 254.

In other instances for other flights, but of the 1768 flights, the airline sells flight right contracts directly on the travel system, nearer the time the flight takes place. This is shown as process 254 following process 250, which is the offer of these flight right contracts. It is in the interest of the airline that it only makes these offers at this late stage after it has achieved its aim and after it has decided to take a trading position. Naturally, there must be unsold inventory to make this possible. Unsold inventory could come about as a result of a previous hold on sales or because there had been insufficient demand.

In other instances, for certain other flights of the same 1768 flights, the airline foresees a great excess demand, and purchases available flight right contracts and FlexiFlyer option-contract positions from holders who offered these on the travel system. This is process 252. The airline then holds these until nearer the flight and it sells them as shown in process 254. FlexiFlyer options are in some cases resold by the airline as such on the travel system. Or in other cases, the FlexiFlyer right is exercised before the expiry date to make a purchase of a flight right contract which is in turn sold on the travel system.

After a time of such residue inventory sales as represented by process 254, the airline may from time to time reiterate back to process 242 to assess the level of demand at that later time, and follow through the next process steps again.

Much later in 2007, the airline finds that the price of fuel has increased so much that most flights in December 2007 will be run at a loss if these flight right contracts are sold at their contracted prices. This is the airline referring back to decision process 238 now, because of change of circumstances. The airline does not wish to lose the contracted demand but finds that in December the loss would be so great that they decide to offer all the flight right contracts for December flights at a higher price. This flows from a yes in decision process 256, which leads to process 258. It happens that the great majority of affected flight forward contract holders accept the higher price as they understand that they cannot find lower prices elsewhere. These holders make the voluntary purchase of the first of the remainder of the series of flight right contracts offered at a higher price. Payment of this higher price means, according to the conditions (which are within the framework of the Airline System's rules of association) of the flight forward contract, that the higher price of any following offered flight right contract is written over the previous price. Therefore, having paid a higher offered price, the holder is obliged to pay the higher price for future following flight right contracts issuing from the same flight forward contract. Flight forward contract holders, who are unwilling to pay the higher price for the December flight right contracts, now have the option of cancelling the affected flight forward contract. It happens that most of this category of holders decides to cancel their flight forward contracts on the travel system, as is within the conditions of their contracts. The framework of the rules of association of the Airline System prevents the holders of flight forward contracts from having any other claim for services or damages in this instance of the airline offering a higher price, or even if it did not offer the flight right contracts. But those holders who do not pay the higher price nor cancel their contract, still hold their flight forward contract, and even if the airline may for a term or more of the series, not offer any further flight right contracts at the original price, the airline may still if it wishes, force sale at the original price of the flight right contract, if offered within the contract due time. The holders' actions described above are represented by process 260 in figure 2A. It is desirable that the airline reiterates back to process 234 as shown in process 262, after the holders' actions follow the airline's price increase.

So in conclusion to generally describe an airlines use of the travel system, flight right contracts for the same inventory are sold for different prices according to demand, according to regularity and duration of the issues from the parent flight forward contract, and according to their final use and thus their level of tradability. Most importantly, these sales take place provisionally, long before the service is due; and also most important is that the airline has power to control the secondary tradability of such sales. This is the control of, if and when and with whom, the secondary trade may take place. In the prior art a scarcity is created toward the flight date - since tickets are not transferable and because many reservations have been taken, there is a pressure of demand pushing up the prices. Now in the present invention the scarcity is created provisionally, well before the flight is firmly scheduled, lower prices driving the pressure of demand, extra inventory use providing the lower prices, with the airline holding the key to allowing the sale and consequent secondary tradability of sales, and only using it when it has sufficient sales to suit its purposes, when it is no longer concerned with market segment slippage or movement. In this respect, the most important purpose is to provide the certainty of sufficient margin of profit. The key is that the airline has the right to offer or to withhold the offer of each flight right contract at its due point or period in time. Use of this key is in good time before the flight service, allowing the travellers concerned to exercise appropriate actions, which may include the cancelling of the flight forward contract.

In scheduled airline operations the supply is known in advance whilst the demand is not known in advance. So this invention teaches the new choices for travellers featured in this invention are best applied especially to contracts for services further into the future, which are valuable to airlines, or to provide other values to airlines. Another value that may be provided to the airline is the levelling of peak and trough demand. The airline concerned offering tradable flight rights for flights having expected lesser demand, while withholding likewise from peak flights may achieve this. But this must be done gradually because eventually it may be of benefit having peak flights demanded far in advance.

Naturally, an airline shall only sell what and when it likes and has discretion in the use of the travel system provided. Yet it is taught that ideally this travel system be used to create known demand in advance; then to schedule resources to supply that demand as in charter model airlines; then to allow that demand to be spread, shifted, changed, traded, and insured amongst users.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TRAVELLER USE OF TRAVEL SYSTEM

A method of using the travel system by travellers is further explained by way of example only. The travel system has various web pages for its use by Airline System members and by other users. The first web page accessible on the WWW Internet is a flight search page, an example of which is illustrated by figure 9. On the same search webpage is a link to a membership application webpage. A company C applies to the Airline System management to become a member of the Airline System and hence a user of the travel system. The registration form is found on a travel system membership- application webpage. Figure 10 is an abbreviated example of another member's webpage. Purchases of contracts are made on a secure transaction webpage linked through a flight search webpage. Sales offers are made on a secure transactions webpage linked from a member's webpage. An application is submitted by company C on the travel system to the management of Airline System. Since company C is not yet a holder of any contracts, its application is only of its personal particulars. Requisite information is similar to that described above for airline registration. The managing director of the company C signs an agreement to the rules of association of the Airline System, mentioned above under the Airline System heading. These rules of association provide for specific relationships between any member travel providers, travel purchasers, and traveller users. These relationships provide a means for the use of the travel system in the forward marketing and trading of flight inventory. In addition, the company C forwards a completed registration form. The company Cs application is accepted by the management of the Airline System, and thus joins the Airline System, and pays a membership fee. The company Cs registration form includes the nomination of a manager responsible for travel of employees as an authorized user of the travel system. This travel manager receives a secret password and PIN from the Airline System. Her personal information such as identification and addresses is entered into the travel system member database.

Now in this example, the company C, purchases a flight forward contract to purchase for one year, a flight right contract for every Tuesday morning on flight XYZ from airline X to fly one person in business class from A to B. The number of this flight forward contract registered in the travel system is

ForwardFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001/1W/1/2006Feb07/001. Company C also happens to make a contract for the same one year, a flight right contract for every Thursday evening flight on flight ZYX from airline Z to fly one person on economy class from B to A. This is a second contract intended as a return flight for a company C employee who travelled away on a Tuesday to return on a Thursday. The number of this second flight forward contract registered on the airline-marketing tool is

ForwardFlyer/ZYX/2005Feb10/004/1 W/1/2006Feb09/004. Company C makes these flight forward contracts in late 2004.

The way a flight forward contract was purchased is thus: A designated authorized responsible person, the travel manager, authorized by company C, is recorded as such within the travel system. This travel manager uses a search engine within a search page of the travel system web page. Any user on the search web page may search for flight forward or flight right contracts or option-contracts by clicking flight date boxes, filling in departure and destination criteria boxes, filling in service class criteria boxes, search listing criteria such as price or date of travel, contract-type criteria. Lists of search results show up on the same web page in search windows for any of the airlines offering services on the travel system. Search results are found from any user offering contracts for sale - from airlines or other travellers. The lists may be dropped down by clicking on that window. Each airline web page window has a place for accessing advertising and detailed information on the contracts offered for flights and on the airline specials and airline service offers. The travel manager searches for a required flight forward contract offered by member airlines of the Airline System to suit the company Cs business. Having found a suitable flight forward contract which issues flight right contracts at a suitable price, by accessing webpage links, she goes through the necessary acceptance procedures, first by entering a secure contracts transactions web page by logging in her password and PIN identification codes. Then the acceptance procedure is made by following the acceptance advice protocols by clicking on a computer mouse at the correct acceptance place on the secure contracts transactions web page. Company C is already registered with the Airline System, and company Cs bank account is linked to the travel system, so that the necessary state of the art protocols, procedures and identification means can enable purchase and acceptance of the flight forward contracts. Company C has agreed to terms and conditions and legal procedures of all of the standard flight forward and flight right contracts made on the travel system when it joined the Airline System and signed the rules of association. Likewise, airline X also agreed to the same when it joined Airline System. So only the variables and variances have to be noted on the contract - e.g., flight number and/or time zone of day; airline; day/s of week, week/s of year or dates; destination and departure airports, service class, and a specific seat number, if any; and type of contract. Each flight right contract is for one passenger place on a flight (a specific scheduled flight having a flight scheduling number). Any flight forward contract is for the purpose of the issue of flight right contracts, which are for the same specific scheduled flights that have the same flight number. Therefore, in this example no flight forward contract would include a morning and evening flight but would require two separate flight forward contracts since flights on the same day bear different numbers. While the same flight number can recur every day of the week, the same flight forward contract issues different flight right contracts but each for the same flight number. While an embodiment of a flight forward contract may provide for the issue of a plurality of flight right contracts for an equivalence of different seats on the same flight; in this example for the same inventory, it would require separate flight forward contracts each which issue one flight right contract on any flight.

To make purchase of the flight forward contract, the travel system requests a margin deposit as a security. This margin deposit is an escrow to protect the airline X that is offering the flight forward contract, against the risk of default of purchase of any flight right contract offered out of the flight forward contract. The amount of the margin deposit is determined by a formula furnished by the airline concerned. In this instance, the flight forward contract ForwardFlyer/XYZ72005Feb08/001/1W/1/2006Feb07/001 which provides for the purchase of one flight right contract for one single seat on each Tuesday flight XYZ from week 6 2005 to week 6 2006 at $D each flight right, requires a margin deposit of 4$D. When the travel manager of company C agrees to the flight forward contract by confirming its purchase on the relevant secure transactions web page of the travel system, then 4$D is automatically transferred by the travel system from company Cs bank account to the bank account of a financial house F, designated by the Airline System. Finance house F will use this margin deposit which has been transferred to finance house F as a security, as an investment for company C, which will be held for the period of time of the flight forward contract. The margin deposit will be returned to company C, with interest, after the termination of the flight forward contract.

So company C has purchased the flight forward contract ForwardFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001/1W/1/2006Feb07/001 in which company C agrees to purchase fifty-two flight right contracts by the time they each become due, by the travel system automatically transferring $D four weeks prior to the date of each flight right contract. Once each flight right contract is paid for it issues as an independent contract in which company C the purchaser, is its holder. The flight right contract is also irrevocable and firm. The flight right contract holder is not able to change reservations or cancel or get a refund with the airline, the other party to this contract. However, the flight right holder normally will be able to sell this flight right contract which more than compensates the holder from not being able to cancel or change reservations. When an airline is not able to provide a service for any flight right contract, then the holder of that flight right contract must be compensated according to the rules of association of the Airline System. The independent flight right contracts each carry second and third contractual rights which allow for the trading of the same flight right contract. Any authorized user of company C may log on and enter company Cs membership web page. This web page is not accessible to other users of the Internet. An example of a membership webpage is illustrated in figure 10. A membership web page shows the authorized user the current registration information, which includes company C addresses, identity particulars, company C authorized user information, and linked company C bank account information. Also, the company Cs membership web page shows the register numbers of the flight forward contracts held by company C. Clicking on a flight forward contract number, drops down a list of all flight right contracts which may issue from that flight forward contract. The status of each possible flight right contract in the drop down list is shown there. The status shows whether any flight right contract is on offer for purchase, whether it has been purchased and thus issued, whether company C currently offers it for sale on the travel system, or whether it has attached option-contracts. Clicking on a flight right contract number in this drop down list will open up all the available detailed information on that flight right contract, which includes flight times and service class, restrictions on second and third contractual rights. Obviously, many various flight forward contracts, and flight right contracts may be registered to any one member of the Airline System.

At a time determined in the flight forward contract, which in this example, is four weeks before week 6, i.e., on the Tuesday of week 2, 2005, $D of money is automatically deducted from company Cs bank account and transferred to airline X's bank account by the travel system which is linked to both accounts. Then upon confirmation of the $D transferred, a flight right contract number FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001 for the Tuesday flight XYZ week 6, 2005 is automatically issued by the travel system to company C, with the holder recorded in the travel system, within its database of company C, and within its register of flight right contracts. Company C need not fetch a ticket or print a ticket as a drop down of the parent flight forward contract in company C secure membership webpage shows that FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001 has been paid for and issued. The prefix 'FirmFlyer' shows that it is an issued flight right contract. However, company C should designate a passenger who will fly. By default of nomination, the travel system enters the passenger as the travel manager of company C who authorized the purchase of the flight forward contract. The authorized user, the travel manager of company C, logs onto the travel system in a secure transactions flight right contracts web page and nominates an employee E of the company C as the passenger of FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001 and FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Feb10/004. The designated passenger, employee E is a member of the Airline System. This means that employee E personal details have been previously entered into the travel system database and that he has received an Airline System membership card prior to and independently of this passenger nomination. Employee E was keen to get membership so as to receive special treatment at check-in.

At check-in on Tuesday morning of week 6, 2005 employee E shows his photo ID and his Airline System membership card to a check-in clerk, who checks his ID as that matching the identity designated by the travel system as the passenger of a flight right contract FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001 , and issues him with a boarding pass. Normal flying procedures now follow. Employee E returns on Thursday on flight ZYX, when claiming another flight right contract FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Feb10/004, also using the same Airline System membership card to check in, although he is flying on a different airline Z.

On Tuesday week 3, 2005, because of the flight forward contract ForwardFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001/1W/1/2006Feb07/001 made, another flight right contract for week 7 Tuesday, number FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb15/001 is automatically issued by the travel system, to company C from airline X upon automatic payment. Company C then designates employee P as the passenger of FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb15/001. Like the previously described flight right contract use, employee P uses this flight right contract on the Tuesday of week 7, 2005; employee P is also a member of the Airline System.

The travel manager authority of company C designates employee E, to be using the flight right contract FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb22/001 which is later issued to company C, for the Tuesday flight XYZ of week 8, 2005. But, on the Tuesday morning of week 8, before check-in time, employee E calls in that he is ill and cannot fly. Then the travel manager moves the name of the passenger of this same FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb22/001 to that of employee P, by using the travel system on the Internet with the password and PIN codes that only she holds. Then employee P is able to check in for the Tuesday flight XYZ of week 8. The check-in clerk will only see that member P is eligible to use that FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb22/001 as a passenger, when viewing the relevant web page of the travel system. The check-in clerk cannot change the passenger information nor does the check-in clerk see the history of change of passenger. Travel system users other than the providing airline cannot view the passenger information other than for flight right contracts they hold, on the travel system.

Since the Tuesday of week 9 is a public holiday, company C will not send any employee to B. However, company C has automatically purchased a flight right contract FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Mar01/001 for the Tuesday flight XYZ of week 9, by its flight forward contract with airline X. After Tuesday week 5, when the week 9 flight right contract is issued, the company C travel manager logs onto the travel system via the Internet and puts up FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Mar01/001 contract for sale on the travel system, for $1.1 D. She also searches for a flight right contract for Wednesday flight XYZ week 9 2005 or similar. Such a flight right contract for $0.9D, FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067 is found offered on the travel system, and so the travel manager purchases it by clicking the computer mouse at the acceptance block of the secure transactions web page for that contract. This sets off automatic payment of $0.9D from company Cs bank account to Airline System member M's bank account, the current owner, or holder of the flight right contract FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067.

Now, after payment, FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067 is automatically registered to belong to company C and no longer owned by member M. The travel system records the registered holder of this flight right contract as company C in its contracts register. There can only be a single registered holder of any contract at any point in time.

Then likewise, the travel manager designates, by using the travel system on the Internet, an employee to use the FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067 flight right contract on Wednesday. Later in week 6, 2005, the travel manager of company C receives an e-mail automatically generated by the travel system to inform her that FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Mar01/001 has been sold for $1.1 D. The sale likewise happens after a user of the travel system accepted the price and the automatic payment has been subsequently made. The new owner of the flight right contract FirmFlyer/XYZ/2005Mar01/001on the public holiday, is not shown to company C by the travel system. Member M is a pensioner, registered with the Airline System, who is the holder of a flight forward contract ForwardFlyer/UVW/2005Jan05/067/4W/1/2006Dec06/067 to purchase flight right contracts for Wednesday morning flights UVW for transport from A to B by airline U for every fourth week of the years 2005 and 2006. Member M generally visits her daughter every fourth week. Her daughter fetches her at the airport B. Member M made the long term flight forward contract for series of a Wednesday flight because these issuing flight right contracts were selling at a lower price of $0,6D. Airline U issued these flight right contracts for a low price because they knew there was a low demand on Wednesday. It so happens that because of the public holiday, member M's daughter was to go away for the week. This is what prompted member M to approach her travel agent, to put the flight right contract for the day following the public holiday up for sale. Since member M was not confident using the computer, she used the services of her travel agent. Member M showed the travel agent her Airline System photo ID membership card and presented her thumb for reading by the biometric laser reader at a travel agent office. Thus, she gave her authority to the travel agent to sell her flight right contract to the Wednesday flight FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067. With member M agreeing to sell at any price, the travel agent then connected the sale to a computer program algorithm which would progressively offer FirmFlyer/UVW/2005Mar02/067 at a reducing price. A SMS is sent to member M's daughter to inform of the sale of FirmRyer/UVW/2OO5MarO2/O67 for $0,9D, who then informs her mother in turn by phone. The SMS was directed to member M's daughter automatically by the travel system since this is the contact means entered by member M upon initial registration to the Airline System. Neither member M nor her travel agent are shown by the travel system that it is company C who has purchased the flight right contract from member M.

During the month of December, the clients of company C close down their factory, and company C does not need to send down a representative to airport B. Company C needs to dispose of all December flight rights contracts from A to B, and from B to A, in advance. The travel manager does not know what the December flight right contracts will fetch later on the open market, when some of these flight right contracts are offered by the airline X or airline Z. So prior to due automatic payment, she searches for offers for these flight right contracts on the travel system. She does find a few offers which will bring a profit from travellers having firm dates for holiday travel. To take up these offers, she then logs on to the secure transactions flight right contracts web page of the travel system, and makes voluntary early payment of those flight right contracts not needed by company C which are on early offer by the airline concerned and for which there is a profitable offer by outside parties on the travel system. Upon the early voluntary payment, these flight right contracts are issued and registered by the travel system. The travel manager does not bother with passenger nomination, and immediately sets out to sell these contracts to the travel system users making the corresponding offers. The travel manager can then sell the flight right contracts directly on the travel system to Airline System member users who are making offers of purchase, by following acceptance procedures on the secure transactions area of the travel system. However, some offers have been by users of the travel system who are not members of the Airline System.

Airline X allows the sale of flight right contracts to Airline System non-members, provided that only the first contractual right as mentioned above in the detailed description of a flight right contract is assigned to that non-member. Airline Z does not allow any sales of contracts to non-members, and also further restricts the assignment of second and third contractual rights arising from any flight right contract, to Airline System members holding a current flight forward contract with airline Z. Anyway, the travel manager cannot make a direct acceptance of non-member offers, and now offers the relevant flight right contract at the same price to all users on the travel system, but informs the relevant non-member seeker of the offer. The non-members, who purchase such a flight right contract, do so by paying company C by credit card on the travel system. These Airline System non-members holding flight right contracts, are not able to enter the travel system to sell or take an option-contract for the held flight right contract, but have the right to use the relevant specified transport.

For the remaining December flight right contracts, the travel manager waits for their obligatory due payment and issue before buying EnsureFlyer positions with other travel system users. Company C offers, via the travel manager on the travel system, for the held December flight right contracts, to pay a consideration of $0.25D each to other parties for each of them to take a StandbyFlyer position to purchase a flight right contract for $D. An Airline System Q member user accepts such a StandbyFlyer position and receives $0.25D for taking this position. Thus, a NoShow option-contract has been made between company C and member Q for flight right contract FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Dec15/004 by using the travel system. Member Q searched for and found and accepted this StandbyFlyer position within the NoShow option-contract by using the travel system on the Internet. Member Q is flexible on the time when travelling, and has thus reduced her travel price to $0.75D, being the difference between $D and $0.25D. $0.25D is received by member Q at the time of making the option-contract, regardless of whether she is sold the flight right contract at a later stage or not. Member Q is the holder of option-contract ZYX/2005Dec15/004/StandbyFlyer which is an obligation to the holder of FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Dec15/004/EnsureFlyer, company C. Company C on the other hand, after taking the EnsureFlyer position with member Q, still puts up the same flight right contract FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Dec15/004/EnsureFlyer for sale on the travel system for $3D. If company C sells the contract for anything above $1.25 D, it will make a profit. If company C cannot sell it to anyone else, it can force the sale (by exercising its option) with member Q, hedging its loss to the $0.25D that it had paid to member Q. Company C may at anytime during the exercise period of the NoShow option-contract exercise its EnsureFlyer right to sell the underlying flight right contract to member Q for $D. Since the EnsureFlyer position is dependent on holding the underlying flight right contract, and this position is thus attached to the underlying flight right contract, the number of the flight right contract now reflects this by having the EnsureFlyer name tacked onto the end of the number thus FirmRyer/ZYX/2005Dec15/004/EnsureFlyer. The holder of this flight right contract is then the holder of the EnsureFlyer right for that flight right contract. If the flight right contract FirmFlyer/ZYX/2005Dec15/004/EnsureFlyer is sold to another member eligible to second and third contractual rights, it is sold intact with its first contractual right for transport on the flight ZYX on the 15 December 2005, its second contractual right to be resold, and its third contractual right made with the holder of ZYX/2005Dec15/004/StandbyFlyer.

The week after completion of the contract

ForwardFlyer/XYZ/2005Feb08/001/1W/1/2006Feb07/001 between company C and airline X i.e. Tuesday week 7, 2006, a $4.5D payment is automatically made by the travel system, from finance house F's bank account to company Cs bank account. This is to repay, with rewards, the margin deposit of $4D made when initially entering the contract. If company C had defaulted on any purchase of a flight right contract because it blocked automatic payments or because there were no funds in its bank account, or for any other reason, then $D would have been automatically deducted by the travel system from the margin deposit of company C held by the finance house F to pay the airline X on time. While company C would still get issued with a flight right contract, it will get progressively less return on its deposit the longer it is in default. Should default occur more than twice on the same flight forward contract, before the full balance of the deposit is restored, then the flight forward contract is made void. Then the balance of the deposit held at the finance house F, is automatically transferred, fractionally, to the airline X on the dates due for payments of flight right contracts as and when they occur. Once the flight forward contract is void, the flight right contracts are no longer issued automatically to company C. The airline X is warned by automatic e-mail from the travel system that the flight forward contract is in default. Likewise, company C is informed that the flight forward contract is voided by the rules of association. The airline X now has a chance to sell another flight forward contract or may merely sell individual flight right contracts directly without them issuing from a flight forward contract. However, at least the airline is covered for business demand for two weeks, plus the four weeks of demand purchased forward in this example. Also of importance is that airlines have time to react to such default.

Another example of a traveller use of the travel system now follows.

Flight forward contract

ForwardFlyer/AIIAApmBB/2005SUN20/026/1Y/1/AIIAApmBB/2035SUN20/026 is a 30 year contract between tour operator T and airline U. This contract is for flights from region AA to overseas destination region BB. Because of the possibility of change of airports over 30 years, the contract is region based rather than being specifically from named airport to airport. A margin deposit made initially with the finance house F concerned is twice that of each flight right contract price, in this example. The flight number has not yet been scheduled for 30 years in advance, so the contract is for a time zone of the day. In this example, the terms of a series of flight right contracts are each for an afternoon flight, on alliance ALL aircraft, on 1 class, on Sunday, 20 week of each year from 2005 to 2035, from region AA to region BB. The conditions of the contract are due automatic payment for each flight right contract 10 weeks before each flight date, i.e. in this instance the10 Sunday of every year from 2005 to 2035. Then the tour operator has a further 10 weeks to sell each flight right contract concerned, after it has paid for it, if it has not already earmarked the sale of the contract for a particular function such as an international conference.

After 5 years tour operator T decides to sell the contract ForwardFlyer/AIIAApmBB/2005SUN20/026/1Y/1/AIIAApmBB/2035SUN20/026 to another Airline System member. An appointed authority of tour operator T puts up the contract for sale on the travel system. Tour operator T offers the flight forward contract for a price which will cover its margin deposit, plus some accruing rewards. A student S, purchases the contract by paying the holder the offered sale price and agreeing to the terms of purchasing the remaining flight right contracts from airline U. Airline U exercises its right to approving student S as the registered holder of the flight forward contract, but requires a higher margin deposit from the student S. Ownership of both the first margin deposit and the second additional margin deposit goes to the student S, although they may only be claimed at the end of the flight forward contract. Now he must purchase any of the offered flight right contracts by the due date each year 10 weeks before flying or possibly forfeit the margin deposits.

After 3 years of holding the flight forward contract, the student sells the contract on the travel system for a profit. The terms of the contract now are for the remaining 22 years.

Another further example of traveller use of the travel system now follows:

A traveller G needs to attend to business from Feb 24 2006 in Cape Town. He is not sure whether he wants to return on Mar 9 or Mar 10. Traveller G is a member of the Airline System, who has been issued with a secret password and PIN. In early February, he searches the web pages of the travel system for suitable flight right contracts or option-contracts. He does not want to purchase a flight forward contract. He finds and purchases a flight right contract for Feb 23 and FlexiFlyer positions for each of the Mar 9 and Mar 10 on the travel system from users who are anonymous to himself. Flight right contract FirmFlyer/X 567 /2006 Feb23 /089 provides his evening flight to Cape Town. He has also purchased X777/2006Mar09/045/FlexiFlyer and

X778/2006Mar10/011 /FlexiFlyer positions within two separate OverBook option- contracts. This means that at a later stage traveller G may decide to use either of the two FlexiFlyer positions to purchase a return flight place. Strictly speaking, he may use both but in this instance he intends using only one of them. He has paid $100 for FirmFlyerX567/2006Feb23/089. He has paid a consideration price of $20 for X777/2006Mar09/045/FlexiFlyer and likewise $15 for X778/2006Mar10/011/FlexiFlyer. The flight right contract purchase price for FirmFlyerX777/2006Mar09/045 is $110 with the holder of the other position FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045/RelinquishFlyer whose identity is anonymous to traveller G. The holder of FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045/RelinquishFlyer received the consideration price. The flight right contract price of FirmFlyerX778/2006Mar10/011 is $120 with the holder of the other position FirmFlyer/X778/2006Mar10/011/RelinquishFlyer whose identity is also unknown to traveller G.

Traveller G decides to ensure FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089 in case there is a change in his plans before the flight time. On the travel system he finds another party willing to take a StandbyFlyer position on the FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089 at a purchase price of $100 for the payment of a consideration price of $25. This other party, anonymous to traveller G, must deposit $100 with finance house F to take this position. Traveller G now pays the consideration price of $25 for an EnsureFlyer position on FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089. The $25 is paid over to the other party by the travel system. Traveller G is now the holder of FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089/EnsureFlyer. If his plans for travel on the 23 Feb change, he is certain of being able to sell FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089 for $100 provided he does this in the exercise period of FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089/EnsureFlyer which in this instance expires 7 days before 23 Feb 2006. But this ensuring of selling, cost him $25 in this instance. It happens that traveller G uses FirmFlyer/X567/2006Feb23/089 flight right contract to fly to Cape Town.

Traveller G must decide whether to exercise his FlexiFlyer rights to purchase before they expire. On 1^st March 2006 he decides to purchase FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045 for $110 by exercising his right from holding X777/2006Mar09/045/FlexiFlyer. He enters a secure transactions flight right contracts web page on the travel system using his own secret Airline System member password and PIN, making the purchase of FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045 from the anonymous holder of FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045/ReliquishFlyer for $110. The anonymous previous holder of FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045/ReliquishFlyer receives an e-mail and SMS informing s/he that s/he have been paid $110 for FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045 by exercise of purchase right by holder of X777/2006Mar09/045/FlexiFlyer.

Traveller G will use FirmFlyer/X777/2006Mar09/045 to return from Cape Town. So traveller G decides to offer X778/2006Mar10/011/F!exiFlyer for $5 on the travel system. After March 3 2006, X778/2006Mar10/011/FlexiFlyer will expire and no longer exist, so only travellers who will immediately take up the exercise right to purchase FirmFlyerX778/2006Mar10/11 at $120 are likely to purchase this FlexiFlyer position.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Airline System may be a large international organization for many airlines and even a body formed and regulated by statute, however another embodiment may have only one airline for any particular airline system. This especially so when an airline is instrumental in forming any airline system, while other airlines have not yet joined, or an airline system prefers a single airline user. It is also possible for an airline or alliance of airlines to operate a travel system directly without the intermediary airline system. It is less likely but quite possible for a travel merchant to operate a travel system directly, chartering flights from airlines, and taking responsibility for service to travellers, and not have an airline as a user. But then the travel merchant must be considered as an airline and an airline system. But it is even also possible for a travel merchant to operate a travel system with any number of airlines as users. Then the travel merchant is considered as an airline system. The differences here are that the operator of the travel system also takes the role of at least one of the users.

In other embodiments, general users of WWW may access and view web pages of the travel system but either the Airline System or the airline concerned, decides which categories of registered members or other users of Airline System may trade and make changes and make transactions. In one such a preferred embodiment, the selling of flight right contracts is restricted to registered holders of flight forward contracts. Then, users who are not holders of any flight forward contracts are restricted to purchasing and making use of flight right contracts but they cannot sell any held flight right contract. Generally, any airline may place restrictions on the trading of any flight right contract as suits their aims. An airline may place restrictions on who may trade, or price control formulae or methods on further third party trading. Provided that all controls or restrictions are highlighted on the travel system before any purchase of affected contracts takes place.

According to the Airline System preferred embodiments, only certain member entities passing Airline System means tests will be able to undertake various particular functions. One such possibility is that perhaps only Airline System member entities providing air transport will be able to issue flight right contracts. Also, preferably only established designated financial houses may hold investment deposits. Preferably, only members of certain financial means test may make or purchase certain contracts, especially when these members have future financial obligations. Preferably, only accredited travel agents may make third-party transactions for members from the public. It may be preferred that only members in certain categories may purchase certain contracts. General users of WWW may access and view web pages of the travel system but Airline System decides which categories of registered members or general users of Airline System may trade and make changes and make transactions. Preferably, any member may purchase any contract.

Another preferred embodiment is the travel system holding internal accounts, which may be pre-paid cash accounts, of each or any member. Then payments for trading may take place by transfer between accounts. The travel system provides for many methods of payments, but credit card accounts for easier payments may be preferred.

A database of all users when applicable, in other embodiments where there are non- member users but they do not have the same rights as members.

In other embodiments, a flight right contract may be also a forward contract. Then its nature will change when it gets paid up. The contract will be tradable according to its status. But then all contracts will be for single seat inventory. Bundled sales will require the sale of separate flight right forward contracts together.

An airline may perhaps sell similar flight forward contracts for different prices to different market segments. By preference, certain options-contracts may be attached to flight contracts upon issue by air transport providers. In this instance, a flight forward contract will state that the flight right contracts sold will include the attached option-contract. Then an airline may for example sell a flight right contract to which the airline holds a FlexiFlyer position. In effect, the airline will then have a buy-back option.

In other embodiments an airline may for certain flights, especially for those having a high demand, restrict all other users from taking OverBook option-contracts, but sell some flight right contracts where the airline holds FlexiFlyer positions. Now the airline is in a position to bump off certain travellers, and no other users are able to do so. The advantage to all users is that the process is transparent to them and those able to be bumped have chosen that position to suit their travel economy and plans. Also, those that are bumped off have time to make other arrangements, and are not bumped off at the airport. The airline in turn has definite sales, some of which they may buy back and resell for more if there is sufficient demand.

In other embodiments, an airline may sell a fraction of inventory on any flight or any flight route using the travel system, while it sells the balance using other marketing methods. The airline may gradually implement increased use of the travel system, changing its aim as it sees fit.

An airline may waive margin deposits for some or certain users of the travel system.

In other embodiments exercise periods for option-contracts, or times for automatic payment of flight right contracts will vary. Preferably, the airline concerned will choose all points in time, and all time periods applicable.

In other embodiments, it may be that all users are members of an entity.

CONCLUSION

The growing use of the Internet has provided new risks and advantages to airlines and travellers. A noticeable risk to airlines is that their services are in danger of being commoditized, as suggested by Doganis. This invention provides advantages to airlines in that they are rewarded with process value in exchange for providing a transferable air ticket, thus surprisingly, transforming a threat into an opportunity.

Purchased forward demand is valuable to the process of producing perishable services of great expense. Thus, this invention teaches an aim to aid future planning to provide for business stability and to aid reducing wasted places on airline scheduled flights.

Had this invention taught the indiscriminate use of the selling of exchangeable rights to fly, and the likewise derived options; then it would only provide a mechanism to price to what has already been scheduled into use, and then may not reduce wasted empty seats or may not increase airline profitability, and indeed could jeopardize profitability.

Customers are less likely to commit to future orders of the service, especially far into the future if they would be constrained by so doing. But when they are provided with better prices with added options that were previously unthinkable, they may be convinced to purchase future demand.

Then the benefits of producing to forward demand can be recycled back to consumers in the form of lower prices, which in turn may recycle back as a culture of purchasing demand in advance, so reinforcing the matching of supply and demand and providing the mechanism for mutually increasing profits and dropping prices.

This invention is likely to be even more useful when the schedules are more limited by constraints. For example when landing and take off slots at busy airports are fully allocated. For example, when certain routes are only allocated to certain airlines as has been in the past. For example when there is rationing of flights or fuel because of high- fuel prices.

The invention is not limited to the details above mentioned, and those skilled in the arts and users of the invention will be able to find useful possibilities. This is because airlines will have a marketing tool rather than just a device, which in turn allows them to plan rather than to forecast only. Not just a tool to sell more travel inventory, but where the sales help to match supply with demand. The invention provides a tool for both transport providers and travellers to control and manage their risks to their commitments; and it provides opportunity for travellers to reduce their fares by committing to purchase travel.

Transport providers have the following choices when using the invention as a tool:

Decide offers of a range of long term commitment travel products;

Decide offers of commitment to specific journeys;

Decide offers of commitments that may not be changed;

Decide to accept commitments;

Manage revenue on journeys by offering for different prices according to amount of commitment;

Decide time periods for due payment;

Decide restrictions and /or time periods on the transferability and/or tradability of rights to travel;

Decide whether their business aims have been met so as to decide whether or not to make use of traveller commitments;

Decide whether to trade (buying or selling) on the secondary market.

Decide whether to take option position on the secondary market.

Decide whether to exercise options.

Travellers have the following choices when using the invention as a tool:

Decide level of long term commitment according to travel plans, hedging requirements and budget;

Decide whether to purchase and whether to cancel long term commitment if travel is not offered at agreed price;

Decide whether to purchase offered travel early;

Decide to offer a commitment or a travel purchase for sale at decided price at decided time;

Decide whether to take call or put option position for the exercise trade of a travel purchase;

Decide who is passenger for a travel purchase;

Make purchases and options with other users of the invention. Decide whether to exercise options.

So it can be seen that as there are many variations of offers and options which are matched with other quid pro quo options - helping producers and users to make suitable choices, but which make economic sense.

As a tool, it has many versatile uses, so the invention should only be limited to what is claimed.

WHAT ONE METHOD PLANS TO ACHIEVE IS:

1 ) Airline forecasts demand

2) Airline proposes flights to match forecasts

3) Airline offers 'parent' contracts which will issue 'children' tickets for the proposed flights

4) Travellers, companies, wholesalers "buy" 'parent' contracts (commit to purchasing 'children' contracts issuing from 'parent' contracts)

5) Airline goes through a flight CONSOLIDATION process in good time prior to each flight

6) Consolidation process consists of deciding whether to sell, or issue, any 'children' tickets which may issue by due process from any 'parent' contract. So airline has this option

7) If airline does NOT exercise its option of issuing the 'child' ticket - then the buyer of the 'parent' contract gets the option to cancel this 'PARENT' contract henceforth

8) A 'child' ticket is a peculiar ticket which may be traded - but the only claim on the airline is that they will provide the flight for the holder. NO refunds , NO cancellations, NO change of reservations with the airline concerned

In its most far reaching form, travellers will prefer to purchase a series of flights which are similar flight numbers but which repeat monthly quarterly, annually. These are non- refundable, not changeable with the airline. The airline now has confirmed reservations, not provisional, from their point of view. The travellers do this because they find it is cheaper to arrange travel around their commitments to the airlines rather than travel anytime they like. But also because they are able to exchange their 'ticket', by selling and buying another, with other travellers (thus in a sense using their 'ticket' as a hedge), or they may sell to another traveller without purchasing from a third traveller - thus effectively cancelling their booking. Or they may hedge their flights with other travellers who do not have a ticket, to buy or sell that ticket. So travellers have the benefit of a low cost ticket with the added benefits of effectively being able to change their "reservations".

The important difference being that the airline must only provide the flight and need not be the "pool of demand" which allows some to cancel and others to change reservations. 'Reservations' are changed with other travellers, not with the airline, as is current practice.

It is an object of this invention to provide a travel system and method which, at least partially, alleviates some of the abovementioned difficulties.

The scheduled air passenger industry requires large volumes of trade. Also, the service delivery of the industry has high levels of reliability and predictability. A long-term contractual business method is now a more suitable approach.

The present invention provides a mechanism and method for airlines to reduce their risk to inventory non-use by creating preferably long term, committed contractual demand for airline seat inventory by the travellers and travel merchants using the invention, and concurrently to provide the same travellers and travel merchants a mechanism and methods of potentially reducing their risk of non-usage of their committed contractual demand, by allowing and providing means for them to trade their committed contractual demand; and where the airlines are only obliged to provide the air travel service corresponding to the mentioned inventory. So these contractually committed travellers and travel merchants are provided a mechanism and methods to trade contracted individual seat inventory, with other similar parties and airlines that are not necessarily the servicing airline. So an airline selling inventory for services far enough into the future, is provided stability of demand.

The present invention also provides mechanisms and methods for travellers and travel merchants committing to contractual demand to choose their own level of flexibility to the potential trading of the contractual demand. It is desirable that travellers choose and create their own market segment according to their requirements, in a transparent manner, by taking positions with each other, rather than obligating the servicing airline to take such positions.

The invention also allows a user airline to make certain flight inventory more marketable, by making that inventory tradable between users of the invention.

The invention further provides a new passenger airline business model. Using the invention as a marketing tool, an airline may sell sufficient inventory for services far enough into the future, giving the airline power to plan the supply of service to committed demand, rather than merely forecast demand to committed supply.

Reference to the more detailed descriptions following later in this specification will better explain the practice of the object of the invention. Many hoped for advantages brought about by the correct use of the invention, as a risk management and marketing tool will also be shown in detail. But a few of them are now listed:

1) Risks to obligations are more broadly spread and many risks to obligations are shifted away from airlines.

2) Risks to non-usage of low cost air travel reduced.

3) Travel wholesalers may take a more active position.

4) Improved airline planning for i) size of aircraft, ii) round trips, iii) peaks and troughs of demand, iv) annual routes, v) landing and take-off slots, vi) purchase of aircraft, vii) staff requirements viii) auxiliary services.

5) There is opportunity of better profit margins for airlines and cheaper air passenger seats for travellers when more unused inventory is sold because of better planning.

6) Possible programming of flights and flight routes to pre-contracted demand sufficient to provide the certainty of a margin of profit.

7) Opportunities for customer relation management are improved.

8) Means for optional creating of market segment by traveller.

9) A "use or lose" air travel service may be "ensured" by others against non-use of travel.

10) Income or cheaper services are provided to those who have "ensured" others against non-use of travel.

11) Elimination or reduction of over-booking.

12) More stable operating environment for both producer and consumer due to less or no overbooking and certainty of use.

13) The matching of supply with demand is improved.

Claims

1. A travel system comprising computing means having issuing means for issuing a passage contract to a purchaser on behalf of a passage contract issuer; the passage contract being in respect of a number of future journeys on a transportation means; payment means for receiving payment for a journey from the purchaser so that the purchaser thus receives a right to travel; and trading means to facilitate trading of the right to travel by the purchaser.

2. A travel system as claimed in claim 1 in which the passage contract provides that the issuer has a right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser and if it makes a journey available the purchaser has an obligation to pay for the journey and thus receives a right to travel.

3. A travel system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which each journey is at a predetermined time and date to a predetermined destination.

4. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which each journey is from a predetermined venue.

5. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the passage contract issuer is any one of the group consisting of an airline company, a railroad company, a shipping company.

6. A travel system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the passage contract issuer is a travel agent.

7. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the computing means hosts a web site including the issuing means and payment means.

8. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the computing means hosts a web site including the trading means

9. A travel system as claimed in claim 7 or 8 in which the web site is accessible by any prospective purchaser of a passage contract.

10. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the passage contract provides that the purchaser may trade the right to travel only in accordance with a number of restrictions.

11. A travel system as claimed in claim 10 in which a restriction is any one or more of the group consisting of: time period available for trading; trading only with a certain group or class of person; trading only with member of a travel association.

12. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the trading means lists a number of rights to travel for the benefit of prospective further purchasers of such rights.

13. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the purchaser trades a right to travel subject to a trading condition set by the passage contract issuer and/or by the purchaser.

14. A travel system as claimed in claim 13 in which a trading condition is any one or more of the group consisting of: trading with a member of a travel association; trading as a future put or call option.

15. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the computing means includes a timing means.

16. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the choice in respect of the right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser is based on predetermined factors.

17. A travel system as claimed in claim 16 in which the factors include one or more of the group consisting of: a route profit margin, a flight profit margin; demand; business; stability; risk of future sales; market share.

18. A travel system as claimed in any one of claims 16 or 17 in which the choice is made by software in the computing means subject to prior inputs used in calculations to determine the choice.

19. A travel system as claimed in claim 15 in which the timing means prevents the issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the time of a journey.

20. A travel system as claimed in claim 15 in which the timing means prevents the issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the date of a journey.

21. A travel system as claimed in claim 19 or 20 in which the timing means prevents a further purchaser from purchasing a right to travel within a certain period prior to the time of a journey.

22. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the price payable for a journey is predetermined at the time of issuing the passage contract or at the time of the issuer deciding to make the journey available to the purchaser.

23. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the issuer and purchaser are members of a travel association in accordance with membership rules.

24. A travel system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the right to travel includes proof of the right to travel including, any one or more selected from the group consisting of a paper ticket, an e-ticket, an electronic record and a computer record.

25. A travel method including the steps of: issuing a passage contract to a purchaser by or on behalf of a passage contract issuer, the contract being in respect of a number of future journeys on a transportation means; making a journey available to a purchaser; receiving payment for the journey from the purchaser; issuing a right to travel to the purchaser; facilitating trading of the right to travel by the purchaser.

26. A travel method as claimed in claim 25 in which the passage contract provides that the issuer has a right to choose whether or not to make one or more transportation means available to the purchaser and if it makes a journey also available the purchaser has an obligation to pay for the journey and thus receives a right to travel.

27. A travel method as claimed in claim 25 or 26 in which each journey is at a predetermined time and date to a predetermined destination.

28. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 27 in which each journey is from a predetermined venue.

29. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 28 in which the passage contract issuer is any one of the group consisting of an airline company, a railroad company, a shipping company.

30. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 28 in which the passage contract issuer is a travel agent.

31. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 30 in which the computing means hosts a web site including the issuing means and payment means.

32. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 30 in which the computing means hosts a web site including the trading means

33. A travel method as claimed in claim 31 or 32 in which the web site is accessible by any prospective purchaser of a passage contract.

34. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 33 in which the passage contract provides that the purchaser may trade the right to travel only in accordance with a number of restrictions.

35. A travel method as claimed in claim 34 in which a restriction is any one or more of the group consisting of: time period available for trading; trading only with a certain group or class of person; trading only with member of a travel association.

36. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 35 in which the trading means lists a number of rights to travel for the benefits of prospective further purchasers of such rights.

37. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 36 in which the purchaser trades a right to travel subject to a trading condition set by the passage contract issuer and/or by the purchaser.

38. A travel method as claimed in claim 37 in which a trading condition is any one or more of the group consisting of; trading with a member of a travel association; trading as a future put or call option.

39. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 38 in which the computing means includes a timing means.

40. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 39 in which the choice in respect of the right to choose whether or not to make one or more of the future journeys on the transportation means available to the purchaser is based on predetermined factors.

41. A travel method as claimed in claim 40 in which the factors include one or more of the group consisting of: a route profit margin, a flight profit margin; demand; business; stability; risk of future sales; market share.

42. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 40 or 41 in which the choice is made by software in the computing means subject to prior inputs used in calculations to determine the choice.

43. A travel method as claimed in claim 39 in which the timing means prevents the issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the time of a journey.

44. A travel method as claimed in claim 39 in which the timing means prevents the issuer from making a journey available within a certain time period before the date of a journey.

45. A travel method as claimed in claim 43 or 44 in which the timing means prevents a further purchaser from purchasing a right to travel within a certain period prior to the time of a journey.

46. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 45 in which the price payable for a journey is predetermined at the time of issuing the passage contract or at the time of the issuer deciding to make the journey available to the purchaser.

47. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 46 in which the issuer and purchaser are members of a travel association in accordance with membership rules.

48. A travel method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 47 in which the right to travel includes proof of the right to travel including, any one or more selected from the group consisting of a paper ticket, an e-ticket, an electronic record and a computer record.