Abstract: A system and method of managing purchasing contracts between supplier entities and customer entities for the purchase of products includes the step of generating at least one purchasing contract between at least one supplier entity (e.g., a product originator such as an airline company or a distributor such as travel agency) and at least one customer entity. The purchasing contract generated is one that is applicable to one or more contracted purchasing transactions effected, at least partially, through a computerized system. The generating step includes identifying one or more contract terms, wherein each contract term has one or more term attributes, and storing a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term in one or more computer databases. The method also involves collecting transaction data relating to one or more purchasing transactions and storing the transaction data in one or more computer databases.

Abstract: A system and method of managing purchasing contracts between supplier entities and customer entities for the purchase of products includes the step of generating at least one purchasing contract between at least one supplier entity (e.g., a product originator such as an airline company or a distributor such as travel agency) and at least one customer entity. The purchasing contract generated is one that is applicable to one or more contracted purchasing transactions effected, at least partially, through a computerized system. The generating step includes identifying one or more contract terms, wherein each contract term has one or more term attributes, and storing a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term in one or more computer databases. The method also involves collecting transaction data relating to one or more purchasing transactions and storing the transaction data in one or more computer databases.

Abstract: A method of managing purchasing contracts between a supplier entity and a customer entity for the purchase of ticket products includes the step of generating a purchasing contract between the two entities. The generated contract is applicable to ticketing transactions effected through a computerized system and, which, effect a ticket purchase by the customer entity. Contract terms are identified which are defined by term attributes then, a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term is stored in a computer database. Furthermore, transaction data relating to purchasing transactions are collected and also stored in a computer database. A computer program is executed to identify purchasing transactions as contracted transactions (i.e., applicable to a contract) by selecting a portion of the transaction data for a transaction and comparing this portion with the term attributes for a contract term.

Abstract: A system and method of managing purchasing contracts between supplier entities and customer entities for the purchase of products includes the step of generating at least one purchasing contract between at least one supplier entity (e.g., a product originator such as an airline company or a distributor such as travel agency) and at least one customer entity. The purchasing contract generated is one that is applicable to one or more contracted purchasing transactions effected, at least partially, through a computerized system. The generating step includes identifying one or more contract terms, wherein each contract term has one or more term attributes, and storing a term data set of the term attributes associated with each contract term in one or more computer databases. The method also involves collecting transaction data relating to one or more purchasing transactions and storing the transaction data in one or more computer databases.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to method and apparatus forming a system for deriving from computer-based travel reservations systems specific cost and time information, on per-unit basis, such that accurate cost information may be produced for comparison purposes. Using a programmable computer under control of a program instruction set, individual data segments of a given trip between two points (origination-to-destination) is reduced to a common per-unit basis permitting uniform comparison and analysis. The process identifies each trip having an origination and destination by a unique name, determines the number of connecting segments flown, the number of miles flown, the amount of time from departure to arrival, and the costs on per-hour and per-mile basis.