Taking user input and organizing it based on specifications java

I'm trying to figure out how I would be able to take user input then process and organize that information against specifications that I have set.

Really I want to match certain needs against preferences provided by a user.

For example: I have user input from a certain number of people regarding dates that they want to rent vehicles. There are certain vehicles that I want to set as a high priority to rent and certain dates that are higher priorities as well.

I want the program to match my highest priorities first followed by my lowest priorities.

Any ideas on the most efficient way to program this?

Should I use if/else statements?

Ideally I would also like to be able to output some sort of array after maximizing my priorities which is probably a separate issue.

Just looking for a good starting point - any help is much appreciated! Thanks!