U.S. patent application number 11/314917 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-18 for system and method for coordinating travel itineraries.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sabre, Inc.. Invention is credited to Ladislav Lettovsky, Saurabh Y. Mehta, Kyle N. Morris, Richard M. Ratliff.
Application Number | 20060106654 11/314917 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34116061 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060106654 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lettovsky; Ladislav ; et
al. |
May 18, 2006 |
System and method for coordinating travel itineraries
Abstract
The methods and systems for coordinating the travel itineraries
of multiple travelers, who are leaving from more than one origin
location, but are arriving at the same destination location,
provide automated techniques for determining which itineraries for
each traveler best meets the specified criteria for the trip. For
example, a travel organizer may specify certain travel criteria for
a trip, such as the relative importance of the travel schedules
versus the price. A set of suggested travel itineraries that most
closely meet the specified criteria are then provided, in addition
to the amount of time between when any two travelers arrive at
and/or leave from the destination location, and the price.
Furthermore, the travel coordination techniques provide flexibility
by allowing replacement of one or more of the suggested itineraries
with other possible itineraries and recalculation of the time
amounts and the price(s).
Inventors: |
Lettovsky; Ladislav; (Vail,
CO) ; Mehta; Saurabh Y.; (Irving, TX) ;
Morris; Kyle N.; (Grand Prairie, TX) ; Ratliff;
Richard M.; (Flowermound, TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ALSTON & BIRD LLP;BANK OF AMERICA PLAZA
101 SOUTH TRYON STREET, SUITE 4000
CHARLOTTE
NC
28280-4000
US
|
Assignee: |
Sabre, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
34116061 |
Appl. No.: |
11/314917 |
Filed: |
December 21, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10634582 |
Aug 5, 2003 |
|
|
|
11314917 |
Dec 21, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/025 20130101;
G06Q 10/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/005 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20060101
G06Q010/00 |
Claims
1. Method for determining suggested travel itineraries based upon
an amount of time between traveling times of any two travelers of a
plurality of travelers, wherein the two travelers are associated
with different origin locations, comprising: receiving a
destination location, at least two origin locations and other
travel information, wherein each origin location is associated with
at least one traveler; accessing a travel database comprising at
least outbound and inbound itineraries between the destination
location and the origin locations; identifying at least one
outbound and inbound itinerary between the destination location and
each origin location from the travel database based upon the travel
information; determining at least one of: (i) the amount of time
between the arrival times for the at least one outbound itinerary
associated with any two travelers, and (ii) the amount of time
between the departing times for the at least one inbound itinerary
associated with any two travelers; and identifying at least one of:
(i) at least one suggested outbound itinerary for each traveler
having based upon the amount of time between the arrival times of
the respective traveler and at least one other traveler, and (ii)
at least one suggested inbound itinerary for each traveler based
upon the amount of time between the departing times of the
respective traveler and at least one other traveler.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: presenting
the at least one suggested outbound and inbound itinerary between
the destination location and each origin location and at least one
of: (i) the amount of time between the arrival times, and (ii) the
amount of time between the departing times for at least one
traveler to at least one of a travel organizer and the plurality of
travelers; receiving an indication that alternative itineraries are
desired for at least one of the suggested outbound and inbound
itineraries associated with a respective traveler; presenting other
identified outbound and inbound itineraries between the destination
location and an origin location and the respective amounts of time
between at least one of: (i) the arrival times, and (ii) the
departing times for the respective traveler and at least one other
traveler for review if an indication is received that alternative
itineraries are desired; and receiving an indication of a selection
of at least one of the other identified outbound and inbound
itineraries.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining
at least one of a total price for all of the suggested itineraries
for all of the travelers and a price for each suggested itinerary
for each traveler.
4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising storing the
at least one identified outbound and inbound itinerary between the
destination location and each origin location.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving
payment information regarding how the travel costs for each
traveler are to be paid; and transmitting billing information based
upon the payment information.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing
electronic communication among at least two of a travel organizer
and the travelers.
7. System for determining suggested travel itineraries based upon
an amount of time between traveling times of any two travelers of a
plurality of travelers, wherein the two travelers are associated
with different origin locations, comprising: at least one client
element capable of receiving a destination location, at least two
origin locations and other travel information, wherein each origin
location is associated with at least one traveler; at least one
processing element capable of accessing a travel database
comprising at least outbound and inbound itineraries between the
destination location and the origin locations, wherein said at
least one processing element is also capable of identifying at
least one outbound and inbound itinerary between the destination
location and each origin location from the travel database based
upon the travel information, wherein said at least one processing
element is further capable of determining at least one of: (i) the
amount of time between the arrival times for the at least one
outbound itinerary associated with any two travelers, and (ii) the
amount of time between the departing times for the at least one
inbound itinerary associated with any two travelers, and wherein
said at least one processing element is also capable of identifying
at least one of: (i) at least one suggested outbound itinerary for
each traveler based upon the amount of time between the arrival
times of the respective traveler and at least one other traveler,
and (ii) at least one suggested inbound itinerary for each traveler
based upon the amount of time between the departing times of the
respective traveler and at least one other traveler.
8. The system according to claim 7, further comprising: at least
one display element capable of presenting the at least one
suggested outbound and inbound itinerary between the destination
location and each origin location and at least one of: (i) the
amount of time between the arrival times, and (ii) the amount of
time between the departing times for at least one traveler to at
least one of a travel organizer and the plurality of travelers, and
wherein said at least one display element is also capable of
presenting other identified outbound and inbound itineraries
between the destination location and an origin location and at
least one of: (i) the respective amounts of time between the
arrival times, and (ii) the departing times for the respective
traveler and at least one other traveler for review if an
indication is received that alternative itineraries are desired;
and wherein said at least one client element is also capable of
receiving an indication that alternative itineraries are desired
for at least one of the suggested outbound and inbound itineraries
associated with a respective traveler, and wherein said at least
one client element is also capable of receiving an indication of a
selection of at least one of the other identified outbound and
inbound itineraries.
9. The system according to claim 7, wherein said at least one
processing element is also capable of determining at least one of a
total price for all of the suggested itineraries for all of the
travelers and a price for each suggested itinerary for each
traveler.
10. The system according to claim 7, further comprising at least
one storage element capable of storing the at least one identified
outbound and inbound itinerary between the destination location and
each origin location.
11. The system according to claim 7, wherein said at least one
client element is also capable of receiving payment information
regarding how the travel costs for each traveler are to be paid,
and wherein said at least one processing element is also capable of
transmitting billing information based upon the payment
information.
12. The system according to claim 7, wherein said at least one
processing element is also capable of providing electronic
communication among at least two of a travel organizer and the
travelers.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser.
No. 10/634,582, filed Aug. 5, 2003, which is hereby incorporated
herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to techniques for the coordination of
multiple travel itineraries for multiple travelers who are
departing from various origin locations and traveling to the same
destination location. According to one advantageous aspect, the
invention provides techniques for minimizing the amount of time
between the arrival times associated with the outbound itineraries
and the departing times associated with the inbound itineraries,
such that the travelers arrive at and depart from the destination
at as close to the same time as possible.
[0003] In many types of business and personal travel, multiple
travelers are expected to arrive at the same destination to
participate in the same or similar activity. Frequently, the
multiple travelers must originate their travel from different
origin locations. For instance, a manager of a business with
employees located in more than one city, state or country may call
a meeting that requires all employees of the business to gather at
a certain location and time. Furthermore, a family reunion may be
planned, which requires the family members, many of whom do not
live in the same place, to gather at a certain location and time.
Thus, many of the employees and family members must travel to the
certain location prior to the time of the meeting or reunion,
respectively. For the travelers that do not drive themselves, such
as those that arrive at the destination via a plane, train or other
mode of mass transportation, it would generally be advantageous for
them to arrive at the destination around the same time so that they
can more easily share the other travel expenses, such as lodging
arrangements, transportation to the lodging, transportation to the
activity, etc. As such, two or more of the travelers may desire to
coordinate their travel itineraries so that they arrive at the
destination at as close to the same time as possible. In the same
way, the travelers may also desire to coordinate their travel
itineraries so that they depart the destination at as close to the
same time as possible so that they may share transportation
expenses to an airport, train station, or other departing location,
or for any other reason.
[0004] Coordinating travel arrangements for two or more travelers
can be a daunting task, however, and the more travelers, the more
complicated an endeavor to coordinate travel arrangements is.
Typically, if more than one traveler from different origin
locations would like to arrive at and/or leave a destination
location at approximately the same time, someone must personally
evaluate all of the possible travel arrangements (itineraries) for
each traveler and determine which itinerary for each traveler will
permit the travelers to arrive at and/or leave the destination as
close as possible to the same time. Simultaneously, the person
evaluating all of the possible travel itineraries for each traveler
must keep in mind the date and time of any activity or activities
that any or all of the travelers must attend.
[0005] For example, in the past, a travel organizer, such as a
travel agent or other individual who may or may not be a traveler
themselves, would have to access a central reservation system for
the desired type of transportation and perform separate searches to
obtain the various travel itineraries for traveling to a certain
destination from each traveler's origin location that met the
overall travel criteria, such as the date for the travel. Once the
travel organizer obtains the various travel itineraries for each
traveler, the travel organizer must then manually evaluate the
itineraries in light of the desires of the travelers. For example,
if the travelers and/or organizer specify that the travelers should
arrive at and/or depart from the destination at as close to the
same time as possible, regardless of the cost, then the travel
organizer must determine which itineraries meet the specific
scheduling requirements only. If, however, the travelers and/or
organizer specify that the travelers should arrive at and/or depart
from the destination at as close to the same time as possible
without exceeding a certain price for one or more of the
itineraries or a certain overall price for all of the itineraries,
then the organizer must not only evaluate the itineraries in light
of the schedule requirements, but also must consider the pricing of
one or more of the itineraries. As such, as the number of travelers
and/or the number of itineraries that the travel organizer must
evaluate increases, the more confusing for the organizer and the
more risk that the organizer will make an error or overlook a
viable travel option for one or more of the travelers. Furthermore,
if one or more of the travelers desires to make changes to their
respective itineraries, the organizer must manually gather and
identify all of the viable travel options to present to the
respective traveler based upon the schedule and/or price
requirements. Then, if a change is made to one traveler's
itinerary, the organizer must determine how that affects the other
travelers' waiting times once they arrive at the destination and/or
the prices of the travel. Manually coordinating travel itineraries
for multiple travelers who are traveling from different origin
locations to one destination location, therefore, is a very
time-consuming and error-prone process.
[0006] Thus, there is a need for automated techniques to coordinate
the travel itineraries of multiple travelers arriving at and
leaving from one destination location, but originating travel from
multiple origin locations. In particular, there is a need for
automated techniques that are capable of coordinating the travel
itineraries of multiple travelers based upon specified requirements
regarding schedule and/or pricing, including permitting changes to
individual travel itineraries, in an efficient and accurate
manner.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] According to the present invention, the methods and systems
for coordinating the travel itineraries of multiple travelers, who
are leaving from more than one origin location, but are arriving at
the same destination location, provide automated techniques for
quickly and accurately determining which travel itineraries for
each traveler best meet the specified criteria for the trip. For
example, the methods and systems of the present invention permit a
travel organizer to specify certain travel criteria for a trip,
such as the date(s) of travel or the relative importance of the
travelers arriving at the destination location at as close to the
same time as possible (i.e. the schedule) versus the overall price
of the itineraries for all of the travelers (i.e. the price). The
methods and systems then provide a set of suggested travel
itineraries that most closely meets the specified criteria, in
addition to providing the amount of time between when any two
travelers arrive at and/or leave from the destination location, and
the overall price or individual prices for each traveler.
Furthermore, the travel coordination techniques provide flexibility
by allowing the organizer and/or the travelers to view all of the
possible itineraries and replace one or more of the suggested
itineraries, then recalculate the time amounts and the
price(s).
[0008] One embodiment of the methods and systems for coordinating
multiple outbound and inbound itineraries includes receiving a
destination location, multiple origin locations, each of which is
associated with at least one traveler, and other travel
information, such as, but not limited to, the dates and desired
times of travel. An indication regarding the relative weight
between price and schedule of at least some of the outbound and
inbound itineraries is also received. For instance, one or more
client elements, such as a laptop computer, a personal computer or
workstation, networked personal computers or workstations, or the
like, may receive the information. A travel database that includes
at least outbound and inbound itineraries may then be accessed,
such as by a processing element, and at least one outbound and
inbound itinerary between the destination location and each origin
location is identified based upon the travel information provided.
From the identified itineraries, a suggested outbound and inbound
itinerary between the destination location and each origin location
may be determined based upon the relative weight between schedule
and price; again typically by a processing element. Furthermore,
one or more storage elements may store all of the identified
itineraries.
[0009] Other embodiments of the methods and systems include
presenting the suggested outbound and inbound itineraries for
review, such as via one or more display elements. If a traveler or
the travel organizer desires to review alternatives to at least one
of the suggested itineraries, an indication that alternative
itineraries are desired for at least one of the suggested
itineraries associated with a respective traveler may be received.
If an indication that alternative itineraries are desired is
received, then other identified outbound and inbound itineraries
between the destination location and an origin location may be
presented for review. An indication of a selection of at least one
of the other identified outbound and inbound itineraries may then
be received. Embodiments of the present invention also may include
transmitting the suggested itineraries and/or the identified
itineraries associated with a traveler to the respective traveler
for their review and selection. In further embodiments, information
associated with the destination location may also be presented when
the suggested and/or the identified itineraries are presented.
[0010] Changes to the indication regarding the relative weight
between schedule and price for at least one of the travelers and/or
at least one of the travel itineraries may be received in certain
embodiments of the methods and systems of the present invention.
The identified itineraries may then be accessed and at least one
modified suggested itinerary between the destination location and
at least one of the origin locations may be determined based upon
the received changes, and may replace the suggested itinerary.
[0011] The total price for all of the suggested itineraries and/or
the price for each suggested itinerary for each traveler may be
determined. In addition, if one or more of the suggested
itineraries are replaced with other identified itineraries, then
the total price and individual prices for the resulting selected
itineraries may be determined. Embodiments of the methods and
systems of the present invention also include a determination of
the amount of time between when any two travelers arrive at or
depart from the destination location. For example, a determination
of the amount of time between when each traveler arrives at the
destination location and when the last traveler arrives at the
destination for each suggested outbound itinerary may be made.
Similarly, a determination of the amount of time between when each
traveler departs the destination location and when the first
traveler departs the destination location for each suggested
inbound itinerary may be made. In one embodiment, the suggested
outbound and inbound itineraries are the itineraries in which the
amount of time between the arrival times and/or departure times of
a respective traveler and at least one other traveler are
minimized. Again, if one or more of the suggested itineraries are
replaced with other identified itineraries, then the time amounts
for the resulting selected itineraries may be determined.
[0012] Further embodiments of the methods and systems for
coordinating travel itineraries may include receiving hotel and/or
car rental information associated with at least one of the
travelers. A travel database that includes respective hotel and/or
car rental information may be accessed and at least one hotel
and/or car rental itinerary, respectively, may be identified based
upon the received information. The identified hotel and/or car
rental itineraries, respectively, may be presented for review, and
an indication of a selected hotel and/or car rental itinerary,
respectively, may then be received.
[0013] The methods and systems of the present invention may also
receive payment information regarding how the travel costs for each
traveler are to be paid in some embodiments. Billing information
may then be transmitted to the appropriate travelers or other
entity or individual based upon the contents of the payment
information.
[0014] Thus, the methods and systems for coordinating outbound and
inbound itineraries for multiple travelers according to the various
embodiments of the present invention provide automated techniques
for providing a travel organizer and/or individual travelers with
accurate and timely travel itinerary suggestions and options that
best meet their travel criteria, such that the coordination of
outbound and inbound travel itineraries for travelers from
different origin locations traveling to the same destination
location can more easily obtain the travel itineraries that will
permit them to arrive at and/or depart from the destination
location at similar times. Additionally, the embodiments of the
methods and systems of the present invention provide travel
organizers and/or travelers with the ability to review the various
travel options and easily change their travel itineraries. As such
the methods and systems of the present invention are much less
time-consuming and less error-prone than manual searching,
identification and coordination of such travel itineraries.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0015] Having thus described the invention in general terms,
reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are
not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram of one example of the network elements
that may be utilized to implement the method and system of the
present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a representative display, provided according to
one embodiment of the present invention, in which a travel
organizer may enter a destination location, multiple origin
locations and other travel information associated with two or more
travelers;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a representative display, provided according to
one embodiment of the present invention, presenting suggested
itineraries that most closely meet the criteria entered by the
travel organizer in FIG. 2 and presenting further options regarding
the selection of specific itineraries and payment options;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a representative display, provided according to
one embodiment of the present invention, presenting all of the
identified itineraries between an origin and a destination
location; and
[0020] FIG. 5 is a representative display, provided according to
one embodiment of the present invention, transmitting and
presenting the details of the travel information of selected
itineraries associated with a traveler along with billing
information.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The present inventions now will be described more fully
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed,
these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should
not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein;
rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will
satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like
elements throughout.
[0022] According to the present invention, the methods and systems
for coordinating the travel itineraries of multiple travelers, who
are leaving from more than one origin location, but are arriving at
the same destination location, provide automated techniques for
quickly and accurately determining which travel itineraries for
each traveler best meet the specified criteria for the trip. For
example, the methods and systems of the present invention permit a
travel organizer to specify certain travel criteria for a trip,
such as the date(s) of travel and the relative importance between
the travelers arriving at the destination location at as close to
the same time as possible (i.e. the schedule) and the overall price
of the itineraries for all of the travelers (i.e. the price). The
methods and systems then provide a set of suggested travel
itineraries that most closely meets the specified criteria, in
addition to providing the amount of time between when any two
travelers arrive at and/or leave from the destination location, and
the overall price or individual prices for each traveler.
Furthermore, the travel coordination techniques provide flexibility
by allowing the organizer and/or the travelers to view all of the
possible itineraries and replace one or more of the suggested
itineraries, then recalculate the time amounts and the
price(s).
[0023] FIG. 1 is a network diagram of the method and system 20 for
coordinating outbound and inbound travel itineraries of one
embodiment of the present invention. The system 20 typically
includes at least one client element 22 and at least one server
connected via at least one computer network 26. For example, the
server may be a web server and an application server that may be
located on the same physical device or the web server may be
separate from and in communication with the application server via
the Internet, intranet or any other computer network. The system 20
also generally includes at least one processing element 24. As
shown in FIG. 1, the processing element(s) 24 of one embodiment may
be embodied by the server, such as the web server and/or the
application server. The client element(s) 22 and the processing
element(s) 24 and, in one embodiment, the web and application
server(s) may be distributed as parts of different workstations,
computers, servers or computing devices that may be in different
physical locations and in communication with each other via the
Internet, intranet or other computer network(s) 26. To be
consistent, the discussion hereinafter refers to the different
elements of the system 20 as being distributed, unless otherwise
stated. In an alternative embodiment, however, the client
element(s) 22 and the processing element(s) 24 may be part of a
single workstation, computer, server or other computing device and,
as such, may communicate with each other via internal
transmissions.
[0024] The database 28 of the travel itinerary coordination system
20 may be part of one or more of the client element(s) 22, the
server, and/or one or more of the processing element(s) 24, or most
likely, may be separate from the client element(s) 22, the server,
and the processing element(s) 24 and in communication with one or
all of the elements via the Internet, intranet or other computer
network(s) 30. Regardless of the configuration, the database 28 is
accessed by other elements of the travel itinerary coordination
system 20 via an interface, such as, but not limited to, a Common
Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), active data object
(ADO) interface or open database connectivity (ODBC) interface.
[0025] The client element(s) 22 represent the device or devices
that users of the travel itinerary coordination system 20 may
utilize to perform their duties regarding the travel data, such as
to request inbound and/or outbound itineraries for travelers
arriving in one destination location from more than one origin
location, and/or to select particular inbound and/or outbound
itineraries. The client element(s) 22 may be a laptop computer, a
personal computer or workstation, networked personal computers or
workstations, or any other type of computing device or
configuration operating on any type of computer platform and
capable of communications with the server(s). For example, the
client element(s) 22 may support a browser interface to permit
communications with the server(s). The browser interface is
generally an Internet browser, but other browser interfaces capable
of appropriately displaying the travel data, soliciting user input,
and communicating with the computer network 26 may be utilized if
desired. The system 20 may include many client elements 22 such
that many users may utilize the travel itinerary coordination
system 20. The client element(s) 22 may physically be located
anywhere as long as the client element(s) 22 are in communication
with the processing element(s) 24 via the Internet, intranet or
other computer network 26.
[0026] As described above, the processing element(s) 24 of one
advantageous embodiment include a web and application server, which
may utilize any modern operating system, such as, but not limited
to, Microsoft Windows, UNIX, or Linux, and any modern web
development platform, such as, but not limited to, JAVA,
commercially available from Sun Microsystems, Inc. One or more
application program(s) may reside on the web and application
server(s). For example, in the embodiment of the network
architecture diagram of FIG. 1, the processing element(s) 24
include an Air Scheduling Engine 31, a Car Selection Engine 32, and
a Hotel Selection Engine 34. Furthermore, the Air Scheduling Engine
31 application program shown in FIG. 1 may include various modules,
such as, but not limited to a Group Arrival Generator 36, an
Itinerary Selector 38, a Schedule Driven Search 40, a Group
Price/Schedule Sensor 42, a Price Matrix Retriever 44, and a Price
Driven Search 46. These modules and engines are generally embodied
by software, but may be a combination of hardware and software, if
desired. Although the specific embodiment described with respect to
FIGS. 1-6 involves air travel, the systems and methods of the
present invention also encompass the coordination of any other type
of travel or combination of types of travel.
[0027] Among other functions, the application program(s) provide
the information/instructions required to perform a task and/or
provide the requested information regarding particular travel
itineraries to the client element(s) 22 in any appropriate form,
such as, but not limited to, a web page form having predefined
fields. The form may be viewed by the user as "screens" via client
element(s) 22 and the browser interface including, for example, a
display. As known to those skilled in the art, the screens may be
interactive and prompt the user for the action or information
necessary for the travel itinerary coordination system 20 to
request, provide and allow selection of certain travel itineraries.
After the user submits responses to the prompts provided by a
screen and/or selects certain options presented on the screen, the
application program(s) can determine the content and prompts to be
provided by successive screens. The application program(s) may
access/query the database 28 to provide the content for any of the
screens, based upon the actions taken by the user and/or the
request of the user. For example, if a user, such as a travel
organizer, who may or may not be a traveler themselves, requests
certain travel itineraries based upon certain travel criteria for
multiple travelers, the application program(s) receive the request
from the user via a screen, query the database 28 for the requested
information, populate and format another screen containing the
requested information, and submit the screen to the client
element(s) 22 for viewing by the user, such as the travel
organizer, and, optionally, one or more of the travelers, via the
browser interface. Furthermore, if the particular user is to
perform a task regarding the presented travel itineraries, such as
selecting certain travel itineraries or providing payment
information for the travel costs for one or more of the travelers,
the application program(s) provide a screen to the user containing
the information from the database associated with the task and
prompt the user to perform the task. The information requested and
received from the database 28 may then be stored in the processing
element(s) 24 or in a separate storage element, such that future
requests for the same information may be obtained quickly from the
processing element(s) 24 and/or the storage element, instead of
having to query the database 28 again.
[0028] The database 28 may contain a variety of stored information,
including the travel data, such as, but not limited to, schedules
for one or more types of travel over a period of time, availability
of the travel for each schedule, and pricing of the travel for each
schedule. For example, in FIG. 1, database 28 may be a global
database system (GDS) or a computerized reservation system (CRS) as
are known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, the database
may be an air travel database, such as an Air Travel Shopping
Engine (ATSE), which contains a Scheduling Engine 48, an
Availability Engine 50, and Pricing Engine 52. As used herein, the
term itinerary is information that is returned from database 28,
which includes schedule, availability and pricing information for a
particular type of travel. The database may be any type of modern
database, such as Sequel or Oracle. The data may be stored in
tables in the database or in any other format known to those
skilled in the art.
[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates a set of general options and prompts that
may be presented to a user of the method and system 20 of the
present invention. For example, in FIG. 2, a user, such as a travel
organizer, is prompted to enter a destination location in the box
60 that follows the words "Find schedules To:", which is Denver,
Colo. in this example. A user is further prompted to enter the
origin locations for the travelers in the boxes 62, which are
Dallas, Tex., Boston, Mass., Atlanta, Ga., and Reno, Nev. in this
example. The user is also prompted to select the number and type,
i.e., adults, children or seniors, of people that are traveling
from each origin location in the boxes 64. For instance, in the
example of FIG. 2, the user has indicated that 2 adults and 1 child
will be traveling from Dallas, 2 adults will be traveling from
Boston, 1 adult will be traveling from Atlanta, and 1 adult will be
traveling from Reno. To enter the numbers in the boxes 64, a user
may select the box and utilize a keyboard associated with a client
element 22 to enter the desired number in the box or select the
arrow to the right of the box, such as with a mouse or other
selection device associated with a client element 22, which may
provide a list of all of the options for the numbers that may be
entered into the box, then select the desired number from the
list.
[0030] The user, such as a travel organizer, may also be prompted
to enter the class of travel for all or each of the travelers from
each origin location. The example of FIG. 2 illustrates options in
which the user is prompted to enter a class of travel for all of
the travelers from each origin location in boxes 66. For instance,
in the example of FIG. 2, the class of travel entered for all of
the travelers from Dallas, Boston and Reno is coach class, while
the class of travel entered for the traveler from Atlanta is
business class. Again, to enter the class in the boxes 66, a user
may select the box and utilize a keyboard associated with a client
element 22 to enter the desired class in the box or select the
arrow to the right of the box, such as with a mouse or other
selection device associated with the client element 22, which may
provide a list of all of the options for the service class that may
be entered into the box, then select the desired class from the
list. An option to add additional origin points may also be
presented to the user, such as the option 68 shown in the FIG. 2
example. If a user selects this option, such as with a mouse or
other selection device associated with a client element 22, more
boxes 62, 64, and 66 may be presented to the user. For instance,
additional boxes may appear below the existing boxes 62, 64, and 66
shown in FIG. 2.
[0031] Furthermore, the user may be prompted to enter the desired
dates and times for travel. As shown in segment 70 of the example
of FIG. 2, the user may select a option 72 indicating that the
travelers are flexible concerning their travel dates or the user
may select option 74 and indicate the exact date and/or time that
the travelers wish to arrive at and depart from their destination.
Specifically, the user may enter the exact arrival and departure
dates in the boxes 76, as shown in FIG. 2, in the same way as
explained above with respect to boxes 62, 64, and 66. The user may
also enter arrival and departure times in the boxes 78. In some
embodiments, the user may enter an exact time in the boxes 78, or,
as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the user may select the arrow
to the right of the box, such as with a mouse or other selection
device associated with the client element 22, which may provide a
list of all of the times that may be entered into the box, and then
select the desired time from the list. In addition, in the
embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the user may select certain phrases or
words from boxes 80 that further define the desired arrival and
departure times. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the user
may select among "Not later than," or "Approximately" to further
define the desired arrival time, and "Not earlier than," or
"Approximately" to further define the desired departure time. If
"Not later than" or "Not earlier than" is selected, then
itineraries that provide arrival or departure times, respectively,
as close as possible to the selected time without any arrival times
that are earlier than or later than the selected time,
respectively, are desired. If "Approximately" is selected, then
itineraries that provide arrival or departure times as close as
possible to the selected time, whether before or after the selected
time are desired. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the user has
indicated that the travelers should arrive at their destination not
later than 9 pm on November 4 and should depart from their
destination not earlier than 2 pm on November 10.
[0032] The pricing option box 82 also permits the user, such as the
travel organizer, to indicate the relative importance of the travel
price to the travel schedule. Thus, the user may select certain
phrases from box 82, which may be listed when the user selects the
arrow to the right of the box, as described hereinabove. For
example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the user may select among the
phrases "lowest available" or "unrestricted" to indicate how
important the price of travel is compared with the schedule of
travel. A selection of the "lowest available" pricing option
indicates that the lowest price itineraries that also meet the date
and time requirements are desired, but that the desired itineraries
do not have to be the closest to the date and time requirements. A
selection of the "unrestricted" pricing option indicates that the
itineraries that meet the date and time requirements as closely as
possible, regardless of the price, are desired. As such, the
amounts of time between when the travelers arrive at or depart from
the destination may be larger when the "lowest available" pricing
option is selected than the amounts of time between when the
travelers arrive at or depart from the destination when the
"unrestricted" pricing option is selected. In the embodiment of
FIG. 2, the user has indicated that the lowest available pricing is
desirable, such that the travel itinerary coordination system 20
will find the lowest cost travel itineraries that will still arrive
at and depart from the destination location within the desired
timeframes, but may not be the itineraries that most closely meet
the timeframes.
[0033] The "more search options" selection 84 expands the search
options that the user may enter to further define the user's and/or
the traveler's desires regarding the travel itineraries of one or
all of the travelers. For example, by selecting the "more search
options" selection 84, the user may be presented with the ability
to select the service class for each traveler, not just for all of
the travelers from one origin, as shown in FIG. 2. The user may
also be presented with options to further define the desired length
of travel for one or more of the travelers. For example, the user
may be permitted to indicate the maximum number of connections, if
any, each traveler should have in the respective traveler's
itinerary. These options also may include options for entering
ground transportation, such as car rental, requirements for one or
more of the travelers and lodging, such as hotel rental,
requirements for one or more of the travelers. Further options may
include, but are not limited to, options to indicate the desired
carrier for each traveler, each traveler's email address, and/or
pricing options for each traveler. The options described above are
examples of general options that may be available to users of the
system 20. Other options may be added or the options described
above may be combined in other embodiments of the system 20 of the
present invention. Once the user has entered all of the information
regarding the travel and the travelers, the user may select the
"search now" box 86 to initiate a search by the travel itinerary
coordination system 20 for travel itineraries that best match the
information.
[0034] The travel itinerary coordination method and system 20
initiate the search by requesting, from the travel database 28, all
of the travel itineraries that most closely meet the requirements
entered by the user, such as the travel organizer, as described
above. In transmitting any of the requests discussed herein, one
request containing all of the desired information may be
transmitted to the database 28, or separate requests for each
origin location or each traveler may be transmitted to the
database.
[0035] The information entered by the user, such as the travel
organizer, in FIG. 2 is therefore transmitted to the processing
element 24 that then transmits the information to the travel
database 28. In the discussion that follows, a specific embodiment
of the travel itinerary coordination method and system 20 is
described, in which air travel itineraries are coordinated
utilizing specific modules of the processing element 24, and in
particular, the air scheduling engine 31, and the database 28. The
present invention, however, is not limited to this embodiment and
may utilize other types of travel itineraries and other hardware
and software known to those skilled in the art to accomplish the
same results without departing from the spirit and scope of the
present invention. For example, car rental and/or hotel rental may
also be coordinated by the travel itinerary coordination method and
system 20 of the present invention by utilizing one or more
application program in the car selection engine and/or the hotel
selection engine 34, respectively.
[0036] In the example of the embodiment of the system 20
illustrated by FIG. 1, the travel database 28 utilizes the
scheduling engine 48 to identify all of the outbound and inbound
itineraries between each origin and the destination that meet the
date and time requirements and any other requirements as closely as
possible. If more specific requirements were also entered by the
travel organizer for one or more travelers, such as a specific
airline or maximum number of connections, then the scheduling
engine 48 also considers those requirements when identifying the
itineraries. If, however, fewer than a minimum number of
itineraries are identified that meet the requirements, the
scheduling engine 48 will identify other itineraries that meet all
but one or more of the requirements. For example, if a particular
traveler requires or prefers a specific airline and direct flights,
but the scheduling engine 48 identifies no itineraries or less than
a minimum number of itineraries meeting those requirements on the
dates and at the times requested, then the scheduling engine 48
will look to itineraries of other airlines and/or connecting
flights that still meet the requested dates and times.
[0037] Once all of the outbound and inbound itineraries between
each origin and the destination that meet the date and time
requirements and any other requirements as closely as possible are
identified, then the travel database 28 also obtains the
availability of those itineraries from the availability engine 50.
For example, the availability engine 50 checks to determine whether
each of the flights has one or more available seats for the
traveler(s). In addition, the availability engine 50 may check to
determine whether each of the flights has seats available in the
class of service specified for each traveler that may potentially
book the flight. If one or more of the flights do not have any
seats available, do not have enough seats available for all of the
travelers that may potentially book the flight, or do not have the
desired class of service seats available, then the respective
itineraries may be flagged to indicate the lack of availability or
the respective itineraries may be deleted from the list of
itineraries that the scheduling engine 48 obtained.
[0038] The prices of the identified itineraries may then be
obtained. The price may be obtained in any conventional manner. For
instance, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the pricing engine 52 of the
database 28 provides one or more price matrix that includes the
prices for each inbound itinerary with any outbound itinerary and
each outbound itinerary with any inbound itinerary. The price
matrix or matrices are then transmitted to the Price Matrix
Retriever 44 of the processing element 24.
[0039] The itineraries between each origin location and the
destination location then may be transmitted to the processing
element 24, in particular, the air scheduling engine 31. In the
embodiment of the system 20 of FIG. 1, the Group Arrival Generator
36 receives the itineraries and creates an n.times.n matrix of the
itineraries, where n=the number of travelers. The matrix contains
each of the itineraries, and for each itinerary associated with an
origin, the elapsed time (et), which, for outbound itineraries, is
the amount of time between when the traveler arrives at the
destination and when the traveler departed from the origin, and,
for inbound itineraries, is the amount of time between when the
traveler arrives at the origin and when the traveler departed from
the destination. The outbound and inbound itineraries having the
minimum et are determined, then the .DELTA.et=et-minimum et for
each itinerary is calculated and associated with the respective
itinerary. With respect to the embodiment of the system 20
illustrated in FIG. 2, all of the et determinations and
computations are performed by the Itinerary Selector 38. The price
for each outbound and inbound itinerary is then obtained from the
Price Matrix Retriever 44 and associated with each itinerary. Thus,
all of the identified itineraries and their prices are stored in
the processing element 24 and/or in a storage element in
communication with the processing element 24, such that the system
20 does not have to access the travel database 28 if the travel
organizer and/or any of the travelers desire to modify the relative
weight assignment between schedule and price or to view all of the
identified itineraries.
[0040] Groups of outbound itineraries and groups of inbound
itineraries in which each group has one itinerary associated with
each traveler are then created by the Group Price/Schedule Sensor
42. To create the groups, first an empty list of labels is created
for each arrival time slot, where there is one arrival time slot
for each arrival time of each of the itineraries associated with
the same origin location. Thus, a label is created for each
itinerary that arrives at or before the arrival time slot. For
example, if there are three itineraries from an origin to a
destination and itinerary 1 arrives at the destination at 8 am,
itinerary 2 arrives at the destination at 9 am, and itinerary 3
arrives at the destination at 10 am, then only itinerary 1 will
have a label for the 8 am time slot, itineraries 1 and 2 will have
labels for the 9 am time slot, and itineraries 1, 2 and 3 will have
labels for the 10 am time slot. Each label contains at least (1)
the .DELTA.et+the amount of time between the arrival time slot and
the arrival time for the itinerary (i.e., the waiting time); (2)
price and (3) itinerary identifier.
[0041] For instance, assume that itineraries 1, 2 and 3 departing
from origin 1 have the following details: TABLE-US-00001 Departing
Arrival et Itinerary Identifier Time Time Stops (minutes) Price 1
AA1 5:30 am 8:00 am 1 150 $150 2 AA2 5:30 am 9:00 am 1 210 $130 3
AA3 8:00 am 10:00 am 0 120 $200
[0042] Thus, itinerary 3 has the minimum et at 120 minutes.
Itinerary 1 has a .DELTA.et=30, and itinerary 2 has a
.DELTA.et=90.
[0043] For the 8:00 am time slot, the label for itinerary 1 is:
TABLE-US-00002 (1) 30 (2) 150 (3) AA1
[0044] For the 9:00 am time slot, the labels for itinerary 1 and
itinerary 2, respectively are: TABLE-US-00003 (1) 90 (2) 150 (3)
AA1 (1) 90 (2) 130 (3) AA2
[0045] Because more than one label exists for this time slot, the
Group Price/Schedule Sensor 42 determines whether to eliminate any
of the itineraries. Thus, an itinerary and the associated label may
be eliminated if the time amount in (1) for a respective itinerary
is greater than or equal to the time amount in (1) for the other
itineraries and the price in (2) for the respective itinerary is
greater than the price in (2) for the other itineraries. Likewise,
an itinerary and the associated label may be eliminated if the
price in (2) for the respective itinerary is greater than or equal
to the price in (2) for the other itineraries and the time amount
in (1) for a respective itinerary is greater than the time amount
in (1) for the other itineraries. For example, regarding the labels
in the 9:00 am time slot, the AA1 itinerary may be eliminated
because the time amount in (1) for the AA1 itinerary is the same as
the time amount in (1) for the AA2 itinerary and the price in (2)
for the AA1 itinerary is greater than the price in (2) for the AA2
itinerary. Once an itinerary has been eliminated for one time slot,
it is also eliminated in any subsequent time slots. Thus, a label
for itinerary 1 (i.e. AA1) will not be created for any subsequent
time slots.
[0046] For the 10:00 am time slot, the labels for itinerary 2 and
itinerary 3, respectively are: TABLE-US-00004 (1) 150 (2) 130 (3)
AA2 (1) 0 (2) 200 (3) AA3
[0047] Following the rules set forth above, neither of these labels
and associated itineraries may be eliminated because while the time
amount in (1) for the AA2 itinerary is greater than the time amount
in (1) for the AA3 itinerary, the price in (2) for the AA2
itinerary is less than the price in (2) for the AA3 itinerary.
Likewise, while the price in (2) for the AA3 itinerary is greater
than the price in (2) for the AA2 itinerary, the time amount in (1)
for the AA3 itinerary is less than the time amount in (1) for the
AA2 itinerary. Thus, a matrix for origin 1 is created in which the
8:00 am time-slot has one label (i.e., the AA1 itinerary), the 9:00
am time slot has one label (i.e., the AA2 itinerary), and the 10:00
am time slot has two labels (i.e., the AA2 and AA3 itineraries).
Such a matrix is created for each origin location.
[0048] Once the matrices for each origin location are created as
described above, a matrix is created for the various groups of
itineraries in which each group contains an itinerary for each
traveler associated with an origin location. For example, assume
that itineraries 1, 2 and 3 departing from origin 2 have the
following details: TABLE-US-00005 Departing Arrival Et Itinerary
Identifier Time Time Stops (minutes) Price 1 DL1 7:40 am 8:50 am 1
70 $120 2 DL2 7:20 am 9:30 am 1 130 $100 3 DL3 10:10 am 11:00 am 0
50 $20
[0049] Thus, itinerary 3 has the minimum et at 50 minutes.
Itinerary 1 has a .DELTA.et=20, and itinerary 2 has a
.DELTA.et=80.
[0050] Thus, for the 10:00 am time slot, the labels for itinerary 1
and itinerary 2 from origin 2 are: TABLE-US-00006 (1) 90 (2) 120
(3) DL1 (1) 110 (2) 100 (3) DL2
[0051] For an 11:00 am time slot, the labels for itinerary 1,
itinerary 2 and itinerary 3 from origin 2 are: TABLE-US-00007 (1)
90 + 60 = 150 (2) 120 (3) DL1 (1) 110 + 60 = 170 (2) 100 (3) DL2
(1) 0 (2) 20 (3) DL3
[0052] Following the rules set forth above, neither of the labels
and associated itineraries may be eliminated for the 10:00 am time
slot because while the time amount in (1) for the DL2 itinerary is
greater than the time amount in (1) for the DL1 itinerary, the
price in (2) for the DL2 itinerary is less than the price in (2)
for the DL1 itinerary. Likewise, while the price in (2) for the DL1
itinerary is greater than the price in (2) for the DL2 itinerary,
the time amount in (1) for the DL1 itinerary is less than the time
amount in (1) for the DL2 itinerary. Thus, in creating the group
matrix, two labels for origin 1 (i.e., the AA2 and AA3 itineraries)
and two labels for origin 2 (i.e., the DL1 and DL2 itineraries) may
be used to create a group label for the 10:00 am time slot.
[0053] However, for the 11:00 am time slot both the DL1 and DL2
itineraries may be eliminated because the time amount in (1) for
the DL3 itinerary is less than the time amount in (1) for either
the DL1 or DL2 itineraries and the price in (2) for the DL3
itinerary is less than the price in (1) for either the DL1 or DL2
itineraries.
[0054] Thus, to create a group label for the 10:00 am time slot,
the cross-product of the two labels for origin 1 and the two labels
for origin 2 is determined by summing the times in (1) and the
prices in (2) for the various combinations of itineraries from each
origin. For example, four group labels may be created from the two
labels for origin 1 and the two labels for origin 2 as follows:
TABLE-US-00008 (1) 150 + 90 = 240 (2) 130 + 120 = 250 (3) AA2/DL1
(1) 150 + 110 = 260 (2) 130 + 100 = 230 (3) AA2/DL2 (1) 0 + 90 = 90
(2) 200 + 120 = 320 (3) AA3/DL1 (1) 0 + 110 = 110 (2) 200 + 100 =
300 (3) AA3/DL2
[0055] Following the rules set forth above, none of these labels
and associated itineraries may be eliminated. Thus, in the group
matrix, four labels are included in the 10:00 am time slot (i.e.,
the AA2/DL1 itinerary, the AA2/DL2 itinerary, the AA3/DL1
itinerary, and the AA3/DL2 itinerary).
[0056] For the 11:00 am time slot, all of the labels from the 10:00
am time slot may transfer over with the only change being a 120
minute (i.e., the difference between 10:00 am and 11:00 am for each
itinerary) addition to the time amounts in (1) of each of the
labels, as shown below: TABLE-US-00009 (1) 240 + 120 = 360 (2) 250
(3) AA2/DL1 (1) 260 + 120 = 380 (2) 230 (3) AA2/DL2 (1) 90 + 120 =
210 (2) 320 (3) AA3/DL1 (1) 110 + 120 = 230 (2) 300 (3) AA3/DL2
[0057] Alternatively, if the individual labels for itineraries from
origin 2 were determined for an 11:00 am time slot, as shown above,
and it is known that the DL3 itinerary eliminates the DL1 and DL2
itineraries for this time slot, then any group label that includes
DL1 or DL2 may automatically be eliminated from the 11:00 am time
slot for the group matrix. In either situation, the cross-product
of the two labels for origin 1 and the DL3 label for origin 2 is
determined by summing the times in (1) and the prices in (2) for
the various combinations of itineraries from each origin. For
example, two group labels may be created from the two labels for
origin 1 and the one additional label for origin 2 as follows:
TABLE-US-00010 (1) 150 + 60 + 0 = 210 (2) 130 + 20 = 150 (3)
AA2/DL3 (1) 0 + 60 + 0 = 60 (2) 200 + 20 = 220 (3) AA3/DL3
[0058] If the first four group labels (i.e., the AA2/DL1, AA2/DL2,
AA3/DL1 and AA3/DL2 itineraries) were not automatically eliminated
for the 11:00 am time slot as described above, then following the
rules set forth above, the first four group labels may be
eliminated at this point because both the time amounts in (1) and
the prices in (2) for the AA2/DL3 and AA3/DL3 itineraries are less
than the time amounts in (1) and the prices in (2) for the first
four group labels. Thus, in the group matrix, two labels are
included in the 11:00 am time slot (i.e., the AA2/DL3 itinerary and
the AA3/DL3 itinerary).
[0059] This process continues until the outbound group matrix is
populated for each arrival time slot for each itinerary (regardless
of the origin). In addition, the same process described above is
carried out to create a group matrix for inbound itineraries. In
embodiments of the system 20 in which the outbound and inbound
itineraries are tied to round-trip pricing that ties a particular
outbound itinerary to a particular inbound itinerary, the itinerary
labels and group labels may be created as described above, but an
estimate, such as an average or mean of the price, use of the
highest or lowest price, or any other type of estimate known to
those skilled in the art, for each outbound itinerary over all of
the possible inbound itineraries to which the outbound itinerary
may be tied may be utilized in creating the labels. In the same
way, an estimate or average of the price for each inbound itinerary
over all of the possible outbound itineraries to which the inbound
itinerary may be tied may be utilized in creating the labels. When
presenting the prices of particular itineraries to the travel
organizer and/or individual travelers, however, the exact pricing
for the round trip is utilized. In other embodiments of the system
20, any type of computing known to those skilled in the art may be
utilized to take into consideration the possible inbound
itineraries when creating the labels for the outbound itineraries
and to take into consideration the possible outbound itineraries
when creating the labels for the inbound itineraries such that
exact pricing is also utilized when creating the labels.
[0060] The inbound and outbound group matrices then may be searched
by search engines, such as the Schedule Driven Search module 40 and
the Price Driven Search module 46, to determine which group of
itineraries best meets the group requirements indicated by the
travel organizer. For example, if the travel organizer indicated
that the schedule of the itineraries is weighted heavier than the
price of the itineraries, such as by selecting "unrestricted" in
the pricing option box 82, then the Schedule Driven Search module
40 searches the groups of itineraries for the group that has the
least total waiting time in (1) of the labels. For the labels
included in the group matrix described above, (i.e., the AA2/DL1,
AA2/DL2, AA3/DL1 and AA3/DL2 itineraries for the 10:00 am time slot
and the AA2/DL3 and AA3/DL3 itineraries for the 11:00 am time slot)
the Schedule Driven Search module 40 would select AA3/DL3 itinerary
in the 11:00 time slot because it has the smallest amount of time
in (1) of the labels. If the travel organizer indicated that the
price of the itineraries is weighted heavier than the schedule of
the itineraries, such as by selecting "lowest available" from the
pricing option box 82, then the Price Driven Search module 46
searches the groups of itineraries for the group that has the
lowest total price in (2) of the labels. For the labels included in
the group matrix described above, (i.e., the AA2/DL1, AA2/DL2,
AA3/DL1 and AA3/DL2 itineraries for the 10:00 am time slot and the
AA2/DL3 and AA3/DL3 itineraries for the 11:00 am time slot) the
Price Driven Search module 46 would select AA2/DL3 itinerary in the
11:00 time slot because it has the lowest total price in (2) of the
labels. Whichever group is chosen based upon the weighting the
travel organizer indicated is then the suggested group of
itineraries.
[0061] In other embodiments of the method and system 20 of the
present invention, the travel organizer may select an intermediate
weighting between price and schedule if an intermediate total
waiting time and/or an intermediate total price is desired. For
example, the pricing option box 82 may present one or more options
that indicate an intermediate weighting between price and schedule
is desired and the Schedule Driven Search module 40, the Price
Driven Search module 46, combination of the Schedule Driven Search
module 40 and the Price Driven Search module 46, or a separate
intermediate search module may search the groups of itineraries for
the group that most closely meets the desired weighting between
schedule and price indicated by the travel organizer. To determine
which group of itineraries most closely meets the desired
weighting, the system 20 may normalize the differential in price
and time of each group of itineraries as known to those skilled in
the art. For instance, the differential in price and time of each
group of itineraries for each arrival time slot may be determined
as described above in creating the inbound and outbound group
matrices. The differentials then may be scaled. The price portion
of the scaled differentials then may be multiplied by the desired
weighting of price, and the time portion of the scaled
differentials may be multiplied by the desired weighting of the
schedule. The weighted price and time portions then may be summed,
and this number for each group of itineraries may be compared, such
that the lowest number is associated with the group of itineraries
that most closely meets the desired weighting between schedule and
price indicated by the travel organizer.
[0062] As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the suggested
group of itineraries is listed and displayed for the travel
organizer to view. Thus, the processing element 24 transmits the
information regarding the suggested group of itineraries to the
client element(s) 22 via the network(s) 26. In this embodiment, the
tables 90 and 92 are populated with the details of each outbound
and inbound itinerary, respectively, from and to, respectively,
each origin location. As shown in FIG. 3, the outbound group of
itineraries may be sorted based upon the arrival times at the
destination and the inbound group of itineraries may be sorted
based upon the departure times from the destination. In addition,
the individual prices for the each outbound and inbound itinerary
for each origin is listed in column 94, and the total price for all
of the itineraries from all of the origins is listed in box 96.
[0063] Modifications to the itineraries may be made in at least two
ways. One way is by the group arrival controls 98 and/or the group
departure controls 100. As such, for all of the inbound and/or
outbound itineraries, changes may be made as a whole by way of the
selection arrows or by other comparable controls. For example,
regarding the embodiment of FIG. 3, if the "Earlier Arrival" or
"Later Arrival" arrows are selected from the group arrival controls
98, then the processing element 24 accesses the stored group matrix
of groups of itineraries to find a group, if any, in which the last
traveler arrives the next closest time that is earlier than 8:36 pm
or later than 8:36 pm, respectively. If the same arrow is selected
again, then the group with the next closest time will be selected,
and so on. If the "Low Price/More Wait" arrow is selected from the
group arrival controls 98, then the processing element 24,
particularly the Price Driven Search module 46, accesses the stored
groups of itineraries to find a group, if any, that has the next
lower price than the suggested group. If the "More Price/Low Wait"
arrow is selected from the group arrival controls 98, then the
processing element, particularly the Schedule Driven Search module
40, accesses the stored groups of itineraries to find a group, if
any, that has the next lower total wait time than the suggested
group. Once the desired group is found, then the processing element
24 transmits the information to the client element(s) 22 via the
network(s) 26 to display the results.
[0064] Another way to modify the suggested group of itineraries is
to select the "Change Flight" button 102 associated with the
individual inbound or outbound flight that is to be modified. For
example, in the embodiment of FIG. 3, if the button 102 associated
with the flight from Atlanta to Denver is selected, a request is
transmitted to the processing element 24 to provide all of the
identified itineraries from Atlanta to Denver. The processing
element 24 accesses the matrix that contains all of the identified
itineraries and extracts the Atlanta to Denver itineraries to
transmit to the client element(s) 22 via the network 26. In
addition, the Group Price/Schedule Sensor 42 recalculates each
total price and total waiting time, and each change in total price
and total waiting time, for the group of outbound itineraries with
each identified itinerary, and this information is transmitted to
the client element(s) 22 as well. Thus, FIG. 4 illustrates the
display that a travel organizer and/or individual traveler views
when all of the identified itineraries are presented. As shown in
FIG. 4, the details of each identified itinerary are displayed
along with the change in the price and the waiting time, which is
based upon when the last person arrives at the destination. For
example, the embodiment of FIG. 4 shows that by selecting the DL675
itinerary, the respective traveler would arrive at the destination
28 minutes prior to when the last traveler arrives at the
destination. By selecting the AA 3433/545 itinerary, the traveler
would arrive at the destination 2 minutes prior to when the last
traveler arrives at the destination. Alternatively, by selecting
the AA 4335/5656 itinerary, the respective traveler would become
the last traveler to arrive at the destination, which would impose
an additional waiting time of 84 minutes for all of the other
travelers.
[0065] The travel organizer may also indicate the method of payment
for the travel itineraries. As shown in FIG. 3, the travel
organizer may select "Individual Payment" or "Group Payment" in
options 104. If the "Individual Payment" option is selected, then
each outbound and inbound itinerary is paid by the respective
traveler, but if the "Group Payment" option is selected, then the
travel organizer will be prompted to enter the payment information
to pay for all of the outbound and inbound itineraries. Once the
method of payment has been selected, the travel organizer may then
select the "View Itinerary" box 106, which provides a display of a
detailed list of all of the itineraries for all of the travelers.
The travel organizer has the option to modify the individual
itineraries of travelers from this display as well, such as by
selecting a "Modify" indication associated with a particular
itinerary. The identified itineraries may then be presented for the
travel organizer to view, along with the changes to the overall
price and waiting time that would result if a respective identified
itinerary were selected, in the same way as described above
regarding the "Change Flight" buttons 102. The travel organizer
also may delete any traveler's itinerary at this point, such as by
selecting a "Delete" indication.
[0066] In addition, if any type of car rental or lodging options
were selected by the travel organizer, the detailed itineraries
associated with those rentals may be presented along with the
travel itineraries. The travel organizer is also prompted to enter
personal information regarding the specific travelers associated
with each itinerary. For example, the travel organizer may be
prompted to enter at least the names and email addresses of each
traveler. By entering the email address of each traveler, the
system 20 is capable of preparing and sending an email detailing
each traveler's itinerary or containing a link to a web page that
displays the itinerary information. In addition, the system 20 may
create a group email address for each of the travelers and the
travel organizer to facilitate communication between and/or among
the travelers without having to distribute each traveler's personal
information. An example of such an email is shown in FIG. 5, which
is discussed further below.
[0067] If the group payment option was selected in the display
shown in FIG. 3, then the travel organizer may be prompted to enter
payment for the cost of all of the itineraries and any car rental
or lodging rental. Furthermore, the travel organizer may be
permitted to choose the seat assignments for the travelers, such as
by selecting a "Choose Your Seats" indication. For example, the
system 20 may access the seat assignment map associated with the
respective itinerary by transmitting a request to the processing
element 24. The processing element 24 then may obtain the seat
assignment map from a database that stores the seat assignment map
for the particular itinerary, such as a database that may be
updated in real-time. Thus, the database is in communication with
the processing element 24, such that the database may be part of
the processing element 24 or part of any other element in
communication with the processing element, such as the travel
database 28. Once the seats associated with a particular itinerary
are chosen, that information may be updated in the seat assignment
map by transmitting the information to the database that may be
updated in real-time, such as the travel database 28, via the
processing element 24.
[0068] As discussed above, the system 20 is capable of preparing an
email to each traveler that contains the details of the respective
traveler's itinerary or a link to a web page that contains the
details. Email 120 of FIG. 5 illustrates such a communication. This
email contains a link to a web page that contains the details of
the respective traveler's itinerary and the email communicates the
group email address that permits each traveler and travel organizer
to communicate with the rest of the travelers. When the traveler
selects the link to the web page in the email, web page 122 may be
displayed to the traveler. As discussed above with respect to the
group payment option, the traveler may have the option to modify
the itineraries by selecting the "Modify" box 124 or delete the
itineraries by selecting the "Delete" box 126 associated with the
respective itinerary in the same way the travel organizer could. In
addition, the traveler may also be permitted to choose his seats by
selecting the "Choose Your Seats" box 128 in the same way described
above regarding the travel organizer. Any car rental or hotel
rental information is also presented to the traveler via the web
page 122 in portion 130. In some embodiments of the method and
system 20, the traveler may also be permitted to modify the car
rental and/or hotel rental information via the web page 122.
[0069] In the example of FIG. 5, the individual payment option was
selected, such as by the travel organizer in FIG. 3, such that the
car rental and hotel rental information also contains a statement
of the respective traveler's share of those costs. Furthermore,
because the individual payment option was selected, the web page
122 also contains portion 124 prompting the traveler to enter the
payment information. Alternatively, if the individual payment
options was not selected, but instead, the traveler's costs were
paid under a group payment, which locked in the itineraries as
selected by the travel organizer, the traveler may not have the
option to modify or delete his itineraries.
[0070] Any other type of information may also be transmitted to the
user, such as the travel organizer and/or the travelers, via the
displays, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5. For example,
information associated with the destination location, such as
advertisements for events or activities at the destination
location, may be obtained from the processing element(s) 24 and/or
the database 28, and may also be present to the user.
[0071] Thus, the method and system 20 for travel itinerary
coordination provides accurate and fast techniques to coordinate
the travel itineraries of multiple travelers from more than one
origin location who are traveling to the same destination location.
By permitting an indication of a relative weight between the
itineraries schedule and price and options to modify any of the
suggested itineraries with other identified itineraries, the method
and system also provide flexibility and efficiency that was not
possible by the prior art manual coordination techniques.
[0072] Some specific examples of implementations of the method and
system 20 for travel itinerary coordination include both leisure
and business travel. For example, a travel organizer may wish to
coordinate the travel itineraries of multiple family members
planning to travel to a family reunion from more than one origin
location. Because each family member is paying for their own travel
and are traveling on their own time, getting the lowest priced
travel arrangements is relatively more important to the family
members than minimizing the waiting time between the arrival and
departure times of the travelers. Thus, utilizing the method and
system 20 of the present invention, the travel coordinator can
easily enter the trip and traveler information and receive the
lowest priced travel itineraries that meet the trip criteria by
indicating that the lowest available pricing is desired in the
pricing option box 82. If, however, the travel itineraries that are
suggested are not agreeable to the travel organizer, the travel
organizer can search for alternate flights for one or more of the
travelers or request a different group of suggested itineraries via
the group travel controls, as illustrated by the example of FIG. 3.
In addition, car rental and hotel rental information for the
travelers may be coordinated at the same time, such that all of the
travel and rental information is easily distributed to all of the
family members and split among the family members who save money
due to the coordination. The travel organizer can then permit
distribution of the respective itineraries to the travelers who can
then modify their itineraries, if desired, and pay for the travel
individually, such as is illustrated in FIG. 5.
[0073] Another example is business travel, such as when a travel
organizer is coordinating the travel itineraries of multiple
employees planning to travel to a business meeting from more than
one origin location. Because the business is paying for the travel
costs of all of the travelers and because the travelers will be
traveling on business time, minimizing the waiting time as much as
possible is relatively more important to the business than the cost
of the travel. The travel organizer may then indicate that the
schedule is more important by selecting the unrestricted option
from the pricing option box 82. If, however, the prices of the
travel itineraries that are suggested are too expensive, the travel
organizer can search for alternate flights for one or more of the
travelers or request a different group of suggested itineraries via
the group travel controls, as illustrated by the example of FIG. 3.
In addition, the travel organizer can coordinate the car rental
and/or hotel rental plans, such that all of the travel and rental
information is easily distributed to all of the travelers and paid
for by the business, which also saves money due to the
coordination.
[0074] Event planning may also be easily coordinated via the trip
itinerary coordination method and system 20 of the present
invention. For example, a travel organizer may coordinate an event,
such as a rafting trip, a tour, a sporting event, or any other type
of activity, for multiple travelers from different origin
locations. Thus, the event is scheduled to begin at a certain date
and time, so the travel organizer can find the lowest available
pricing or the closest arrival and departure time for the travel
itineraries of all of the travelers based upon the indication the
travel organizer enters into the pricing option box 82. If the
suggested travel itineraries returned to the travel organizer are
not satisfactory, then the travel organizer can also search for
alternate flights for one or more of the travelers or request a
different group of suggested itineraries via the group travel
controls, as illustrated by the example of FIG. 3. In addition, the
travel organizer can coordinate the car rental and/or hotel rental
plans for the travelers, which may provide cost savings due to the
coordination. The travel organizer also can select whether each
traveler will pay for their own itineraries and other portions of
the travel costs or whether one person will pay for all of the
travel costs, as illustrated by FIG. 3. For example, the travel
organizer may charge certain amounts for the event coordination as
a whole or to each individual traveler, which would include each
traveler's travel costs, such that the travel organizer pays for
all of the travel costs. The travel organizer can then permit
distribution of the respective itineraries to the travelers who can
then modify their itineraries, if desired, such as is illustrated
in FIG. 5.
[0075] Thus, there are many different applications in which the
travel itinerary coordination method and system 20 could be
utilized to coordinate the travel itineraries of multiple
travelers, who are leaving from more than one origin location, but
are arriving at the same destination location by providing
automated techniques for determining which itineraries for each
traveler best meets the specified criteria, such as the relative
importance of the travel schedules versus the price, for the trip.
A set of suggested travel itineraries that most closely meet the
specified criteria are then provided, in addition to the amount of
time between when any two travelers arrive at and/or leave from the
destination location, and the price. Furthermore, the travel
coordination techniques provide flexibility by allowing replacement
of one or more of the suggested itineraries with other possible
itineraries and recalculation of the time amounts and the
price(s).
[0076] Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions
set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to
which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings
presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated
drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are
not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that
modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included
within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms
are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive
sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
* * * * *