Collapsible itineraries

• US 20070112606A1
• Filed: 10/06/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Deljo, Shai, Yang, James, Shaked, Ofer, Delgo, Lior, Amibar, Anat
• Granted Patent: US 8,155,986 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/14 Travel agencies

Abstract

Method and system for grouping and displaying travel itineraries are disclosed. The method for grouping travel itineraries includes receiving a list of travel itineraries, grouping the list of travel itineraries to one or more clusters according to a set of grouping parameters, selecting a lead itinerary to represent each of the one or more clusters, determining additional itineraries in each cluster, and displaying the lead itinerary and a link referencing to further details about the additional itineraries in each cluster.

Claims

1. A method for grouping travel itineraries, comprising:

receiving a list of travel itineraries;

grouping the list of travel itineraries into one or more clusters according to a set of grouping parameters;

selecting a lead itinerary to represent each of the one or more clusters;

determining additional itineraries in each cluster; and

displaying the lead itinerary and a link referring to further details about the additional itineraries in each cluster.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of travel itineraries comprises:

travel itineraries in dynamic form that change with respect to time; and

travel itineraries in static form that do not change with respect to time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of travel itineraries include a list of airline reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises carrier, time of departure, airfare, number of stops, airport, frequent flyer alliance, type of aircraft, flight class, meal service, and amenities.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining additional itineraries in each cluster comprises:

searching for an exact match of one or more grouping parameters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining additional itineraries in each cluster further comprises:

searching for an approximation of one or more grouping parameters.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein searching for an approximation of one or more grouping parameters comprises:

searching for a price within a predetermined amount of the exact price; and

searching for a time within a predetermined amount of the exact time.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel itineraries further include a list of hotel reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises price, hotel class, brand, location, and amenities.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel itineraries further include a list of rental car reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises price, rental agency, model, type, pickup location, drop-off location, proximity, and features of the car.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying details of the additional itineraries in each cluster in response to a user selecting the link associated with the lead itinerary.

10. A system for grouping travel itineraries, comprising:

one or more application servers for receiving search requests from one or more user devices, wherein the one or more application servers further comprise;

logic for receiving a list of travel itineraries;

logic for grouping the list of travel itineraries into one or more clusters according to a set of grouping parameters;

logic for selecting a lead itinerary to represent each of the one or more clusters;

logic for determining additional itineraries in each cluster; and

logic for displaying the lead itinerary and a link referring to further details about the additional itineraries in each cluster.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

one or more query managers for formulating search queries in response to the search requests, and a database for supporting the one or more query managers; and

one or more search engines-for searching one or more search sites to retrieve travel itineraries using the search queries.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the list of travel itineraries comprises:

travel itineraries in dynamic form that change with respect to time; and

travel itineraries in static form that do not change with respect to time.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the list of travel itineraries include a list of airline reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises carrier, time of departure, airfare, number of stops, airport, frequent flyer alliance, type of aircraft, flight class, meal service, and amenities.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the logic for determining additional itineraries in each cluster comprises:

logic for searching for an exact match of one or more grouping parameters.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the logic for determining additional itineraries in each cluster further comprises:

logic for searching for an approximation of one or more grouping parameters.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the logic for searching for an approximation of one or more grouping parameters comprises:

logic for searching for a price within a predetermined amount of the exact price; and

logic for searching for a time within a predetermined amount of the exact time.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the travel itineraries further include a list of hotel reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises price, hotel class, brand, location, and amenities.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the travel itineraries further include a list of rental car reservations, and wherein the set of grouping parameters comprises price, rental agency, model, type, pickup location, drop-off location, proximity, and features of the car.

19. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

logic for displaying details of the additional itineraries in each cluster in response to a user selecting the link associated with the lead itinerary.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein each application server is supported by a corresponding distributed storage, and wherein each application server communicates with the one or more user devices over the Internet through an application virtual Internet protocol.

21. The system of claim 11, wherein each the one or more query managers communicates with the one or more application servers via a result virtual Internet protocol.

22. The system of claim 11, wherein each search engine conducts searches of the one or more search sites via the Internet, and wherein the one or more search engines include an engine virtual Internet protocol for communicating with the one or more query managers.