REVENUE DRIVEN SPLITTING OF GROUP TRAVEL REQUESTS INTO MULTIPLE SUBGROUPS
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for processing a group travel request for air travel by a group between an origin and a destination, the method comprising:
- receiving the group travel request from an originator, wherein the group travel request identifies the origin, the destination, a date criterion and a quantity for the group;
determining whether to perform a group split operation based upon the group travel request and a group split acceptance rule;
in response to determining to perform a group split operation, accessing at least one of a schedule system and an inventory system for the airline to identify a set of travel solutions matching the group travel request and having a group availability matching a minimum subgroup quantity criterion, including ranking each travel solution in the set of travel solutions based upon at least one of a group proportion selection rule associated with a proportion of an inventory of such travel solution allocated to groups, a materialization rate rule associated with a materialization rate of the originator of the group travel request, and an expected load factor rule associated with an expected load factor of such travel solution;
splitting the group travel request among a plurality of travel solutions in the set of travel solutions to allocate a subgroup quantity to each travel solution in the set of travel solutions, including;
accessing revenue data from a revenue system for the airline;
determining from the revenue data a unitary displacement cost for at least a portion of the inventory of each travel solution in the set of travel solutions, wherein the unitary displacement cost is associated with an opportunity cost for allocating an inventory item for a travel solution to the group travel request instead of allocating the inventory item to an individual booking;
adjusting the unitary displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution using an adjustment factor based upon at least one adjustment rule to generate an adjusted displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution; and
determining the subgroup quantity for each of the plurality of travel solutions based upon the adjusted displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution to optimize an aggregated displacement cost among the plurality of travel solutions; and
responding to the group travel request by returning the subgroup quantity for each of the plurality of travel solutions;
wherein accessing the schedule system, the inventory system and the revenue management system minimizes database transactions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, apparatus and program product utilize a revenue driven approach to split a group travel request into multiple subgroups. By doing so, group travel requests that might otherwise be rejected due to lack of availability for a certain quantity of travelers, or that might otherwise present a significant risk of lost revenue due to last minute cancellations that preclude reallocation to individual bookings, may be split into multiple subgroups in a manner that optimizes expected revenue for a travel provider. In addition, a method, apparatus and program product integrate a group quote component or module into an inventory system to facilitate the generation of group quotes based at least in part on a displacement cost for a reference travel provider that is reflective of the displacement of a group quantity from individual bookings.
18 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for processing a group travel request for air travel by a group between an origin and a destination, the method comprising:
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receiving the group travel request from an originator, wherein the group travel request identifies the origin, the destination, a date criterion and a quantity for the group; determining whether to perform a group split operation based upon the group travel request and a group split acceptance rule; in response to determining to perform a group split operation, accessing at least one of a schedule system and an inventory system for the airline to identify a set of travel solutions matching the group travel request and having a group availability matching a minimum subgroup quantity criterion, including ranking each travel solution in the set of travel solutions based upon at least one of a group proportion selection rule associated with a proportion of an inventory of such travel solution allocated to groups, a materialization rate rule associated with a materialization rate of the originator of the group travel request, and an expected load factor rule associated with an expected load factor of such travel solution; splitting the group travel request among a plurality of travel solutions in the set of travel solutions to allocate a subgroup quantity to each travel solution in the set of travel solutions, including; accessing revenue data from a revenue system for the airline; determining from the revenue data a unitary displacement cost for at least a portion of the inventory of each travel solution in the set of travel solutions, wherein the unitary displacement cost is associated with an opportunity cost for allocating an inventory item for a travel solution to the group travel request instead of allocating the inventory item to an individual booking; adjusting the unitary displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution using an adjustment factor based upon at least one adjustment rule to generate an adjusted displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution; and determining the subgroup quantity for each of the plurality of travel solutions based upon the adjusted displacement cost for the portion of the inventory of each travel solution to optimize an aggregated displacement cost among the plurality of travel solutions; and responding to the group travel request by returning the subgroup quantity for each of the plurality of travel solutions; wherein accessing the schedule system, the inventory system and the revenue management system minimizes database transactions.
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2. A computer-implemented method for processing a group travel request for travel with a travel provider, comprising:
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determining a set of travel solutions that match a group travel criterion for the group travel request and a travel provider criterion for the travel provider, wherein the group travel criterion includes a group quantity for the group travel request; and splitting the group quantity into a plurality of subgroup quantities respectively allocated to travel solutions from the set of travel solutions to optimize expected revenue of the travel provider resulting from displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus, comprising:
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at least one processor; and program code configured upon execution by the at least one processor to process a group travel request for travel with a travel provider by determining a set of travel solutions that match a group travel criterion for the group travel request and a travel provider criterion for the travel provider, wherein the group travel criterion includes a group quantity for the group travel request, and splitting the group quantity into a plurality of subgroup quantities respectively allocated to travel solutions from the set of travel solutions to optimize expected revenue of the travel provider resulting from displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A program product, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and program code stored on the computer readable medium and configured upon execution by at least one processor to process a group travel request for travel with a travel provider by determining a set of travel solutions that match a group travel criterion for the group travel request and a travel provider criterion for the travel provider, wherein the group travel criterion includes a group quantity for the group travel request, and splitting the group quantity into a plurality of subgroup quantities respectively allocated to travel solutions from the set of travel solutions to optimize expected revenue of the travel provider resulting from displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings.
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24. A computer-implemented method for processing a group travel request for a reference travel provider, the method comprising:
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receiving a group travel request that identifies a group quantity and at least one segment; and using program code resident in an inventory system for the reference travel provider, determining a group quote for the group travel request based upon a displacement cost, wherein the displacement cost is based upon displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus, comprising:
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at least one processor; and program code configured upon execution by the at least one processor to process a group travel request for a reference travel provider, wherein the program code is resident in an inventory system and is configured to determine a group quote for a group travel request based upon a displacement cost, wherein the group travel request identifies a group quantity and at least one segment, and wherein the displacement cost is based upon displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A program product, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and program code stored on the computer readable medium and configured upon execution by at least one processor to process a group travel request for a reference travel provider, wherein the program code is resident in an inventory system and is configured to determine a group quote for a group travel request based upon a displacement cost, wherein the group travel request identifies a group quantity and at least one segment, and wherein the displacement cost is based upon displacement of the group quantity from individual bookings.
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Specification