AUTOMATED TICKETING

• US 20160041840A1
• Filed: 08/11/2014
• Published: 02/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amadeus (Amadeus Global Travel Distribution S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Amadeus (Amadeus Global Travel Distribution S.A.)
• Inventors: Daouk, Carine, Pardini, Christelle, Avramidis, Faustine, Rossi, Romain, Tangorra, Manuel
• Granted Patent: US 9,536,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/14 Travel agencies

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for automatically issuing travel documents. Tasks relating to issuance of travel documents are generated by an originating application in response to booking a travel service. The tasks are received and stored in a first queue until a triggering event, such as the arrival of a time for issuance of a document. In response to the triggering event, a task in the first queue may be placed in a second queue for transmission to an issuing application. The documents to be issued may be determined based on records in a passenger name record (PNR) stored in a database. The PNR may be determined based on the task. The PNR may be updated with information indicating whether task processing was successful. In the event of an error, information indicating the cause of the error may be added to the PNR.

Claims

1. A method of issuing documents for travel products, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computer, data defining a plurality of tasks, each task relating to issuance of a document and having a time for issuance;

queuing, by the computer, each task in a first queue; and

in response to a trigger condition for a first task in the first queue being met, forwarding, by the computer, the first task from the first queue to a second queue.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

queuing the first task in the second queue; and

in response to the first task being queued in the second queue, removing the first task from the first queue.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first task is related to a second task in the first queue, and further comprising:

grouping the first task and the second task;

queuing the second task in the second queue; and

removing the first task and the second task as a batch from the first queue in response to the first task and the second task being queued in the second queue.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first task and the second task are related by a common association with a passenger name record.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the trigger condition comprises an actual time reaching the time for issuance of the first task.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first queue comprises a first database and a second database, and queuing each task in the first queue comprises:

determining a type of each task; and

for each task, storing the task in the first database if the task is of a first type, or in the second database if the task is of a second type.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

querying the first database at a first frequency for tasks satisfying the trigger condition; and

querying the second database at a second frequency for tasks satisfying the trigger condition,

wherein the second frequency differs from the first frequency.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to the first task being queued in the second queue, generating an issuance request;

transmitting the issuance request to a first issuing application; and

in response to the document being issued by the first issuing application, removing the first task from the first queue.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein transmitting the issuance request to the first issuing application comprises:

establishing a link between a first ticketing identifier and the first issuing application;

transmitting data defining the issuance request to the first issuing application via the link; and

in response to the issuance request being processed by the first issuing application, releasing the first ticketing identifier.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein:

the first ticketing identifier is selected from a plurality of ticketing identifiers including the first ticketing identifier and a second ticketing identifier, and

the first issuing application is selected by the first ticketing identifier from the first issuing application and a second issuing application based on a ticketing office designated by the task.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the issuance request is one of a plurality of issuance requests to be transmitted to the first issuing application, the first issuing application has a maximum number of transactions per unit of time that can be processed, and further comprising:

adjusting a rate that the issuance requests are transmitted to the first issuing application based on the maximum number of transactions per unit of time.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the issuance request is generated based on a passenger name record associated with the first task.

13. An apparatus for issuing documents for travel products, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to;

receive data defining a plurality of tasks, each task relating to issuance of a document and having a time for issuance;

queue each task in a first queue; and

in response to a trigger condition for a first task in the first queue being met, forward the first task from the first queue to a second queue.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the first task is related to a second task in the first queue, and the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to:

queue the first task in the second queue; and

in response to the first task being queued in the second queue, remove the first task from the first queue.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the the first task is related to a second task in the first queue, and the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to:

group the first task and the second task;

queue the second task in the second queue; and

remove the first task and the second task as a batch from the first queue in response to the first task and the second task being queued in the second queue.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the trigger condition comprises an actual time reaching the time for issuance of the first task.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the first queue comprises a first database and a second database, and the instructions cause the apparatus to queue each task in the first queue by:

determining a type of each task; and

for each task, storing the task in the first database if the task is of a first type, or in the second database if the task is of a second type.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to:

query the first database at a first frequency for tasks satisfying the trigger condition; and

query the second database at a second frequency for tasks satisfying the trigger condition,

wherein the second frequency differs from the first frequency.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the apparatus to:

in response to the first task being queued in the second queue, generate an issuance request;

transmit the issuance request to a first issuing application; and

in response to the document being issued by the first issuing application, remove the first task from the first queue.

20. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium; and

instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to;

receive data defining a plurality of tasks, each task relating to issuance of a document and having a time for issuance;

queue each task in a first queue; and

in response to a trigger condition for a first task in the first queue being met, forward the first task from the first queue to a second queue.