Trip planner optimizing travel itinerary selection conforming to individualized travel policies
First Claim
1. A travel planner method comprising:
- A. storing n machine-readable form;
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A travel planner system automatically constructs itineraries with available seats for a traveler'"'"'s trip request which conform to pre-stored reasonableness standards which include a satisfactory check on whether a connecting flight distance exceeds that of a possible direct flight by a preset distance or ratio. The system finds the fares in a process which includes constructing sum-of-segments fares for each such itinerary which are valid under all the applicable airline tariffs and rules, finds itinerary-with-fare combinations acceptable in terms of cost and convenience to the traveler in accordance with an individualized travel policy of the traveler, and displays at least some of the itineraries by departure or arrival time.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A travel planner method comprising:
A. storing n machine-readable form; - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
2. a tariff file containing for a selected territory:
-
a. the applicable individual direct flight schedules; b. the applicable airport minimum connecting times; c. the fares for the respective booking classes; d. the routings specifying if a particular fare can be used for a particular itinerary; and e. footnotes specifying when a particular fare is in effect; 2. a traveler file containing; a. travel policy records each specifying; (1) a set of reasonableness standards, including travel constraints pertaining to itineraries which are to be considered unreasonable regardless of cost; (2) a set of trip parameter trade-offs between cost and convenience; and (3) a set of parameters pertaining to elimination of itinerary-with-fare combinations which are more expensive and/or less convenient by a specified factor compared with the itinerary that provides an optimized combination of low cost and of convenience; and b. traveler records each identifying at least one of; (1) a respective traveler; and (2) a policy record applicable to said traveler; and
-
-
3. a rules file containing limitations and combinations of limitations in published airline rules relevant to the traveler, in machine-readable form, applicable to the fares to ensure that a particular fare is valid for a particular itinerary;
-
B. entering travel parameters identifying a trip request; C. establishing a communication link with an airline booking system providing information on seat availability on specified flights per booking class; D. processing said trip request by carrying out the computer-implemented steps of; 1. using at least one of the tariff file and prestored file of connecting itineraries to find candidate flights and to construct direct and connecting itineraries for said trip which conform to said unreasonableness standards; 2. using the communications link to find seat availability on said candidate flights and eliminating those candidate flights which have no available seats and any connecting itineraries using those flights; - View Dependent Claims (7)
-
-
4. using the tariff file and the rules file to find fares, including constructing sum-of-segments fares, for each remaining itinerary which are both valid and conform to the trip request;
-
4. using the traveler file for said traveler to find the itinerary-with-fare combinations which gives an optimized combination of low fare and of convenience; 5. using the traveler file to eliminate itinerary-with-fare combinations which do not comply with the traveler record and the applicable policy record for reasons of cost and/or convenience relative to said optimized itinerary-with-fare combination, to thereby leave one or more itinerary-with-fare combinations which are valid and conform to said traveler file; and 6. displaying at least some of the remaining itinerary-with-fare combinations arranged by departure or arrival.
-
-
15. A travel planner method comprising:
A. storing in machine-readable form; 1. a tariff file containing for a selected territory; a. the applicable individual direct flight schedules; b. the applicable airport minimum connecting times; c. the fares for the respective booking classes; d. the routings specifying if a particular fare can be used for a particular itinerary; and e. footnotes specifying when a particular fare is in effect;
-
16. a traveler file containing:
-
a. travel policy records each specifying; (1) a set of reasonableness standards, including travel constraints pertaining to itineraries which are to be considered unreasonable regardless of cost; (2) a set of trip parameter trade-offs between cost and convenience; and (3) a set of parameters pertaining to elimination of itinerary-with-fare combinations which are more expensive and/or less convenient by a specified factor compared with the itinerary that provides an optimized combination of low cost and of convenience; and b. traveler records each identifying at least one of; (1) a respective traveler; and (2) a policy record applicable to said traveler; and
-
-
17. a rules file containing limitations and combinations of limitations in published airline rules relevant to the traveler, in machine-readable form, applicable to the fares to ensure that a particular fare is valid for a particular itinerary;
-
B. entering travel parameters identifying a trip request; C. establishing a communication link with an airline booking system providing information on seat availability on specified flights per booking class; D. processing said trip request by carrying out the computer-implemented steps of; 1. using at least one of the tariff file and a prestored file of connecting itineraries to find candidate flights and to construct direct and connecting itineraries for said trip which conform to said reasonableness standards; 2. using the communications link to find seat availability on said candidate flights and eliminating those candidate flights which have no available seats and any connecting itineraries using those flights; 3. using the tariff file and the rules file to find fares, including constructing sum-of-segments fares, for each remaining itinerary which are both valid and conform to the trip request; 4. using the traveler file for said traveler to find the itinerary-with-fare combination which gives an optimized combination of low fare and of convenience; and 5. using the traveler file to eliminate itinerary-with-fare combinations which do not comply with the traveler record and the applicable policy record for reasons of cost and/or convenience relative to said optimized itinerary-with-fare combination, to thereby leave one or more itinerary-with-fare combinations which are valid and conform to said traveler file.
-
Specification