System for corporate traveler planning and travel management

• US 7,050,986 B1
• Filed: 10/16/1997
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GetThere LP (Sabre Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sabre, Inc.
• Inventors: Vochatzer, Karl, Sawtell, Cynthia, Williams, Sherry, Balch, Kerry, Vance, Arlene M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil, Frantzy
• Application Number:
  US08/951,630
• Time in Patent Office: 3,141 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5, 705/6, 340/825.28, 340/825.29
• 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

Abstract

A client-server system for corporate travel planning, expense reporting and travel management that utilizes a corporate database server to enable accurate and timely pre-travel and post-travel decision making that is fed by a travel planning process and an expense reporting process, plus a SABRE data feed of all booked data and back office system data as well as a hand-off of exchange and void ticket information that comprises a Travel Planning module, a Travel Decision Maker module, and a Travel Expense Reporting module. The system uses a corporate database environment communicating with a real-time CRS data feed that enhances the Travel Planning module by offering the traveler live choices of air, car, and hotel availability based upon company travel policy as well as live access to current or company negotiated fares while also allowing the Travel Decision Maker module to make comparisons between booked information and actual current travel data.

Claims

1. A method for creating a new travel reservation based on information reflecting frequent trips comprising:

storing in a database a set of frequent trip records, each frequent trip record associated with a traveler and reflecting a travel itinerary;

receiving selection information reflecting a selected one of the frequent trip records to form a trip request;

prompting a user to indicate at least one new travel date associated with the trip request regardless of whether the selected frequent trip record has any associated travel dates;

transmitting at least certain aspects of the trip request to a computerized reservation system, wherein a new travel reservation is automatically created using the transmitted aspects of the trip request; and

displaying a calendar showing at least one month divided into days with at least two icons on days associated with the new travel reservation, wherein the icons represent components on the travel reservation and are selected from the group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, and a car rental component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving selection information reflecting a selected frequent trip record to form a trip request further comprises the substep of prompting the particular user for the trip request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving selection information reflecting a selected frequent trip record to form a trip request further comprises the substep of displaying a set of frequent trip records associated with the particular traveler and stored in a database.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log of travel reservations for the particular traveler.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein an expense report is associated with each entry in the log.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing expense reports for travel reservations.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of transmitting at least certain aspects of the trip request to a computerized reservation system comprises the substep of creating a new expense report for the new travel reservation.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

automatically populating, without user intervention, at least one field of the new expense report.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating and sorting a new expense report associated with the new travel reservation; and

populating at least one field of a new expense report from information obtained when booking the new travel reservation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

prompting the particular traveler for information to complete the new expense report.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, before booking the new travel reservation, whether all components of the new travel reservation comply with predetermined policies or agreements governing travel associated with an entity.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating and sorting a new expense report associated with the new travel reservation;

populating at least one field of a new expense report from information obtained when booking the new travel reservation; and

determining whether all components of the new travel reservation comply with predetermined policies or agreements governing travel associated with an entity.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the components are selected from the group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, a car rental component, a food component, and an entertainment component.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the components are selected from the group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, a car rental component, a food component, and an entertainment component.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a calendar showing at least one month divided into days with icons on days associated with the new travel reservation.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of prompting—

a user to indicate at least one new travel date includes receiving information reflecting at least one of a month, day, and year.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting includes the substep of prompting the particular traveler to authorize creation of a new travel reservation associated with the trip request and scheduled based on the provided travel date.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of transmitting further comprises the step of providing the particular traveler with an opportunity to cancel the new travel reservation within a predetermined period of time.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of transmitting further comprises the step of prompting the particular traveler to authorize automatic forwarding of the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post-reservation processing.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting further comprises the substeps of:

prompting the particular traveler to authorize creation of a new travel reservation associated with the trip request and scheduled based on the indicated travel date;

automatically creating the new travel reservation in response to the particular traveler'"'"'s authorization;

providing the particular traveler with an opportunity to cancel the new travel reservation within a predetermined period of time following creation of the new travel reservation; and

prompting the particular traveler to authorize automatic forwarding of at least information reflecting the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post-reservation processing.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of automatically determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the one or more predetermined policies indicate restrictions on travel reservations based on a profile of the particular traveler within the entity.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the component of the new travel reservation is selected from the group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, a car rental component, a food component, and an entertainment component.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of:

canceling a new travel reservation that does not comply with the one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with the entity.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of:

populating at least one field of an expense report with information obtained during the step of determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of automatically determining whether a least one component of the new travel reservation complies with one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the one or more predetermined policies include restrictions on travel reservations based on a profile of the particular traveler within the entity.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of canceling any new travel reservation that does not comply with the one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with the entity.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising the step of:

populating at least one field of an expense report with information obtained during the step of determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting comprises automatically forwarding the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post reservation processing.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of automatically determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the one or more predetermined policies include restrictions on travel reservations based on a profile of the particular traveler within the entity.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of canceling a new travel reservation that does not comply with the one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with the entity before the step of automatically forwarding the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post reservation processing.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of:

populating at least one field of an expense report with information obtained during the step of determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting automatically occurs in response only to an indication of a new travel date by the user.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one new travel date comprises a beginning travel date on which travel for the new travel reservation will begin.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising the step of automatically identifying an ending date on which travel for the new travel reservation will end.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of automatically identifying the ending date is based solely on the travel itinerary associated with the selected one of the frequent trip records and the beginning travel date indicated by the user.

39. The method of claim 36, further comprising the step of automatically identifying a travel duration for the new travel reservation.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the travel duration comprises a number of travel days corresponding to a number of travel days of the travel itinerary associated with the selected one of the stored frequent trip records.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the step of automatically identifying the travel duration is based solely on the travel itinerary associated with the selected one of the stored frequent trip records.

42. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted aspects of the trip request comprise a travel ending date for the new travel reservation.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the travel ending date for the new travel reservation is automatically identified based on the travel itinerary associated with the selected one of the frequent trip records and the new travel date indicated by the user.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted aspects of the trip request comprise a travel duration for the new travel reservation.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the travel duration for the new travel reservation is automatically identified based solely on the travel itinerary associated with the selected one of the frequent trip records.

46. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting at least certain aspects of the trip request to a computerized reservation system comprises the substeps of accessing travel data associated with the selected one of the frequent trip records stored in the database, transmitting the travel data to the computerized reservation, and receiving a confirmation of the new travel reservation based solely on the new travel date indicated by the user.

47. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving a new travel date in response to the step of prompting, and the step of transmitting at least certain aspects of the trip request to a computerized reservation system automatically occurs in response solely to the step of receiving a new travel date.

48. A method for creating a new travel reservation based on a set of frequent trip records comprising:

storing in a database a set of frequent trip records, each frequent trip record including a travel itinerary associated with a traveler;

displaying a menu selected from the stored set of frequent trip records;

prompting a user to select one of the frequent trip records from the displayed menu to form a new travel reservation;

prompting the user to indicate a new trip travel date for the new travel reservation regardless of whether the selected frequent trip record includes a travel date;

transmitting information selected from the new travel reservation to a computerized reservation system so as to book a new reservation; and

automatically calculating a travel end date for the new travel reservation based on the selected frequent trip record and the indicated new trip travel date, and including the travel end date in the information transmitted to the computerized reservation system.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising the step of prompting a user to select a frequent trip icon, and wherein the step of displaying automatically occurs in response to the selection of the frequent trip icon.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of transmitting automatically occurs in response solely to the indication of the new trip travel date.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the new trip travel date comprises a beginning travel date on which travel for the new travel reservation is expected to begin.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising the step of automatically identifying an ending date upon which travel for the new travel reservation will end.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the step of automatically identifying the ending date is based solely on the travel itinerary associated with the selected frequent trip record and the indicated beginning travel date.

54. The method of claim 52, further comprising the step of automatically identifying a travel duration for the new travel reservation.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the travel duration comprises a number of travel days corresponding to a number of travel days of the travel itinerary associated with the selected frequent trip record.

56. The method of claim 54, wherein the step of automatically identifying the travel duration is based solely on the travel itinerary associated with the selected frequent trip record.

57. The method of claim 48, further comprising the step of automatically determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the one or more predetermined policies indicate restrictions on travel reservations based on a profile of the particular traveler within the entity.

59. The method of claim 57, wherein the component of the new travel reservation is selected from a group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, a car rental component, a food component, and an entertainment component.

60. The method of claim 57, further comprising the step of canceling a new travel reservation that does not comply with the one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with the entity.

61. The method of claim 57, further comprising the step of populating at least one field of an expense report with information obtained during the step of determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

62. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of transmitting comprises the step of automatically forwarding the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post reservation processing.

63. A method for booking a new travel reservation through an interactive reservation system and based on at least one past travel, itinerary comprising:

storing a plurality of past travel itineraries associated with a traveler in a database, each of the plurality of past travel itineraries having a travel start date;

displaying a menu of icons for each of the stored plurality of past travel itineraries;

retrieving a past travel itinerary associated with the traveler from the database and displaying the retrieved past travel itinerary in response to a selection of one of the menu icons;

prompting the user to create a new travel itinerary based on the displayed past travel itinerary by identifying a new travel start date different from the travel start date associated with the displayed past travel itinerary;

transmitting the new travel itinerary through the interactive reservation system to book a new travel reservation based on the identified new travel start date; and

automatically calculating the travel end date for the new travel itinerary based on the displayed past travel itinerary and the identified new travel start date, and including the calculated travel end date in the new travel itinerary transmitted through the interactive reservation system.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of transmitting automatically occurs in response solely to the indication of the new travel start date.

65. The method of claim 63, further comprising the step of automatically calculating a travel duration for the new travel reservation based on a travel duration of the displayed past travel itinerary.

66. The method of claim 63, further comprising the step of automatically determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the one or more predetermined policies include restrictions on travel reservations based on a profile of the particular traveler within the entity.

68. The method of claim 66, wherein the component of the new travel reservation is selected from a group comprising a transportation component, a lodging component, a car rental component, a food component, and an entertainment component.

69. The method of claim 66, further comprising the step of canceling a new travel reservation that does not comply with the one or more predetermined policies governing travel associated with the entity.

70. The method of claim 66, further comprising the step of populating at least one field of an expense report with information obtained during the step of determining whether at least one component of the new travel reservation complies with predetermined policies governing travel associated with an entity.

71. The method of claim 63, wherein the step of transmitting comprises the step of automatically forwarding the new travel reservation to a travel agency for post reservation processing, including ticket printing.