System and method for capturing, storing and analyzing revenue management information for the travel and transportation industries

• US 7,617,136 B1
• Filed: 07/09/2004
• Issued: 11/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Inventors: Hubbard, David W., Srikant, Sreedhar, Lessing, Pieter
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustin; Evens J
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, NANCY LOAN T
• Application Number:
  US10/888,765
• Time in Patent Office: 1,950 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 705/5, 705/6, 705/8, 705/10, 705/22, 705/28
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/14 Travel agencies

Abstract

A revenue management system for a travel provider, such as airline, a car rental agency, a cruise line, a lodging provider; a travel agency; a bus line or a passenger rail service provider. The revenue management system comprises a database for storing revenue, product and service, and customer information; a logical data model comprising a plurality of entities and relationships defining the manner in which the revenue, product and service, and customer information is stored and organized within the database; and a revenue management application for analyzing the revenue, product and service, and customer information contained within the database to manage inventory, pricing and demand forecasting for the travel provider. Analysis of Passenger Name Record (PNR), booking, ticketing, inventory, schedule, authorization adjustment and flown/ticket lift data maintained within the database enables a travel provider to identify fraudulent and improper booking and ticketing activity, or an airline to determine optimal passenger and revenue mix for airline flights.

Claims

1. A method for managing inventory, pricing and demand forecasting for an airline travel provider, comprising the steps of:

establishing a relational database within a computer data storage device for storing and organizing information for an airline travel provider, said information being organized within said database in accordance with a logical data model comprising a plurality of entities and relationships defining the manner in which said information is stored and organized within said database, said logical data model including;

a first subject area comprising a plurality of entities and relationships defining the manner in which revenue information for said airline travel provider is stored and organized within said relational database;

a second subject area comprising a plurality of entities and relationships defining the manner in which product and service information for said airline travel provider is stored and organized within said relational database, said product and service information including flight information and flight segment information; and

a third subject area comprising a plurality of entities and relationships defining the manner in which customer information for said airline travel provider is stored and organized within said relational database, said customer information including Passenger Name Record (PNR) data;

populating said relational database with revenue, product and service, and customer information for said airline travel provider;

analyzing, by an application server computer executing a revenue management application, Passenger Name Record (PNR), booking, ticketing, inventory, schedule, authorization adjustment and flown/ticket lift data contained within said database; and

identifying, by an application server computer executing a revenue management application, fraudulent and improper booking and ticketing activity.