Low fare search for ticket changes

• US 8,731,980 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Williamson, Todd, De Marcken, Carl, Knight, James, Thumim, Daniel J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vetter, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US11/607,805
• Publication Number:
  US 20080010104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,727 Days
• Field of Search: 705 5- 6
• US Class Current: 705/5
• 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 providing new pricing solutions to satisfy changes to a purchased ticket are described. A query for new travel includes information needed to determine a set of pricing solutions for issuing a new ticket that satisfies the new travel requirements using some value associated with an original, issued ticket. Valid fares corresponding to replacement itineraries are determined according to a determined reissue method that is valid for the replacement itineraries.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing new pricing solutions to satisfy changes to an original ticket, the method comprising:

receiving by the one or more computer systems, a travel planning query, the travel planning query including at least one new travel requirement that is different from a corresponding one of previously specified travel requirements, the travel planning query including the new travel requirement and additional information needed to determine a set of replacement pricing solutions for issuing a new ticket that satisfies the at least one new travel requirement using some value associated with an original ticket;

determining that available information in the original ticket and a passenger name record (PNR) associated with the original ticket is insufficient to unambiguously determine how the original ticket was priced;

accessing by the one or more computer systems a historical database that holds historical information comprising flights, fares and fare rules, and fare change information comprising changes to fare records and transmission times of the changes and fare rules change information comprising changes and transmission times of the changes to provide information associated with the original ticket;

reconstructing by the one or more computer systems, the pricing solution that was used to issue the original ticket by accessing information in the historical database to identify a plurality of candidate fare records by selecting flights, fares and fare rules to apply to fares that existed at a time of issuance of the original ticket and that correspond to information supplied in the previously specified travel requirements;

filtering the plurality of candidate fare records by excluding those candidate fare records having associated rules inconsistent with the previously specified travel requirements or terms of the original ticket; and

selecting as a reconstructed ticket a candidate fare record having associated rules consistent with the previously specified travel requirements and terms of the original ticket;

determining at least one applicable reissue method for reissuing a reconstructed ticket, the reissue method specifying valid changes to the original ticket and conditions to change the original ticket;

accessing a second database that holds current inventory information; and

determining by the one or more computer systems based in part on the current inventory information and the pricing solution used to issue the original ticket, the set of replacement pricing solutions comprising valid fares and replacement itineraries according to the at least one applicable reissue method.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information in the query includes an origin and destination for the new travel, and at least a Passenger Name Record of the original ticket.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining possible sequences of flight segments between the origin and destination for each slice of a trip that satisfy the new travel requirements specified in the query.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

analyzing the new pricing solutions to determine whether there are seats available on flights for the pricing solutions; and

eliminating those pricing solutions for which there are no seats available from consideration.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining at least one applicable reissue method further comprises:

applying by the one or more computers, reissue method logic to examine the reconstructed ticket to determine whether changes to the ticket are valid; and

eliminating by the one or more computers, those reissue methods from a plurality of reissue methods whose conditions are violated by the reconstructed ticket with any remaining reissue method from the plurality of reissue methods being applicable reissue methods.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein reconstructing the pricing solution further comprises:

retrieving relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued from the historical database;

providing a candidate fare record that was valid when the original ticket was issued;

retrieving relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued; and

providing a candidate rule record that was valid when the original ticket was issued.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the historical database returns one or more possible pricing solutions whose associated tickets contain information that match the information associated with the original ticket.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of pricing solutions include reconstructed pricing solutions for reconstructed tickets and replacement pricing solutions for replacement tickets, and the method further comprises:

determining for each candidate solution which, if any, valid reissue methods may be used to refund the candidate solution or exchange the candidate solution with one or more of the replacement pricing solutions.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing reissue methods and sets of candidate solutions and reissue solutions that are applicable to each of the reissue methods and

determining valid fares corresponding to the replacement itineraries according to the reissue methods that are valid for the replacement itineraries.

10. A system for providing new pricing solutions to satisfy changes to an original ticket, the system comprising:

one or more processors configured to;

receive a travel planning query, the travel planning query including at least one new travel requirement that is different from a corresponding one of previously specified travel requirements, the query including the new travel requirements and additional information needed to determine a set of replacement pricing solutions for issuing a new ticket that satisfies the at least one new travel requirement using some value associated with an original ticket;

determine that available information in the original ticket and a passenger name record (PNR) associated with the original ticket is insufficient to unambiguously determine how the original ticket was priced;

access a historical database that holds historical information comprising flights, fares and fare rules, and fare change information comprising changes to fare records and transmission times of the changes and fare rules change information comprising changes and transmission times of the changes to provide information associated with the original ticket;

reconstruct the pricing solution that was used to issue the original ticket by accessing information in the historical database to identify a plurality of candidate fare records by selecting flights, fares and fare rules to apply to fares that existed at a time of issuance of the original ticket and that correspond to information supplied in the previously specified travel requirements;

filtering the plurality of candidate fare records by excluding those candidate fare records having associated rules inconsistent with the previously specified travel requirements or terms of the original ticket; and

selecting as a reconstructed ticket a candidate fare record having associated rules consistent with the previously specified travel requirements and terms of the original ticket;

determine at least one applicable reissue method for issuing a reconstructed ticket, the reissue method specifying valid changes to the original ticket and conditions to change the original ticket;

access a second database that holds current inventory information; and

determine the set of replacement pricing solutions by determining valid fares corresponding to replacement itineraries according to the at least one applicable reissue method that is valid for the replacement itineraries based in part on the current inventory information.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the information in the query includes an origin and destination for the new travel, and at least a Passenger Name Record of the original ticket.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine possible sequences of flight segments between the origin and destination for each slice of a trip that satisfy the new travel requirements specified in the query.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

apply reissue method logic to examine the reconstructed ticket and to determine whether changes to the ticket are valid; and

determine at least one applicable reissue method from a plurality of reissue methods of issuing the reconstructed ticket; and

eliminate those reissue methods from the plurality of reissue methods whose conditions are violated by the reconstructed ticket with any remaining reissue method from the plurality of reissue methods being applicable reissue methods.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the system is further configured to:

retrieve relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued from the historical database;

provide a candidate fare record that was valid when the original ticket was issued;

retrieve relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued; and

provide a candidate rule record that was valid when the original ticket was issued.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the historical database is configured to:

return one or more possible pricing solutions whose associated tickets contain information that matches the information associated with the original ticket.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

analyze the new pricing solutions to determine whether there are seats available on flights for the pricing solutions; and

eliminate those pricing solutions for which there are no seats available from consideration.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the set of pricing solutions include reconstructed pricing solutions for reconstructed tickets and replacement pricing solutions for replacement tickets, and the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine for each candidate solution which, if any, valid reissue methods may be used to refund the candidate solution or exchange the candidate solution with one or more of the replacement pricing solutions.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

provide reissue methods and sets of candidate solutions and reissue solutions that are applicable to each of the reissue methods; and

determine valid fares corresponding to the replacement itineraries according to the reissue methods that are valid for the replacement itineraries.

19. A non-transitory machine readable medium tangibly storing a computer program product for providing new pricing solutions to satisfy changes to a purchased ticket, comprising instructions operable to cause one or more processors to:

receive a travel planning query, the travel planning query including at least one new travel requirement that is different from a corresponding one of previously specified travel requirements, the query including the new travel requirements and additional information needed to determine a set of pricing solutions for issuing a new ticket that satisfies the at least one new travel requirement using some value associated with an original ticket;

determine that available information in the original ticket and a passenger name record (PNR) associated with the original ticket is insufficient to unambiguously determine how the original ticket was priced;

access a historical database that holds historical information comprising flights, fares and fare rules, and fare change information comprising changes to fare records and transmission times of the changes and fare rules change information comprising changes and transmission times of the changes to provide information associated with the original ticket;

reconstruct the pricing solution that was used to issue the original ticket by accessing information in the historical database to identify a plurality of candidate fare records by selecting flights, fares and fare rules to apply to fares that existed at a time of issuance of the original ticket and that correspond to information supplied in the previously specified travel requirements;

filter the plurality of candidate fare records by excluding those candidate fare records having associated rules inconsistent with the previously specified travel requirements or terms of the original ticket; and

select as a reconstructed ticket a candidate fare record having associated rules consistent with the previously specified travel requirements and terms of the original ticket;

determine at least one applicable reissue method for issuing a reconstructed ticket, the reissue method specifying valid changes to the original ticket and conditions to change the original ticket;

access a second database that holds current inventory information; and

determine a set of replacement pricing solutions by determining valid fares corresponding to replacement itineraries according to at the least one applicable reissue method that is valid for the replacement itineraries based in part on the current inventory information.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein the information in the query includes an origin and destination for the new travel, and at least a Passenger Name Record of the original ticket.

21. The medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions to:

determine possible sequences of flight segments between the origin and destination for each slice of a trip that satisfy the new travel requirements specified in the query.

22. The medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions to:

apply reissue method logic to examine the reconstructed ticket and to determine whether changes to the ticket are valid; and

determine at least one applicable reissue method from a plurality of reissue methods of issuing the reconstructed ticket; and

eliminate those reissue methods from the plurality of reissue methods whose conditions are violated by the reconstructed ticket with any remaining reissue method from the plurality of reissue methods being applicable reissue methods.

23. The medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions to:

retrieve relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued from the historical database;

provide a candidate fare record that was valid when the original ticket was issued;

retrieve relevant fare records that existed before and during the time the original ticket was issued; and

provide a candidate rule record that was valid when the original ticket was issued.

24. The medium of claim 19, wherein the historical database returns one or more possible pricing solutions whose associated tickets contain information that matches the information associated with the original ticket.

25. The medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions to:

analyze the new pricing solutions to determine whether there are seats available on flights for the pricing solutions; and

eliminate those pricing solutions for which there are no seats available from consideration.

26. The medium of claim 19, wherein the set of pricing solutions include reconstructed pricing solutions for reconstructed tickets and replacement pricing solutions for replacement tickets, and wherein the product further comprises instructions to:

determine for each candidate solution which, if any, valid reissue methods may be used to refund the candidate solution or exchange the candidate solution with one or more of the replacement pricing solutions.

27. The medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions to:

provide reissue methods and sets of candidate solutions and reissue solutions that are applicable to each of the reissue methods and

determine valid fares corresponding to the replacement itineraries according to the reissue methods that are valid for the replacement itineraries.