JP6534659B2 - Integration of Online Self-Reservation Tool with Third-Party System Search Results - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates generally to computers and computer software, and more particularly to methods, systems and computer program products for integrating third-party web site search results and features for online self-reservation tools and travel-related product suggestions.

  Employees involved in business-related travel for a company or other entity are typically required to comply with corporate travel rules. The creation and implementation of corporate travel rules is commonly referred to as corporate travel management. Good services offered by corporate travel management include negotiations with suppliers such as airlines and hotels, daily operation of corporate travel programs, setting up traveler safety regulations, and travel for travel done by employees and Includes management of expense data. These services may be handled internally by the corporate travel department or may be outsourced to a travel management company. In any case, corporate travel management establishes rules regarding the types of services that employees are allowed to book for business travel, negotiates corporate rates with airlines, hotels and car rental companies, and determines Provisions may be set regarding what travel items may be purchased when traveling in a company business.

  Business travelers who book travel are usually required to follow certain business guidelines regarding travel product selection. In order to facilitate the implementation of travel-related provisions and to ensure that travel products are purchased at negotiated corporate rates, the company travels employees through business trips through internal corporate travel managers or designated travel management companies. I like to book a reservation. These reservations may be made using an online self-reservation tool.

  The online self booking tool may be hosted on a corporate or travel management company server, and may be configured to allow employees to log on remotely. Employees may thereby book a trip using a personal computing device connected to a host server through a network, such as a corporate LAN or the Internet. Since the online self-booking tool can control what travel options are displayed to the user, travel rules may be implemented by simply displaying travel options that conform to internal travel rules and negotiated enterprise rates. The online self-booking tool may flag the user with visual clues that do not conform to the internal travel rules or otherwise less desirable travel options and discourage the user from selecting these travel options. Good.

  Since the advent of the Internet, the travel industry has become increasingly fragmented and complex, and increasing third party providers such as online travel agents and airlines have launched niche services through online channels. Travelers who wish to purchase travel products through an online channel may access a website operated by a third party provider. The traveler will then typically provide search terms to the website in the form of a search query to identify travel items that meet those requirements. In response to receiving the search query, the website may search one or more databases to identify travel products that match the parameters of the search query. The matching travel items may then be displayed as part of a travel offer that may be booked or purchased by the traveler.

  The availability of online channels for purchasing travel products has greatly increased the option for travelers to book travel, particularly with regard to leisure travel. The online channel may also allow the user to buy tickets directly from the airline. To facilitate this type of purchase, the airline may offer offers to facilitate direct access through their website. The rising competitiveness of online channels has turned travel-related purchases away from traditional channels such as travel management companies and online self-reservation tools towards online channels. Business travelers who are accustomed to booking personal travel through online channels will also benefit from the benefits and familiarity of familiar third party websites to search and book business travel, or mixed business and leisure trips. I like it. In addition, the travel options offered by the on-line channel may, in certain instances, provide travel products at a price below the company's negotiated charges.

  One challenge associated with reserving business trips through the online channel is that travel offers booked through the online channel risk violating corporate travel rules or being purchased at a higher rate than negotiated corporate rates That's what it means. The additional challenges of reserving through online channels can not (1) completely determine travel location, which makes it difficult for corporate travel managers to fulfill their "attentiveness" to the company. (2) It is difficult to track booking volume due to dilution across multiple online channels, which is a company's ability to justify or negotiate preferred rates with travel providers (3) On-line channels may include the lack of support for payments by corporate cards or other accounts.

  To avoid these problems, business travelers may search for travel products using a suitable online channel, and then book the desired products through conventional channels. Since this may be a time consuming and error prone procedure, travelers may only risk booking travel products through online channels, or may limit their search to those available through conventional channels. unknown. In addition, some desired travel products identified by the online channel may not be available through the online self-reservation tool, so that it may be determined to determine whether the travel product complies with corporate travel policies. Not possible to use.

  Therefore, there is a need for an improved system, method and computer program product for searching and booking travel products that provides for traditional channel provision and negotiation fees, as well as on-line channel familiarity and benefits. Be done.

  WO 03/034179 A2 describes drawing data for travel goods and services from one or more data sources, including public websites and other sources. Data derived from multiple data sources are combined into a single display presented to the user. The retrieved data is displayed in one form on one display regardless of the data source.

WO03 / 034179A2

  The invention is defined by the independent claims. Further embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

  In an example embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for providing online self-reserve tool functionality to a user who books a travel offer through a website. The method includes the step of capturing search criteria included in a search query sent to the website. A first search is initiated at the website and a second search is initiated at the database containing the travel offer with the negotiated fee. Each of the first and second searches includes search criteria. The first set of search results from the website and the second set of search results from the database are retrieved and combined into a third set of search results. By removing duplicate search results, a fourth set of search results is generated from the third set of search results. Displayed data is generated based on at least a portion of the fourth set of search results, and the user interface generated by inserting the display data into the displayed user interface rendered natively by the website is presented to the user Is displayed.

  In another example embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for enriching search results with content from a website. The method includes the steps of receiving a search query at a computer in communication with the online self-reservation tool and identifying a travel offer that satisfies the search query. The computer then determines whether the travel offer should be purchased through the website. In response to determining that the travel offer is to be purchased through the website, the computer establishes a link with the website and captures content regarding the travel offer that is transmitted through the link. The computer searches the database for the travel policy of the entity, and the travel policy for the content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the computer displays the content and travel policy to the user via the online self booking tool.

  In another example embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to retrieve search criteria included in the search query sent to the website. The device then initiates a first search on the website including the search terms and a second search including the search terms on the database including the travel offer having the negotiated fee. The device takes in the first set of search results from the website and the second set of search results from the database, and combines the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results. The apparatus generates a fourth set of search results from the third set of search results by removing duplicate search results, and generates display data based on at least a portion of the fourth set of search results, Display to the user a user interface generated by inserting display data into a displayed user interface rendered natively by the website.

  In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, another apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a processor in communication with the online self-reservation tool and a memory. The memory, when executed by the processor, includes instructions that cause the device to receive the search query and to identify travel offers that satisfy the search query. The device determines if the travel offer should be purchased through the website. If the trip offer is to be purchased through the website, the device establishes a link with the website and captures the content for the trip offer sent through the link. The device searches the database for the travel rules of the entity, with the travel rules for the content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the device displays the content and travel policy to the user via the online self booking tool.

  In another example embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions. The instructions are configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to retrieve search criteria included in the search query sent to the website. The processor initiates a first search on the web site and a second search on the database containing the travel offer with the negotiated fee, the first and second searches each including a search condition. The instruction then incorporates in the processor the first set of search results from the website and the second set of search results from the database, the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results Let it combine. The processor then generates a fourth set of search results from the third set of search results by removing duplicate search results, and displays at least a portion of the fourth set of search results.

  In another example embodiment of the present invention, another computer program product is provided. The computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured such that the processor receives the search query and identifies travel suggestions that satisfy the search query. The processor determines whether the travel offer should be purchased through the website, and establishes a link with the website in response to determining that the travel offer should be purchased through the website. The processor then retrieves the content for the travel offer, which is sent through the link, and searches the database for the travel policy of the entity for the content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the processor displays the content and business travel policy to the user via the online self booking tool.

  The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention, and of the general description of the invention given above and of the embodiments given below. Together with the detailed description, serve to explain the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an illustrative operating environment including a plurality of computer systems communicating via a network. FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the illustrative computer system of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram of a travel booking system that may operate in the illustrative operating environment of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for enhancing search results that may be performed by the travel booking system of FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram representing a process in which system users are provided search results enhanced by the process depicted in FIG. 4;

  Embodiments of the present invention are systems for providing users with travel related search results including products and services from multiple sources, such as the Global Distribution System (GDS) and third party provider websites. And methods. Embodiments of the present invention may include a travel booking system that augments search results from third party provider websites with content available to an online self booking tool. If the search is initiated in an online self booking tool, the search results returned by the online self booking tool may be augmented with third party services and content obtained from the third party provider's website. A search initiated at the third party provider's website may trigger a parallel search on one or more GDS databases. The search may be initiated transparently by the user or in response to a user action.

  The travel booking system may receive and combine search results from the website and the GDS, and may filter the combined results to eliminate duplicates. The travel booking system may then identify travel offers that do not conform to one or more corporate specifications of the business entity or user profile criteria. The results may then be displayed to the user, with non-compliant travel suggestions filtered out, or marked to indicate that they do not conform to one or more corporate travel policies. Embodiments of the present invention may thereby extend the scope of on-line self-reservation tool services and content to website search results without causing development dependency on the website.

  The search initiated in the online self booking tool may generate a travel offer that preferably includes one or more travel products purchased through the online channel. The travel booking system may detect these travel offers and initiate a search for detection results at a website associated with the online channel. The travel booking system may receive and apply the associated travel policy to the search results and display the data to the user using the data format of the website. The online self booking tool search results may thereby be augmented with content from websites that are labeled as compliant or non-compliant with corporate travel policies. Embodiments of the present invention may thereby provide the online self-reservation tool with features that embed third party provider content and services obtained through a website directly into GDS search results. The travel management system must thereby replicate, generalize, and maintain certain services and content offered by online travel agencies, airline websites, meta search engines and other third party providers. You may avoid it. In addition, the travel booking system may include profile management features that apply specific user and / or corporate travel profiles to search results. The travel booking system may thereby value the airline by customizing the results for the particular user requesting the search. In addition, by ensuring that the user has purchased travel items that fall within the corporate travel policy, the travel reservation system is likely to be reimbursed for the cost of travel items obtained by the user through the online channel. May be increased. The travel booking system may allow the user to charge a corporate credit card or other account for travel booked online, thereby avoiding the need for refund of the online purchase.

  Referring now to FIG. 1, an operating environment 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a network 20 including one or more private and / or public networks (eg, the Internet) that allow the exchange of data between systems. A GDS 12, one or more third party provider systems 14, a travel management system 16 as well as a user system 18 may be in communication via: In embodiments of the present invention, the travel management system 16 may be integrated with the GDS 12, in which case the features of the travel management system 16 may be provided by the GDS 12.

  The GDS 12 may be configured to store and retrieve information as well as conduct transactions for air travel, hotels, rental cars or other travel related goods. To this end, GDS 12 may maintain links with various airlines, travel agencies and other service provider systems (not shown) via network 20. These links allow the GDS 12 to route reservation requests among the various systems so that flights and other travel goods may be reserved to multiple service providers via a single connection to the GDS 12. Good.

  The third party system 14 may host a website for a third party provider of an online travel agent, meta search engine, airline, hotel or any other travel product. The website may be configured to allow travelers to search and book travel items sold by third party providers. The third party system 14 may thereby allow the user to search for and book travel items via a suitable software application, such as a web browser, executing on the user system 18.

  The travel management system 16 may be maintained by an entity, such as a company or a travel management company, to manage employee travel. To this end, the travel management system 16 may provide an online self-reservation tool 52 (FIG. 3) configured to allow business travelers to create travel schedules at a single centralized location. . The travel management system 16 may thereby provide a centralized location for storing data regarding user and business profiles, user and business preferences, business contracts and business travel rules. The travel management system 16 may host a program that provides cost management and tracking functions. User system 18 may be a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone or any other computing device that provides users with access to systems 12, 14, 16 connected to network 20.

  Referring now to FIG. 2, the GDS 12 of the operating environment 10, the third party system 14, the travel management system 16 and the user system 18 are implemented on one or more computer devices or systems, such as the illustrative computer system 22. You may Computer system 22 may include processor 24, memory 26, mass storage memory device 28, input / output (I / O) interface 30 and user interface 32.

  The processor 24 is an operation stored in a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuit, analog circuit, digital circuit or memory 26. It may include one or more devices selected from any other device that manipulates the signal (analog or digital) based on the instructions. The memory 26 includes read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, cache memory, Alternatively, it may include a single memory device or multiple memory devices, including but not limited to any other device capable of storing information. The mass storage memory device 28 may include data storage devices such as a hard drive, an optical drive, a tape drive, a non-volatile solid state device, or any other device capable of storing information. Database 34 may reside in mass storage memory device 28 and may be used to collect and organize data used by the various systems, applications, modules and tools described herein.

  Processor 24 may operate under the control of an operating system 36 residing in memory 26. Operating system 36 manages computer resources such that computer program code embodied as one or more computer software applications, such as application 38 residing in memory 26, may have instructions to be executed by processor 24. You may In an alternative embodiment, processor 24 may execute application 38 directly, in which case operating system 36 may be omitted. One or more data structures 40 may also be present in memory 26 and may be used by processor 24, operating system 36 and / or application 38 to store or manipulate data.

  I / O interface 30 may provide a machine interface that operatively couples processor 24 to other devices and systems, such as network 20. The application 38 thereby operates in cooperation with the network 20 by communicating via the I / O interface 30 to provide various features, functions and / or modules comprising embodiments of the present invention. Good. Application 38 may have program code executed by one or more external resources (not shown) or otherwise provide functions and / or provided by other systems or network components external to computer system 22. It may depend on the signal. Indeed, given near infinite hardware and software configurations, one skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention may be located external to computer system 22 or distributed to multiple computers or other external resources. It will be appreciated that applications may be included, or may be provided by computing resources (hardware and software) provided as services on the network 20, such as cloud computing services.

  The user interface 32 may be operatively coupled to the processor 24 of the computer system 22 in a known manner to allow the user to interact directly with the computer system 22. The user interface 32 may include video and / or alphanumeric displays, touch screens, speakers, and any other suitable audio, visual and / or tactile indicators capable of providing information to the user. The user interface 32 is an input device and control means capable of accepting commands or inputs from the user and sending the input to the processor 24 such as an alphanumeric keyboard, pointing device, keypad, push button, control knob, microphone, etc. May also be included.

  Referring now to FIG. 3, a travel booking system 50 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may include an online self booking tool 52 and a data siphon tool 54. The online self-reservation tool 52 and data siphoning tool 54 may be in communication with the third party provider database 56 of the third party system 14, the corporate travel suggestion database 58 and the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 of the GDS 12, and the user application 62. The third party provider database 56 may be configured to be accessed through a third party provider's website. User application 62 may be any suitable application, such as a web browser, that allows the user to access travel booking system 50 via user system 18.

  The third party provider database 56 may include travel offers provided by a third party provider, such as an airline, an online travel agent or a meta search website. The third party provider database 56 may be searchable based on the characteristics of the travel offer stored therein. These characteristics describe the travel offer, such as type of travel item, travel item availability, travel item price, purpose and departure city, flight date and time, hotel star rating, location, or any other characteristic of the travel offer. May be included. The business travel suggestion database 58 of GDS 12 may include travel suggestions specific to a particular business entity (e.g., a business), such as flights with negotiated charges for purchases, hotel rooms or other travel products. The comprehensive travel proposal database 60 of GDS 12 may be a searchable database that includes all travel proposals generally available to the public through GDS 12, such as travel proposals that do not include negotiated fees. Similar to the third party provider database 56, the corporate travel suggestion database 58 and the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 may be searchable based on one or more characteristics of the travel suggestion.

  The online self booking tool 52 may include a profile module 64, a cost management database 66, a graphical user interface (GUI) module 68, and an interface module 70. The profile module 64 (1) profile information, travel preferences, travel and reservation information, and travel requests for system users, and (2) travel rules, approval processes, provider preferences, provider contracts, payment and billing information, and It may be configured to provide centralized management of public relations campaigns, for one or more business entities. To this end, the profile module 64 may include a user profile engine 72, a corporate profile engine 74 and a travel regulation engine 76. The user profile engine 72 may centralize user profile and travel preference data, thereby enabling search results to be tailored to the particular user requesting the search. As an example, user profile engine 72 may provide user data indicating whether the user prefers a particular hotel chain or participates in a particular frequent customer reward program. Search queries and / or search results may be adjusted based on this user preference data. Similarly, corporate profile engine 74 may be configured to provide data regarding corporate profiles, preferences, and contracts with travel service providers. This corporate profile information may include, for example, information regarding a corporate credit card or travel account that allows for direct payment for travel booked by the business. The trip definition engine 76 may be configured to provide data defining a company definition that applies to the user's business trip. The data provided by the corporate profile engine 74 and the travel regulation engine may be used to modify the search query and / or search results such that the search results reflect the corporate profile and definition of the company to which the user is associated. .

  The expense management database 66 of the online self booking tool 52 may be configured to store and maintain data regarding user travel expenses. To this end, data on travel charges incurred by the user, such as from booking travel items, as well as payments made to the travel item provider may be stored in cost management database 66. This data is then used to generate cost reports for the user, to track corporate travel costs, to provide accounting information on corporate travel budgets, or for any other appropriate purpose. May be used.

  The GUI module 68 of the online self booking tool 52 may be configured to send data to and receive data from the interface module 70 of the online self booking tool 52. The GUI module 68 may receive data from the user application 62 via the interface module 70 and formalize this data for use by the online self-reservation tool 52. The GUI module 68 may also receive data generated by the on-line self-reservation tool 52 and format this data for presentation to the user. In any case, data exchanged between the GUI module 68 and the GDS 12 passes through the profile module 64 so that search queries and results may be modified based on the user and company profile and preferences as described above. Good. The interface module 70 of the online self booking tool 52 may be an application program interface (API) that allows the user application 62 to communicate with the GUI module 68 via the online self booking tool channel.

  Data siphoning tool 54 may include connector module 78, result processing module 80, rendering module 82 and interface module 84. The interface module 84 of the data capture tool 54 may provide an API that allows the user application 62 to communicate with the rendering module 82. Interface module 84 may be configured to provide access to one or more online channels by enabling user application 62 to communicate with a third party web site via data ingestion tool 54 .

  The connector module 78 of the data siphoning tool 54 may be configured to receive data regarding user actions received from the rendering module 82 of the data siphoning tool 54. In response to receiving this data, the connector module 78 populates the profile module 64 of the online self booking tool 52, the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 of the GDS 12, and the third party provider database 56 of the third party system 14. It may be sent. This transmitted data defines search queries and other directives or triggers that cause the online self booking tool 52, the third party provider database 56 and the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 to perform functions related to searching and booking travel items. You may The connector module 78 may be configured to transmit keepalive signals at appropriate intervals to maintain a link with the third party system 14 and / or the online self-reserve tool 52.

  In response to receiving search query data from the connector module 78 of the data ingestion tool 54, the profile module 64 of the online self-reservation tool 52 may generate one or more search queries. These search queries may be based on the received search query data and (1) user profile data provided by user profile engine 72, (2) company profile, preferences and contract data provided by company profile engine 74, And (3) may further include data added by the profile module 64, such as corporate travel prescription data provided by the travel prescription engine 76. When profile module 64 completes generating one or more search queries, profile module 64 sends one or more queries to GDS 12's corporate travel suggestion database 58 and a comprehensive travel suggestion database. Good.

  The results processing module 80 of the data siphoning tool 54 may be configured to receive search results data from the third party provider database 56 of the third party system 14 and the enterprise and comprehensive travel suggestion databases 58, 60 of the GDS 12. Results processing module 80 may merge this search results data and also remove duplicate trip proposals. The results processing module 80 may then adjust the regulatory compliance, guidance and display settings of each of the travel offers in the received search results by flagging or removing the travel offers that do not comply with the settings. Results processing module 80 may then provide the adjusted search results to rendering module 82 of data siphoning tool 54 for further processing.

  The rendering module 82 is provided via the results processing module 80 so that the expanded third party data is displayed by the user application 62 with a similar look and feel that would be provided by the third party provider's website May be configured to formalize the adjusted search results. The displayed user interface may be generated by the rendering module 82. The rendering module 82 may simply add or insert specific content to the user interface rendered and displayed natively by the website. The rendering module 82 may thereby maintain the user experience provided to users directly accessing the third party provider's website. The rendering module 82 may track and facilitate user actions during the booking process and during any pre- and post-travel activities.

  Tools, modules and databases comprising the travel booking system 50 may be hosted on one or more of the GDS 12, the travel management system 16 and / or the user system 18. In the embodiment of the present invention, the connector module 78, the result processing module 80, the rendering module 82 and the interface module 84 of the data siphoning tool 54 are one or more plug-ins for a web browser application executing on the user system 18. An extension may be provided. The online self booking tool 52 may be provided by an application hosted by the trip management system 16, which may be a corporate server or a server maintained by a trip management company. In embodiments of the present invention, travel management system 16 may be hosted or otherwise provided by GDS 12.

  Embodiments of the present invention manage the management of corporate travel purchases online such as an online travel agent website, a meta search website, an airline website, a hotel website, a car rental website or any other suitable service website. It may be expanded to include channels. This may be accomplished by selectively capturing data regarding the travel offer displayed by the website and expanding this data with business rules and contracts provided by the travel booking system 50.

  Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart illustrates a process 90 for booking a travel offer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. At block 92, the travel booking system 50 may create an inventory of display objects associated with the online channel web site for which the search query is being performed. These display objects may include text, images, templates, code (eg, hypertext markup language (HTML) code), or any other data object that defines what is displayed by the online channel website. . The list of display objects may be stored as a plurality of data structures 40 in the travel management system 16 or the memory 26 of the user system 18. Also, the inventory of display objects may be stored in a database 34 residing on mass storage of the travel management system 16 or user system 18. In any event, the inventory of display objects may enhance the ability of the travel booking system 50 to interact with content and services received from an online channel website.

  At block 94, the travel booking system 50 identifies and captures key attributes of the travel offer displayed by the online channel website. The identified attributes may, for example, be captured using a web scraping method. The key attributes may include the unique identifier or price of the travel item included in the travel offer. Exemplary key attributes may include flight numbers and ticket prices for flights between departure and destination city pairs.

  At block 96, the travel booking system 50 may determine whether the data received from the on-line channel website should be expanded. This determination may be made, for example, based on whether the expansion feature has been enabled in the travel booking system 50. Expansion options may be set by the user based on search terms such as the type of travel product being sought, based on the identity of the online channel, or for any other suitable reason. Also, the status of the expand option may be selected based on user or company profile data provided by the profile module 64 of the online self booking tool 52. In any event, in response to the expansion option being disabled ("NO" branch of decision block 96), the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 98. In response to the expansion option being enabled ("YES" branch of decision block 96), the travel booking system 50 proceeds to block 100 and starts the process of expanding the search results provided by the online channel website. Good.

  At block 100, the travel booking system 50 may search one or more of the business travel suggestion database 58 and the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 of the GDS 12. This search may seek travel suggestions that meet the search parameters used to search the online channel website. To this end, the connector module 78 of the data siphoning tool 54 may send data to the profile module 64 of the on-line self-reservation tool 52. This data may include parameters or search terms received from user application 62. In response to receiving the data, the profile module 64 uses user profile engine 72 to generate user profile data, corporate profile engine 74 to use data regarding corporate profiles, policies, preferences and contracts, and travel. The rules engine 76 may be used to obtain corporate travel rules. The profile module 64 may then generate one or more database queries based on the data received from the connector module 78 and the data provided by the user profile engine 72, the enterprise profile engine 74 and the enterprise travel regulation engine 76. . Online self-reservation tool 52 may send one or more search queries to GDS 12. In response to receiving the search query, GDS 12 may search corporate travel suggestion database 58 and / or comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 for travel suggestions that satisfy the search query. The travel suggestions that satisfy the search query may be sent to the results processing module 80 of the data upload tool 54.

  In response to receiving search results from the corporate travel suggestion database 58 and the comprehensive travel suggestion database 60 at the results processing module 80, the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 102. At block 102, results processing module 80 may combine the search results received from GDS 12 with the search results received from the online channel website. The search results received from the online channel website may have been obtained by querying the third party provider database 56. The travel booking system 50 may thereby augment the search results received from the on-line channel website with the travel offers obtained from the GDS 12 before proceeding to block 104.

  At block 104, results processing module 80 may remove duplicate travel suggestions and irrelevant or non-conforming travel suggestions from the search results. An unrelated travel offer may include, for example, a travel offer that does not comply with corporate travel rules or user preferences. The remaining travel suggestions may then be sent to the rendering module 82. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, rather than removing irrelevant travel suggestions from the search results, unrelated travel suggestions are flagged to identify the reason why each is not relevant, and then rendering module 82 along with the relevant travel suggestions. May be sent to

  At block 106, the rendering module 82 may update the on-line channel website display data to include any additional travel suggestions that are added by the results processing module 80 to the search results. The rendering module 82 may thereby generate display data that combines the travel proposals from the GDS 12 and the online channel website to create an integrated display. The resulting consolidated presentation may include additional business travel proposals, regulatory status information and compliance guidelines. Examples of compliance guidelines may include a flag or other indicia indicating whether the displayed travel proposal complies with corporate travel rules. The rendering module 82 may also redirect the reservation flow, implement new display settings, remove irrelevant results, or otherwise change what is displayed to the user. The resulting display data may then be sent to the user application 62 via the interface module 84.

  At block 98, the travel booking system 50 may synchronize user information. This synchronization may occur, for example, in response to the user booking the displayed travel offer. Purchase and expense information may be sent to the expense management database 66 of the online self-reservation tool 52 in response to the user booking a travel offer. At block 108, this data may be associated with the user in cost management database 66. The travel booking system 50 may thereby track the costs for multiple travel offers booked through the different channels by the same user based on the data stored in the cost management database 66.

  Process 90 may be terminated at any point in the process flow based on enterprise preferences. In response to the process 90 being terminated, the user may be redirected to the associated reservation process flow in the online self reservation tool 52. That is, the reservation process may continue without the additional features provided by the data siphoning tool 54. In this case, redirection may be contextualized using user interaction captured from an online channel website. For example, the user may be redirected to the travel proposal availability status page where the relevant search has already been performed.

  In operation, the user may initiate its search for trip proposals that satisfy the trip schedule by launching the user application 62, which may be a web browser running on the user system 18. In embodiments of the present invention, the browser may include a plug-in extension that provides the data upload tool 54 of the travel booking system 50. The user may then proceed with the user application 62 to an online channel website that may be hosted by the third party system 14 or to the online self booking tool 52 of the travel booking system 50. In the embodiment of the present invention, the online self booking tool 52 may be hosted by the travel management system 16. Where the user application 62 communicates with the online channel website, the data exchanged between the user application and the website may pass through or be monitored by the data retrieval tool 54.

  Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow chart illustrates a process 110 by which the user may book travel options via the online channel website or via the online self booking tool 52. At block 112, the user initiates a search. The search may be initiated, for example, by the user entering data in the fields displayed by the user application 62 and activating the search button. The data entered by the user defines one or more search parameters, such as departure / destination city pairs, desired travel dates, and any other parameters that may be used to identify travel recommendations that satisfy the travel itinerary. You may The user may also enter data that uniquely identifies the user. For example, if the user has an existing account on the online channel website, the user may log in to that account using a username and password before starting the search.

  If the search is initiated at the online channel website ("YES" branch of decision block 114), the process may proceed to block 116. At block 116, search parameters may be captured by the connector module 78 of the data siphoning tool 54 and sent to the profile module 64 of the online self-reserving tool 52. The connector module 78 may also send data identifying the user to the online self booking tool 52. The online self booking tool 52 requires the user or user application 62 to provide data such as a username or password or security code before allowing the data siphoning tool 54 to access the online self booking tool 52 It is also good.

  In response to receiving the retrieved search parameters, the online self-reservation tool 52 may initiate a parallel search in the GDS 12. This parallel search may identify travel offers in the corporate travel offer database 58 and the comprehensive travel offer database 60 that satisfy the search parameters. Parallel search may thereby identify corporate travel offers that have a negotiating fee or that are otherwise specific to the user or the company for which the user is booking a trip. Parallel search may also identify travel offers that are generally available through the GDS 12 that satisfy the search parameters. In response to identifying the travel offer in one or more of the enterprise and the comprehensive travel offer database 58, 60, the GDS 12 may transmit the identified travel options to the results processing module 80 of the data retrieval tool 54 .

  At block 118, the results processing module 80 of the data siphoning tool 54 may capture search results received from the GDS 12 and the online channel website. In response to the search results being captured by the results processing module 80, the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 120 to adjust the captured search results. To this end, the results processing module 80 may apply relevant travel rules to the combined search results as well as remove any duplicate travel offers. Travel recommendations that are relevant and incompatible with travel recommendations may also be removed from the search results. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, nonconforming travel suggestions may be flagged or otherwise identified. This may allow flagged travel offers to be displayed with a warning that flagged travel offers may not comply with corporate travel rules. The user may thereby be informed that the company may not reimburse the user for flagged travel offers. In any event, in response to adjusting the search results combined by the results processing module 80, the results processing module 80 may send the adjusted search results to the rendering module 82 of the data import tool 54. Process 110 may then proceed to block 122.

  If a search is initiated at the online reservation tool 52 of the travel booking system 50 ("NO" branch of decision block 114), the process may proceed to block 124. At block 124, the travel booking system 50 determines whether any of the travel offers in the search results received from the business travel suggestions database 58 and the comprehensive travel suggestions database 60 of the GDS 12 should be purchased through the online channel. You may The determination to purchase a travel offer through the online channel may be made, for example, based on a database item indicating that the travel offer should be purchased through the online channel. In this way, an on-line channel may be selected from multiple on-line channels and associated with a particular travel offer. If no search results are received from the GDS 12 companies and the comprehensive travel proposal database 58, 60, the process 110 may rely exclusively on travel proposals from the on-line channel. That is, the decision to retrieve the online travel offer may be made in response to the company of the GDS 12 and the absence of the travel offer returned by the comprehensive travel offer database 58,60. In any case, if any of the travel offers are to be purchased through the online channel ("YES" branch of decision block 126), the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 128.

  At block 128, the travel booking system 50 may obtain data from an online channel web site that corresponds to an online channel on which the identified travel offer should be purchased. In embodiments of the present invention, this data may define the content received from the online channel website in response to the search query sent to the online channel website by the connector module 78 of the data collection tool 54. In response to receiving data from the on-line channel website, the trip booking system 50 may add to the search results the trip offer received from the on-line channel website and proceed to block 130.

  At block 130, the travel booking system 50 may adjust the combined search results. Process to combine search results from GDS 12 and third party system 14 if only online search results are available (eg no search results were received from company and comprehensive travel suggestion database 58, 60 of GDS 12) May be omitted. In any case, adjustments may be made by the results processing module 80 of the data siphoning tool 54, which may apply the associated travel rules to the combined search results and remove any duplicate travel offers. As also described above with respect to block 120, search results that are incompatible with the associated travel rules may be removed or flagged. In response to adjusting the search results combined by the results processing module 80, the results processing module 80 may send the adjusted search results to the rendering module 82. Process 110 may then proceed to block 122.

  At block 122, the travel booking system 50 may cause the content of the adjusted search results to be displayed by the user application 62. To this end, the rendering module 82 of the data sinker tool 54 displays the display data based on the tailored travel suggestions to create a display or web page that includes both company specific travel suggestions as well as travel suggestions from the online channel. May generate. The resulting user interface display may be generated by the rendering module 82. The rendering module 82 may add or insert specific content into the user interface rendered natively by the website. At block 132, the travel booking system 50 may determine whether the user has added one or more of the displayed travel offers to the travel itinerary. In response to the user adding a travel offer ("YES" branch of decision block 132), the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 134.

  At block 134, the travel booking system 50 may synchronize user information. This synchronization may include centralizing reservation, purchases and cost data for operations performed through different channels. That is, data regarding travel products purchased through different online channels may be centralized in the travel booking system. This may be the case for purchases made based on search results from online channel websites augmented with content from GDS 12 and purchases made based on search results from GDS 12 augmented with online channel travel proposals. . In an embodiment of the present invention, synchronized data may be stored in the cost management database 66 of the online self booking tool 52. If the user does not add the travel offer to the travel itinerary ("NO" branch of decision block 132), process 110 may end.

  Embodiments of the present invention may facilitate the implementation of corporate travel rules for travel options retrieved and purchased through an online channel. This feature may reduce the need to develop duplicate services and content from online travel agencies and airline websites in GDS 12, thereby reducing development and maintenance costs. In addition, users accustomed to searching and booking travel offers through online channel websites may avoid adapting to the "off-line" channels typically provided by conventional online self-reservation tools. The reservation process provided by the embodiments of the present invention may thus not confuse the user than the reservation process provided by conventional online self-reservation tools that lack this feature. In addition, the reduced need to develop duplicate services and content also reduces the time to market for new services and content in the travel industry, while corporate travel provisions for travel products that are booked via online channels May increase compliance with

  By providing access to corporate rates while searching the online channel website, embodiments of the present invention further use the online travel agent or airline website to locate and book a business trip. You may raise the benefits. Corporate travel preferences, programs and contracts, and user preferences and costs are centralized so that users can find and purchase travel products from multiple third party providers without having to track expenses, preferences or corporate regulations externally May be synchronized in the database.

  Expanding on-line channel travel offers with corporate travel offers and displaying them together may increase the user's ability to fully compare alternative travel offers. In addition, filtering out duplicate and / or irrelevant travel proposals or identifying the displayed travel proposals as being incapable of complying with corporate travel regulation rules also reduces the effort required to evaluate competitors. You may The user experience may be further enhanced by modifying and inserting graphical content into the online channel website display, and by communicating travel rules and corporate preferences to the traveler during the selection step. Embodiments of the present invention may thereby maintain, as far as possible, the user's normal online channel reservation experience. This feature may also avoid the need for third party providers to develop custom features. That is, online channel content may be expanded and displayed without any special action required by the third party provider. In addition, synchronized online booking, purchases and cost information may improve prescription and cost tracking as well as user interaction.

  Those skilled in the art will appreciate that program code that embodies any of the embodiments of the invention described herein may be individually or collectively distributed as program products of various different shapes. . In particular, the program code may be distributed using computer readable media, which may include computer readable storage media and communication media. Computer readable storage media are non-transitory in nature and are implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, volatile and non-volatile And removable and non-removable tangible media. The computer readable storage medium includes RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, portable compact disc read only memory (CD) -ROM) or other optical storage devices, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other that can be used to store the desired information and can be read by a computer It may further include a medium. Communication media may embody computer readable instructions, data structures or other program modules. By way of example and not limitation, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above may also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

  The methods described herein are by computer program instructions provided to a processor of any type of computer to cause a machine having a processor to execute instructions and implement the functions / acts specified herein. It can be implemented. These computer program instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium that can instruct a computer to function in a particular way. To that end, computer program instructions are loaded onto a computer to produce the performance of a series of operational steps, whereby the process to be performed implements the functions / acts specified herein. As provided, a computer implemented process may be provided.

  In addition, program code described herein may be identified based on the application or software component for which the program code is implemented in a particular embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature of interest is merely used for convenience, and thus the invention is specified and / or implied by such nomenclature It should not be limited to use in any particular application. It should further be appreciated that the various features, applications and devices disclosed herein may be used alone or in any combination. Moreover, typically a myriad of ways in which a computer program may be organized into routines, procedures, methods, modules, objects etc., as well as computing systems (e.g. operating systems, libraries, APIs, applications) in which program functionality is typical In view of the various methods that may be distributed among the various software layers that exist within (eg, applets, etc.), and / or across one or more hardware platforms, the present invention provides the program functionality described herein. It should be appreciated that it is not limited to the specific organization and distribution of gender.

  The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to also include the plural, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" as used herein specify the presence of predetermined features, integers, steps, acts, elements and / or components but It will be further understood that it does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, acts, elements, components and / or groups thereof. Furthermore, the terms "includes", "having", "has", "with", "composed of", or variants thereof are described in detail or in detail. As used in the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in the same manner as the term "comprising".

According to one aspect, in addition to the scope of the following claims, the methodology described herein is characterized by the following aspects.
1. A method of expanding search results provided to users with content from third party provider websites,
Receiving a search query on a computer in communication with the online self-reservation tool;
Identifying on a computer a travel proposal that satisfies the search query;
Determining by computer whether the travel offer should be purchased through the website;
Establishing in computer a link with the website in response to determining that the travel offer should be purchased through the website;
Computer-captured content relating to the travel offer sent by the website via the link;
Searching a first database for a travel policy of the entity, wherein the travel policy relates to content;
Displaying content and travel policies to the user via the online self booking tool in response to identifying the business travel policies.
2. The first method, in which the entity's travel rules include preferences set by the entity.
3. At the computer, receiving a query indicating that the user wishes to add an element to the travel offer;
Forwarding the query to the website in response to receiving the query;
Updating the second database in response to receiving a response from the website indicating that the element has been added to the travel offer;
The first or second method, wherein the second database provides a centralized repository of travel activities of the user synchronized with the website.
4. The device,
A processor that communicates with the online self-reservation tool,
When executed by the processor, the device
Let me receive a search query,
Identify travel suggestions that satisfy the search query,
Let them determine if the travel offer should be purchased through the third party provider's website,
In response to determining that the travel offer should be purchased through the website, establishing a link with the website,
Incorporate content about travel offers, sent through links by websites,
The first database is searched for travel rules of the entity, which are travel rules for the content,
A memory including instructions for causing the user to display content and travel provisions via the online self-reservation tool in response to identifying travel provisions of the business entity.
5. Non-transitory computer readable storage medium,
When executed by the processor, the processor
Let me receive a search query,
Identify travel suggestions that satisfy the search query,
Let them determine if the travel offer should be purchased through the third party provider's website,
In response to determining that the travel offer should be purchased through the website, establishing a link with the website,
Include the content sent by the website via the link, which is the content for the travel proposal
Search the first database according to the travel rules of the content-related business,
Instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium for causing the user to display the content and the travel policy of the business via the online self booking tool in response to specifying the travel policy of the business. Computer program product comprising.

  While the embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by the description of the various examples, and these embodiments are described in considerable detail, it is intended to limit the scope of the appended claims to such details or in any way It is not the applicant's intention to limit that. Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative methods and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicant's general inventive concept.

10 operating environment
12 GDS
14 Third Party Provider System
16 Travel Management System
18 User system
20 network
22 Computer system
24 processor
26 memory
28 Mass Storage Memory Device
30 input / output (I / O) interface
32 User Interface
34 Database
36 operating system
38 Application
40 data structure
50 travel reservation system
52 Online Self Reservation Tool
54 Data Suction Tool
56 Third Party Provider Database
58 Corporate Travel Suggestion Database
60 Comprehensive Travel Suggestion Database
62 User Application
64 profile module
66 Cost Management Database
68 Graphical User Interface (GUI) Module
70 interface module
72 User Profile Engine
74 Company Profile Engine
76 travel regulation engine
78 connector module
80 Results processing module
82 Render module
84 interface module

Claims (14)

A method of providing the functionality of an online self booking tool to users who book travel offers through a third party provider's website,
Capturing by computer a search condition included in a search query sent to the website;
Starting the first search on the website including the search condition by the computer ;
Initiating with the computer a second search in a first database comprising a travel proposal having a negotiated fee, wherein the second search comprises the search condition;
Capturing by the computer a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database;
Combining the first and second sets of search results into a third set of search results;
Generating a fourth set of search results from the third set of search results by removing duplicate search results by the computer ;
The computer, and generating display data based on at least a portion of said set of fourth search results,
A step in which the computer displays a user interface generated by inserting the display data to the user interface displayed is rendered natively to the user by the web site,
How to provide. The step of the computer generating the fourth set of search results is:
Identifying a search result inconsistent with the business travel rules;
The method according to claim 1, comprising the step of flagging or removing the specified search results.   3. The method of claim 2, further comprising retrieving the travel policy of the entity from a travel policy engine of the online self booking tool. By the computer,
Identifying a travel offer included in the first and second sets of search results;
Identifying first data within the first set of search results, wherein the first data is associated with content displayed by the website, and the content is associated with the travel offer Step, and
Adding second data to the first data to produce third data, wherein the second data is from the second set of search results and features of the travel proposal , Steps and
Displaying the third data to the user. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying the third data to the user.   5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second data comprises the price of the travel offer. Sending a query from the computer to the website;
Receiving at the computer a response from the website, wherein the response comprises first data regarding content displayed by the website;
Extracting the first data from the response by the computer ;
Storing the first data in a second database configured to maintain an inventory of the content displayed by the web site. The method according to one item.   7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first data comprises data uniquely identifying a travel offer, or data defining a price of the travel offer. Retrieving from the one of the first and second databases the second data relating to business travel proposal provision status, regulatory compliance guidelines, reservation flow redirection or display settings;
It said computer further comprises a step of displaying the second data to the user A method according to claim 6 or 7. By the computer,
Determining the identity of the user;
Capturing data about the user;
6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of associating the data regarding the user with the user's identity in a second database. The data for the user relates to a reservation, purchase or expense for a travel offer;
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises the step of synchronizing the data regarding the user such that the second database provides a centralized repository of travel activities of the user. A device,
A processor,
When executed by the processor, the device
Include the search criteria included in the search query sent to the third party provider's website,
Starting a first search on the website including the search criteria,
Initiating a second search including the search criteria in a first database including a travel offer having a negotiated fee;
Importing a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database;
Combining the first and second sets of search results into a third set of search results;
Generating a fourth set of search results from the third set of search results by removing duplicate search results;
Generating display data based on at least a part of the fourth set of search results;
A memory including instructions for causing a user to display a user interface generated by inserting the display data into a user interface rendered and displayed natively by the website;
A device comprising Said instruction further to said device
Causing the travel proposal included in the set of the first and second search results to be specified;
Identifying first data in the first set of search results, the first data being associated with content displayed by the website, the content being associated with the travel offer,
Second data from the second set of search results and relating to features of the travel offer is added to the first data to yield third data;
Display the third data;
An apparatus according to claim 11. Said instruction further to said device
Send a query to the website,
Causing a response from the website to be received that includes first data regarding content displayed by the website;
Causing the first data to be extracted from the response;
Storing the first data in a second database configured to maintain an inventory of the content displayed by the website;
An apparatus according to claim 11. When executed by the processor, the processor,
Include the search criteria included in the search query sent to the third party provider's website,
Starting a first search on the website including the search criteria;
Initiating a second search, including the search criteria, in a first database including travel offers having a negotiated fee,
Importing a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database;
Combining the first and second sets of search results into a third set of search results;
Generating a fourth set of search results from the third set of search results by removing duplicate search results;
Generating display data based on at least a part of the fourth set of search results;
Display a user interface generated by inserting the display data into a user interface that is rendered and displayed natively by the website .
Computer program comprising instructions .

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