KR20140111994A - Alternative travel recommendations - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, a system, and computer program products for making travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations. At least one minimum cost route having an associated value may be determined based on a travel request. At least one alternative route having an associated value may be determined based at least in part on the associated value of the at least one minimum cost route. At least one travel recommendation may be generated based on the at least one minimum cost route, and at least one alternative travel recommendation may be generated based on the at least one alternative route.

Description

Alternative travel recommendations {ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS}

The present invention relates generally to computer and computer software, and more particularly to a method, system, and computer program product for generating an alternative travel upsell opportunity to a potential traveler.

Computer technology is increasingly being used to manage and support travel reservations and related data in the travel industry. With the advent of Internet and mobile technology, potential travelers are increasingly relying on computer-based travel reservation systems to select one travel option from multiple potential travel options. In a conventional computer-based travel reservation system, a potential traveler can send a travel request to a travel server, which can analyze the travel request and determine one or more potential travel recommendations based on the travel request. A potential traveler may select a particular travel advisor and perform a reservation transaction with the travel server to reserve the selected travel advisories. In some conventional systems, the server may provide a flexible date and / or flexible geographical location to the travel advisor, thereby reducing costs to potential travelers and / or providing travel advisors to potential travelers. It is possible to increase the possibility of selling. For example, for a travel recommendation that includes one or more flights, the travel recommendation may include an airline that departs and / or arrives at a different airport within a geographical region and / or airports that are included in a travel request of a potential traveler And / or flights departing and / or arriving at a different time than the time.

Providing these travel services is becoming more and more competitive, generally making pricing and content more competitive. In order to remain competitive, conventional travel system providers generally endeavor to provide trip advisories at the lowest possible price to match travel requests at the shortest possible query time. Thus, although computer-based travel reservation systems generally provide time and cost savings to potential travelers, such systems generally limit travel advice presented to potential travelers, as well as additional travel products and / or alternative travel options To the potential traveler.

As a result, there is a significant need in the art for improved computer-based travel reservation systems, methods of providing travel recommendations, and computer program products.

Embodiments of the present invention create at least one alternative travel recommendation based on a user's travel request in addition to one or more standard travel recommendations, wherein the at least one alternative travel recommendation includes a higher price than one or more standard travel advisories And an alternative travel recommendation may include at least one additional stop in a geographic location identified as an interesting or attractive geographic location to visit.

Embodiments of the present invention generally include methods, systems and computer program products for generating standard travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations. Travel requests including geographical constraints and temporal constraints may be received at the travel server. At least one minimum fare path including the associated monetary value may be determined based on the received travel question. At least one travel recommendation including an associated price is generated based on at least one minimum fare path. In addition, at least one alternative fare path is determined by filtering a plurality of candidate fare paths. Filtering the candidate fare path is based at least in part on the associated value of the at least one minimum fare path. At least one alternative travel recommendation is generated based at least in part on at least one alternative fare path, wherein the alternative travel recommendation includes an associated price.

In some embodiments, each alternative travel recommendation includes an additional stop that is not included in any standard travel recommendation, and in this embodiment, the candidate fare path may include any route in the candidate fare path, Or < / RTI > In some embodiments, the price associated with each alternative travel recommendation is higher than the price associated with any standard travel advisory. Prices generally include pricing, surcharges and applicable taxes. In some embodiments, the at least one alternative travel recommendation may not meet geographic and / or temporal constraints of the travel request.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, .
1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a travel server, an availability server, and a client device in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the functional components of the travel server and / or availability server of Figure 1;
3 is a flow chart illustrating an operational sequence performed by the travel server and / or availability server of FIG. 1 to generate one or more travel recommendations and one or more alternative travel recommendations.
4 is a flow diagram illustrating an operational sequence performed by the travel server of FIG. 1 to filter one or more toll paths of a minimum toll path graph to extract one or more alternative toll paths.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of a minimum toll path graph database that may be stored in the travel server of FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of a minimum toll path and route that can be used by the travel server of FIG. 1 to generate a travel recommendation;
Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an example of filtering and extraction of the flow charts of Figures 4 and 5 that may be performed by the travel server of Figure 1;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations generated by the travel server of FIG. 1 that may be output at the user device of FIG. 1;

Embodiments of the present invention generate an alternative travel recommendation in addition to a standard travel recommendation corresponding to the lowest price for a potential traveler (referred to herein as a user) in response to a travel request submitted by the user. In some embodiments of the invention, such alternative travel recommendations include additional stops not included in the lowest price travel recommendation. Typically, an additional stop refers to a stop in a geographic location where this additional geographic location may be attractive to the user for one or more reasons. For example, the additional stop position may include an attractive area similar to the attraction of the location of the user's travel request. As another example, the additional stop may include one or more attractive regions that are shown to be desirable by the user in the user profile associated with the user. In another example, this additional stop may be confined to the geographic location of interest, where the database may store data representing such a geographic location of interest. Moreover, generating an alternative travel recommendation in response to a user's travel request may be performed at the same time as generating a standard travel recommendation corresponding to the lowest price for the requested origin and destination, A possible delay in creating an alternative recommendation can be reduced by performing a combination of the lowest cost travel recommendation and the alternative travel recommendation operation simultaneously.

In some embodiments, alternative travel recommendations may be generated, where the alternative travel recommendations may include additional stops, as well as modify the time constraints of the user's travel request. In some embodiments, the alternative travel recommendation may include a higher price than the standard minimum price travel recommendation, and in these embodiments, this alternative travel recommendation may be an alternative upsell due to the higher associated price, It can be considered as a travel recommendation. An alternative recommendation may include an additional stop within the time constraint of the user's travel request or an alternative recommendation may include an additional stop in a manner such that the travel time associated with the alternative recommendation does not correspond to the temporal constraint of the user's travel request .

According to embodiments of the present invention, alternative travel recommendations may improve the user's travel advisor shopping experience by providing alternative travel recommendations that may not have been considered by the user. In addition, by providing an alternative travel recommendation, the user can more frequently use the system including embodiments of the present invention based in part on being able to more easily arrange available travel options to the user, The loyalty can be increased compared to the conventional travel reservation shopping system.

Moreover, from the perspective of a travel provider and / or a travel booking service provider, the alternative travel recommendations generated by embodiments of the present invention can generate more revenue for the provider. In addition, a system including an embodiment of the present invention can attract more customers based in part on improved travel advisor shopping experience, and this improved travel advisor shopping experience can be used as a booking rate (i.e., The rate at which a recommendation is reserved).

For example, if a travel request for a user travels from Nice, France (NCE) to San Francisco, California (SFO) (geographical limitation) on July 17 and returns on July 24, (Time constraint) trip, the user can generally choose from trip advisories that include trips starting from the NCE on July 17th and returning to the NCE on July 24th. However, in this example, the user may also be provided with one or more alternative travel recommendations. For example, an alternative travel recommendation may include a one-day stop in Paris, France (PAR) before arriving at the SFO. In another example, an alternative travel recommendation may include a two day stop in Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS), before returning to the NCE. Some alternative travel recommendations may modify the time constraints presented in the travel request. For example, an alternative travel recommendation that includes a two-day stop in Las Vegas may not return to the NCE until July 26th. Other alternative travel recommendations may not correct the time constraints of the travel request. For example, an alternative travel recommendation that includes a one-day stop at PAR may return to the NCE on July 24; Travelers using these alternative travel recommendations will arrive at SFO one day later.

Generally, a travel recommendation may be generated by determining and extracting a minimum fare path from a minimum fare path graph database storing a plurality of candidate fare paths. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the additional location used to create the alternative travel recommendation may be determined dynamically based at least in part on the travel request and minimum toll path associated with generating the travel advisories. The additional location and / or minimum fare path may be used to determine and extract another fare path (i.e., alternative fare path) in addition to the minimum fare path that includes the associated value, Lt; / RTI > Filtering alternative fare paths limits the number of alternative fare paths to extract and analyze. In some embodiments, the travel route stored in the minimum fare path graph database and associated with each alternative fare path is analyzed to identify alternative fare paths that include additional stops.

In one embodiment, the travel server, including the processor and the memory, may analyze the received travel request, including geographic constraints and time constraints, to determine one or more travel recommendations based at least in part on the travel request, Recommendations include the associated prices. The travel server may analyze the received travel request to determine one or more alternative travel recommendations based at least in part on the travel request and / or one or more travel recommendations. Each alternative travel recommendation may include an additional location, where the additional location may not be included in one or more of the travel recommendations, and / or the additional location may not be geographically constrained to the travel request. When determining at least one alternative travel recommendation, the travel server may determine whether the minimum billed route, travel request, user profile associated with the potential traveler, and / or each candidate bidding route used to create one or more trip advisories, Based on at least in part, whether the at least one additional location includes at least one additional location. Further, in some embodiments, an alternative travel recommendation generally corresponds to a higher price relative to the price of the at least one travel advisory.

Finally, in some embodiments, alternative travel recommendations may include higher prices than travel recommendations. In these embodiments, an alternative travel recommendation can be considered an upsell alternative travel recommendation that allows a user to purchase a higher cost trip, thereby allowing him to generate additional revenues to the travel booking service provider and / or one or more travel providers. have. In these embodiments, the extracted alternative fare path may include a higher associated value, filtering the alternative fare path may discard the candidate fare path having an associated value that does not exceed the associated value of the minimum fare path )can do.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure 1, Figure 1 provides a block diagram illustrating components of one or more travel servers 10 and one or more availability servers 12 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the travel server 10 and the availability server 12 may communicate via the communication network 14. Additionally, the one or more client devices 16 may communicate with the travel server 10 via the communications network 14. Communication network 14 generally represents one or more travel servers 10, one or more availability servers 12, and one or more communication networks to which one or more client devices 16 may communicate. For example, communication network 14 may include the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a cellular data network, one or more high speed bus connections, and / or other types of communication networks.

Each travel server 10 includes at least one processor 18 having at least one hardware-based microprocessor coupled to a memory 20. The memory 20 includes a random access memory (RAM) device including a main storage of the travel server 10 and any supplemental level of memory, e.g., cache memory, nonvolatile or backup memory For example, a programmable or flash memory), a read-only memory, or the like. In addition, the memory 20 may be a memory location physically located somewhere in the computer 10, for example, any cache memory in the microprocessor, and any storage capacity, e.g., used as virtual memory For example, a mass storage device connected to the travel server 10, or any storage capacity used as being stored on another computer.

To interface with a user or operator (e.g., a travel agent, a travel service agent, etc.), the travel server 10 typically includes one or more user input / output devices, e.g., a keyboard, a pointing device, And a user interface 22 including a printer and the like. Otherwise, the user input may be received via another computer or terminal, such as, for example, client device 16 via network interface 24 connected to communication network 14, where the communication network may be the Internet have. The travel server 10 may also communicate with one or more mass storage devices, which may be, for example, an internal hard disk storage device, an external hard disk storage device, an external database, a storage area network device,

Each travel server 10 generally operates under the control of an operating system 26 and includes a number of computer software applications 28, such as, for example, a fee searching engine 30 as described in more detail below, , Programs, objects, modules, data structures, and the like. Furthermore, various applications, components, programs, objects, modules, etc. may also be stored on one or more processors in another computer connected to the travel server 10 via the communication network 14 in a distributed or client- So that the processing required to implement the functions of the computer program can be assigned to a plurality of computers through the network. For example, some of the functions described herein in the travel server 10 and / or included in the availability server 12 may be implemented in one or more travel servers 10 and / or one or more availability servers 12, Lt; / RTI >

The memory 20 of the travel server 10 generally includes one or more of the following: a rate database 32, a minimum fee path graph database 34, an additional location database 36, and a user database 38, Save the database. Each of the databases 32, 34, 36, and 38 includes data, and supports a data structure for storing and organizing the data. In particular, each database 32, 34, 36, 38 may be arranged in any database organization and / or structure, including but not limited to relational databases, hierarchical databases, network databases, and / have. May access information or data stored in the records of the databases 32, 34, 36, 38 in response to a query using a database management system in the form of a computer software application executed on command on the processing unit of the travel server 10 .

The toll database 32 typically stores data representing the monetary value for each travel provider between the two geographic locations. For example, the rate database 32 may include data representing values associated with one or more airlines for flights from Los Angeles, California (LAX), California, to Miami, Florida (MIA) Can be stored. The minimum toll path graph database 34 may contain a duplicate of the original value stored elsewhere or a cache of previously computed values. The minimum fare path graph database 34 may include a fare path that is present in all possible travel requests along with a pre-calculated minimum amount based on the value of the fare database 32, wherein the minimum fare path graph database 34 ) May be considered as a candidate fare path. Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the minimum fare path graph database 34 may store route / travel information for each fare path. The travel route information for each fare route is combined in advance based on the information extracted from the charge of the database 32. [ In general, the route information identifies one or more travel routes to which the toll route applies. For example, the minimum fare path graph can store a minimum fare path for trips between Nice, France (NCE) and Miami, Florida (MIA), Florida, It may include one or more routes between the NCE and the MIA to which the route applies.

In addition, the travel server 10 may store an additional location database 36, where the additional location database 36 may contain data indicative of candidate geographic locations for which it may wish to visit. Further, in each stored geographic location, referred to as an additional location or additional candidate location, the additional location database 36 may include data representing one or more categories associated with each stored additional candidate location. One or more categories can identify the specific reason that a geographic location may want to visit. For example, if a Nevada Las Vegas (LAS) is stored in a geographic location in an additional location database 36, the associated category may indicate that Nevada Las Vegas includes casinos as gambling attractions as gambling . Other categories may include, for example, a visitor who typically has a visit, including whether the geographic location includes one or more beaches, museums, historic locations, fine dining, and / May include a category corresponding to the desired attraction area.

As shown, the memory 20 of the travel server 10 may also include a user database 38, wherein the user database may store user profile data for one or more users of the travel server 10 . In such an embodiment, a particular user may be assigned a category of attractive area of interest to the user, a type of travel preferred by the user, a geographic location preferred by the user, and / And provide profile data indicating other information that can be provided to the travel server.

Each availability server 12 generally includes at least one processor 40 having at least one hardware-based microprocessor coupled to a memory 42. Each travel server 10 generally operates under the control of an operating system 44 and executes or relies upon various computer software applications 46, components, programs, objects, modules, data structures, , When executed, generally enables the availability server 12 to perform one or more operations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Each availability server 12 typically forms a travel solution based on a travel schedule issued by a travel provider and / or a travel regulatory entity, And the availability server 12 may retrieve availability for scheduled trips from one or more travel providers and / or other availability compiling services, where such availability < RTI ID = 0.0 > The information is shown in the availability database 50. To interface with a user or an operator, the availability server 12 typically includes a user interface 52 including one or more user input / output devices, e.g., a keyboard, pointing device, display, printer, Otherwise, the user input may be received via another computer or terminal, such as the travel server 10 and / or the client device 16, for example via the network interface 54 connected to the communication network 14 . The availability server 12 may also communicate with one or more mass storage devices, which may be, for example, an internal hard disk storage device, an external hard disk storage device, an external database, a storage area network device,

Although the availability server 12 and the travel server 10 are shown as separate data servers, the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments according to the present invention, the travel server 10 may include a database shown as being associated with the availability server 12, the travel server 10 being associated with the availability server 12, May perform one or more of the operations described in FIG. For example, in some embodiments, the travel server 10 may include a travel database 48 and an availability database 50. In this embodiment, the travel server 10 may perform one or more of the operations described herein as being performed by the availability server 12.

1, each client device 16 generally includes at least one processor 40 having at least one hardware-based microprocessor coupled to a memory 58. In one embodiment, Each client device 16 is typically operated under the control of an operating system 60 and is responsible for executing or relying on various computer software applications 62, components, programs, objects, modules, data structures, The application, when executed, typically causes the client device 16 to interfere with at least one travel server 10 and send a travel request of the user to the travel server 10, To perform one or more travel recommendations and one or more alternative travel recommendations for review by the user. To interface with a user or an operator, the client device typically includes a user interface 64 including one or more user input / output devices, e.g., a keyboard, pointing device, display, printer, Otherwise, user input may be received via another computer or terminal, such as travel server 10 and / or client device 16, via network interface 66, for example, connected to communication network 14 . The client device 16 may also communicate with one or more mass storage devices, which may be, for example, an internal hard disk storage device, an external hard disk storage device, an external database, a storage area network device, The client device 16 may be a mobile phone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, and the like.

In general, routines that are implemented to implement embodiments of the invention, whether implemented as an operating system or a particular application, component, program, object, module, or portion of a command sequence, or even a subset thereof, Quot; computer program code "or simply" program code ". The program code typically includes one or more instructions that, in various instances, reside in various memories and storage devices in a computer, which instructions, when read and executed by one or more processors within the computer, To perform steps necessary to implement aspects or to perform the steps necessary to execute the element. Further, although the present invention will hereinafter be described in its entirety with fully functional computer and computer systems, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in various forms of program product And that the present invention is equally applicable regardless of the particular type of computer readable medium used to actually perform the distribution.

Such a computer-readable medium may comprise a computer-readable storage medium and a communication medium. Computer readable storage media are non-volatile in nature and are volatile and nonvolatile, embodied in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, and removable and non- - may include removable media. Computer readable storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD- digital versatile disk, or other optical storage medium, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium which can be accessed by a computer and used to store the desired information . The communication medium 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. Any combination of the above may also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The various program codes described hereinafter may be identified based on the application implemented in a particular embodiment of the present invention. It is understood, however, that any particular program nomenclature is used herein for convenience only, and that the invention is not limited to use with any particular application identified and / or implied by the term. Further, the number of ways that a computer program can be organized into routines, procedures, methods, modules, objects, etc., generally have no end, Applets, etc.), it is understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular organization and assignment of program functionality described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 2, this FIG. 2 provides a block diagram illustrating various functional components and performed operations used to generate travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the toll search engine 30 includes a valuated toll path configuration function component 80. The evaluated fare path configuration component 80 is configured to extract a fare path from the minimum fare path graph database 34 and dynamically form an estimated fare path to be explored for a given request based on the extracted fare path do. For example, if the travel request includes the origin of the NCE and the destination of the MIA, the evaluated fare path component 80 forms one or more estimated fare paths to explore for the flight from the NCE to the MIA .

In addition, the evaluated farepath configuration component 80 includes an alternative farepath extraction engine 82, which may include one or more farepaths stored in the minimum feepath graph database 34, To extract it as one or more alternative fare paths. In general, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may determine the fare path of the minimum fare path graph database 34 based, at least in part, on whether a particular fare path includes an additional stop in one or more routes associated with the particular fare path And selects a fare path to be extracted by filtering. As described above, additional stops may be stored in the additional location database 36. [ Further, such filtering may be based, at least in part, on whether a particular additional stop is associated with one or more categories.

In some embodiments, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may filter the fare path based on a stop criterion, wherein the stop metric is user-defined and / or limited by the travel booking service provider Lt; / RTI > For example, a user may include a budget range in a travel request entered at the client device 16, and an alternative fare path extraction engine may include alternatives that do not exceed the budget received from the client device 16 It is possible to extract only the fare path. For a travel reservation service provider, the service provider may limit the maximum amount or percentage that the value of the alternative fare path may exceed the value of the minimum value fare path. In such an embodiment, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may filter the fare path of the minimum fare path graph database 34 having values that exceed the stop criteria.

The additional location may be based on a preferred location stored in the user profile corresponding to the particular user stored in the user database 38. [ For example, a particular user may submit a travel request that includes a trip from the NCE to the MIA, and if the particular user is interested in a geographic location that includes a location attractive to the child, Based on the corresponding user profile, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may query the additional location database 36 for additional locations that include a region attractive to the child, May extract an alternative fare path stored in a minimum fare path graph database 34 that includes a route with an additional stop including an area attractive to the child. After extracting an alternate fare path by the alternative fare path extraction engine 82, the assessed fare path component 80 forms an evaluated alternative fare path.

After establishing a toll road evaluated by the evaluated toll path component 80, the toll road probe function component 84 of the toll search engine 30 retrieves and dynamically forms the travel advisories and alternative advisories. Fee loader 86 loads and validates the rate of the evaluated fare path along with any rules associated with the fare path. The rule may be represented by rule data associated with each fare path, where the rule may include a stopover, a transfer, a minimum stay restriction, and / or a charge restriction for an applicable charge range . For example, the fare in the fare path may only be valid if the traveler stays in a particular geographic location for a minimum amount of time. In this example, the minimum stay limit can be taken into account by the dynamic fare route exploration component 84 when generating trip advisories and alternative travel advisories.

The toll engine 88 of the dynamic toll path probe component 84 forms and identifies a toll combination that covers the trip request. Such a rate combination may include a fare break, where the rate break represents a combination point between two separate charges. For example, the fee between the first location and the second location may be combined with the fee between the second location and the third location, and in this example, the second location is the charge break. An alternative rate combinability detector 90 detects the likelihood of a stop associated with a rate combination of the current alternate farepath. In general, the likelihood of a stop can be represented by a rule associated with a rate combination. In a given fare path, one or more rate combinations may be possible, including the cheapest fare combination and the more expensive one or more rate combinations. The rules of charge of a rate combination may indicate the likelihood of a stop (i.e., a stop may be granted based on a charge rule applicable to a rate combination). Thus, detecting the probability of a stop associated with a rate combination is based at least in part on the rate rule of the rate combination. An alternative rate combinability detector 90 analyzes this rate combination of alternative fare paths to determine whether additional stops are available at more than one fare breakpoint, whether stop-over is possible at a point between charge break points , And / or whether the rate combination is still applicable (in accordance with any rule associated with the rate combination) in the allowed duration of such a break. Thus, according to an embodiment, an alternative rate combinability detector 90 determines whether additional stops are possible at a rate breakpoint of one or more alternative rate combinations of each alternative fare path based on the associated rule. For example, if the rules for alternative fare combinations require the traveler to be able to stay in a geographical location associated with a fare breakpoint for less than one day, then an alternative fare combination probability detector 90 may determine that alternative fare combinations are random And that it does not present a possible possibility of Likewise, if the rules associated with alternative fare combinations allow the traveler to stay in the geographic location of the fare breakpoint for two days, the alternative fare combination probability detector 90 determines whether alternative fare combinations are available for alternative travel advisories It can be decided to present a possibility.

Based on this analysis, the alternative rate combination probability detector 90 delivers the detected alternative travel availability, and possible stop duration information, to the flight engine 92 with the confirmed rate combination. The flight engine 92 may be based at least in part on a travel schedule provided by a travel provider and / or other travel schedule maintenance entity (e.g., government travel regulatory entity, third party travel schedule aggregation service, etc.) Can form a flight combination. The travel schedule may be stored in the travel database 48, where the travel database 48 generally represents one or more databases that store such travel schedule information (i.e., schedule data). One or more databases that store travel schedule information may be maintained separately by different travel providers and / or other travel schedule maintenance entities. The flight combination may be based at least in part on the availability data provided by the travel provider stored in the availability database 50 and / or other travel availability maintenance entities. 2, the illustrated embodiment includes a flight engine 92, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. A travel engine may be used that forms a travel combination from more than one type of travel (e.g., flights, rail travel, bus travel, and / or other types of travel).

In some embodiments, the travel database 48 and the availability database 50 may be remotely managed by the availability server 12. In such an embodiment, the travel server 10 executing the toll search engine 30 can generate a question based at least in part on a toll combination, a travel request, and / or an extracted minimum toll path / alternative to toll path have. In a fare combination based on an alternative fare path, if the additional / alternative stop is possible for this rate combination (i.e., stop possibility), the data related to this stop probability, point, (Not shown). The query may be communicated to the availability server 12 which may determine a valid travel combination for the fare combination based at least in part on the travel database 48 and / To the travel server 10, a response including the corresponding availability data indicating the location of the destination. In some embodiments, when data corresponding to the likelihood of a stop (including data identifying one or more possible residence durations for a likelihood of a stop) is provided to the availability server, the received availability data may be associated with such stop probability data At least partially. In these embodiments, the availability data may correspond only to travel combinations that match conditions corresponding to stop possibilities. Thus, in some embodiments, by including stop probability data in the query to the availability server 12 so that only the valid travel combinations that additional filtering matches the conditions of the stop possibility are received from the availability server 12, Can be performed before generating the travel recommendation. Based at least in part on the data in the travel database 48 and / or the data in the availability database 50, the flight engine 92 generates standard travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations 94.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram 100 performed by the travel server 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention to illustrate an operational sequence that may generate one or more travel advisories and one or more alternative travel advisories based on a user & ). The travel server 10, and more specifically the processor 18 of the travel server 10, receives a travel request from the user (block 102). Generally, a user may interface with the travel server 10 via the client device 16 and create a travel request via the communication network 14. [ In some embodiments, such an interface includes a web-based interface, the client device 16 may load the web-based interface running on the travel server 10 and enter data using the web interface to generate travel requests have. In another embodiment, the client device 16 may execute a dedicated application 62 to interface with the travel server 10 and generate a travel request, while in other embodiments, the user may use the user interface 22 And can directly interface with the travel server 10.

Generally, the generated travel request may include geographic constraints and temporal constraints. For example, a travel request can include a desired geographical location with destination constraints and a desired travel date with destination geographical location and temporal constraints. The travel server 10 determines and extracts the minimum fare path corresponding to the travel request from the minimum fare path graph database 34 (block 104).

The travel server may determine one or more additional locations (block 106). As noted, the travel server 10 may query the additional location database 36 to determine one or more additional locations. Further, determining the additional location may include determining the minimum fare path, the travel request stored in the user database 38, and / or the user provided information (e.g., the maximum budget, one or more preferred geographic locations , One or more categories of attractive areas preferred by the user, etc.). Further, in some embodiments, determining the additional location may be based, at least in part, on the geographic location included in the geographic constraints of the travel request. For example, if the geographic location represented by the desired destination in the travel request includes the beach, one or more additional locations may be determined based on whether such additional locations include the beaches shown in the additional location database 36 .

The travel server 10 filters the fare path of the minimum toll path graph database 34 using one or more filter parameters and extracts one or more toll paths of the minimum toll path graph that satisfy the filter parameters to an alternative toll path (Block 108). In some embodiments of the present invention, the travel server may determine the rate of charge of the minimum fare path graph database 34 by identifying all fare paths having at least one associated route that includes at least one additional stop corresponding to the determined additional location The path may be filtered, and in this embodiment, the determined additional location functions as a filter parameter.

Further, in some embodiments, the travel server may filter the fare path of the minimum fare path graph database 34 using the stop criteria, where the stop criteria serves as a filter parameter. In this embodiment, the travel server 10 filters the toll path having at least one associated route that includes at least one additional stop exceeding the stop criteria. The stop criteria may be a predefined value and / or percentage that exceeds a value associated with a minimum toll path that an alternative toll path does not exceed.

For example, if the maximum value of the minimum fare path for a travel request is 1000? And the stop reference exceeds 10% of the minimum value of the minimum fare path, the travel server 10 transmits the minimum fare path having a value exceeding 1100? The fare path of the graph may not be extracted as an alternative fare path. Similarly, the stop criteria can be chosen to be the same percentage as the average value of all minimum fare paths exceeding 10%. In some embodiments, the user is stored in the user database 38 by indicating a percentage that is in excess of the value associated with the budget, the amount of money in excess of the value associated with the minimum fare path, and / or the minimum fare path that the user does not want to exceed. It is possible to limit the stop criteria in the travel request and / or the user profile. In another embodiment, the travel reservation service provider and / or the one or more travel providers may limit the stop criteria.

2, after extracting the minimum fare path and the alternative fare path corresponding to the travel request, the travel server 10 forms a fare combination based on the extracted minimum fare path, Form a charge combination based on the charge path (i.e., alternative charge combination) (block 110). This rate combination is analyzed and a stop probability is identified (block 112). In some embodiments, the rate combination may be filtered based at least in part on the identified stop possibilities (block 114). For example, any alternative rate combination that does not include the identified stop probability may be discarded. The schedule and availability data may be retrieved for a rate combination (block 116) (i.e., it may be queried to the availability server 12), where such schedule and availability data may be retrieved for any alternative rate combination May be based at least in part on the identified stop possibilities. Thus, the schedules and availability data retrieved for the rate combination may be used to filter the retrieved schedule and availability data for alternative rate combinations to determine a schedule and availability that matches any conditions specified in the < RTI ID = 0.0 > May be limited to include only data. The travel server 10 generates trip advisories and alternative travel advisories based on the rate combination and the retrieved schedule and availability data (block 118). Travel advisories and alternative travel advisories are sent to the user so that the user can review the various advisories and select travel advisories or alternative travel advisories.

4 illustrates an operational sequence performed by the travel server 10 to filter the fare paths of the minimum fare path graph database 34 to determine alternative fare paths for travel requests in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Gt; 120 < / RTI > After determining the minimum fare path and extracting it from the minimum fare path graph database 34, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 is initialized to filter the fare path from the minimum fare path graph database 34 for the alternative fare path (Block 122). The processor 18 of the travel server 10 may be configured to provide a minimum fare path graph database (e. G., At least one geographical location of geographic constraints) that is not extracted with a minimum fare path that meets at least some of the geographic constraints of the travel request 34), and based on this analysis, identifies a toll path comprising at least one associated route including at least one additional stop (block 124). The processor 18 further decrements the number of fare paths by discarding the fare paths that do not meet the stop criteria (block 126), and the remaining fare paths are extracted with alternative fare paths (block 128).

As described above, the travel server 10, as described above in FIGS. 2 and 3, may form a charge combination based at least in part on the extracted alternative charge path. These rate combinations are analyzed by the processor 18 executing the alternate fareability detector 90 to identify a rate combination corresponding to the extracted alternative fare path that provides the possibility for an additional stop (i.e., a stop possibility) can do. Thus, the processor 18 filters the rate combination to be processed based at least in part on whether such rate combination includes a stop probability. Generally, the filtered rate combination can provide the possibility for an alternative travel recommendation based on this.

Generally, alternative travel recommendations form and identify all possible fare paths, including routes that include additional stops (i.e., pricing at a route with stops in the mid-geographic location), to determine all possible staying durations ≪ / RTI > However, exploration and pricing of all such fare paths, and possible stays, for all possible intermediate geographic locations is generally associated with high processing resource costs (i. E., One or more processors and one or more associated hardware resources The amount of processing time to use). Then, the time to respond to a user's travel request may also be exponentially lengthened when alternative travel recommendations are generated.

By selectively filtering the toll path from the minimum toll path graph database 34 that also includes at least one additional stop in at least one route that meets the stop criteria, an embodiment of the present invention can identify an alternative Dynamically limits the number of fare paths. By dynamically restricting the number of alternative fare paths to identify and form, embodiments of the present invention reduce the processing resources in creating alternative travel recommendations relative to identifying and forming all possible fare paths, Can be implemented.

Moreover, filtering the toll path to be probed based at least in part on whether such a toll path includes one or more routes including additional stops, filtering the toll path based at least in part on the minimum toll knowledge and stop criteria , Embodiments of the present invention may return more interesting / attractive alternative travel recommendations in a shorter time than attempting to generate an alternative travel recommendation based on all fare paths. Filtering on the basis of the charge knowledge (i.e., the value of the minimum toll path) into the functional architecture of the toll search engine 30 results in a trip advisory with a processing resource cost that is close to the cost of the processing resources associated with conventional systems, And alternative travel recommendations at the same time.

In addition, a rate combination based on an alternative fare path may be filtered based at least in part on whether the rate combination includes a stop probability based on a rule of the rate associated with the rate combination. Thus, limiting the number of charge combinations to be verified can limit the schedule and availability data needed to create an alternative travel solution. By filtering the rate combination to be verified, you can save processing resources and realize efficiency gains compared to identifying all possible rate combinations. For example, referring to alternative rate combination probability detector 90, each rate combination of each alternative fare path may be analyzed to identify a rate combination that includes the identified stop probability. If the rate combination does not include the possibility of a stop, the rate combination is discarded (i.e., no further processing / confirmation). If the rate combination includes the possibility of a stop, this rate combination is processed by the flight engine 92. A specific rate combination may not include the possibility of a stop, but discarding this rate combination generally corresponds to discarding the rate combination generating the alternative travel recommendation, and the travel recommendation (i. E., A travel recommendation determined at a lower price) Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI >

Further, the travel server may further restrict processing by querying the travel database 48 and availability database 50 only for schedules and availability that match the conditions associated with stop possibilities. For example, if the rules of the rate combination, including the likelihood of a stop, allow up to two days for an additional stop, then the trip database 48 and the availability database may be updated on a schedule and availability matching up to two days for the additional stop Can only be asked.

By filtering the toll path to be explored, filtering the toll combination to be verified, and / or filtering the requested and / or requested schedule (s) and availability data, embodiments of the present invention can provide all possible charges It is possible to reduce the processing resources and realize the efficiency gain as compared with the system considering all possible schedules and availability, and / or all possible combinations of costs and / or routes. For example, for flight combinations that include short stays, these flight combinations can be generally predicted to be 2.5x10 ¹⁰ potential recommendations. By adding an additional stop to the geographic location, this stop will include 10 additional inbound cities and 10 outbound cities, and if the additional stop is for 1 to 3 days, Can be estimated to be approximately 7.5 x 10 ¹² multiplied by the number 300 of pricing operations performed by the server 10. Embodiments of the present invention for filtering the toll path to be explored, filtering the rate combination to be verified, and / or filtering the query on the availability database for alternative travel recommendations may include additional potential recommendations and dedicated processing resources It greatly reduces the size of the image. Limiting this processing result can reduce the pricing operation performed by the travel server 10. As described, embodiments of the present invention may be used to further filter this rate combination to generate alternative travel advisories when formulating and verifying rate combinations based at least in part on whether additional stops are available at more than one fare breakpoint The number of charge combinations to be analyzed can be further limited. By further filtering this rate combination when forming and verifying the rate combination, embodiments of the present invention can reduce the rate combination that the flight engine 92 can analyze when generating an alternative travel / upsell recommendation .

5 provides a schematic diagram representing the data of the minimum toll path graph that can be stored in the minimum toll path graph database 34 and analyzed by an embodiment of the present invention to extract a minimum toll path and an alternative toll path . As shown, the minimum fare path graph includes a plurality of fare break points 202 and a plurality of fare paths 204 therebetween. Each fare path 204 includes data identifying the minimum value associated with the fare path and data identifying one or more travel providers (e.g., airlines, rail travel agencies, bus travel agencies, etc.) associated with the minimum fare path. Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, the minimum toll path graph includes a plurality of geographic locations 206 and a plurality of routes 208 therebetween. Route 208 includes data representing one or more travel providers that provide travel services between two geographic locations.

6 provides an exemplary illustration 220 of a minimum toll path 222, 224 and associated routes 226, 228, 230 for traveling between the NCE and the MIA. As shown, the first minimum toll path 222 is associated with the associated travel provider and the rate 236 (in this example, the minimum toll path represents "AF" And two fare breakpoints (NCE 232 and MIA 234) that represent providing travel services between the MIAs. Routes 226, 228, and 230 represent routes of AF associated with the minimum fare path. The second minimum fare path 224 may also include an additional route (not shown) of BA (i.e., British Airways).

Each route 226,228 and 230 includes at least two geographic locations 238 and some routes such as routes 228 and 230 may include intermediate geographic locations 240. [ In an embodiment of the invention, the determination of an alternative toll path may be based on whether the intermediate geographic location 240 of the routes 226, 228, 230 corresponds to an additional location stored in the additional location database 36 and / 38 corresponding to the additional location preferred by the user represented in the corresponding user profile. In some embodiments of the invention, determining an alternative toll path determines that the middle geographic location 240 of the route 226, 228, 230 of the toll path is within a desired category (e.g., a casino, a museum, a beach, , Favorable exchange rate, etc.). ≪ / RTI > Whether the intermediate geographic location is associated with the desired category may be indicated by the data stored in the additional location database 36. [

FIG. 7 provides an example 260 that illustrates filtering an toll path to determine an alternative toll path in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In this example, the travel request includes a trip from the NCE to the MIA. As shown, the additional location database 36 of this example includes additional geographic locations 262, 264, 266 that can be used to filter the toll paths 268, 270, 272, 274 of the minimum toll path graph 200 . Each fare path 268, 270, 272, 274 includes a value and associated data 275 representing at least one travel provider. In this example, Paris, France (PAR) 262; San Francisco, California (SFO) 264; And London (United Kingdom) (LON) 266 are included in the additional location database 36. Thus, in this example, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may determine that the alternate fare path based on whether the associated route includes additional stops in the PAR 262, the SFO 264, and / or the LON 266. Thus, Can be selected. In this example, the alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may be configured such that the first and second fare paths 268, 270 are coupled to at least one of the PARs 262, the SFOs 264, and / or the LONs 266, The first toll path 268 and the second toll path 270 are discarded because they do not include the route. The alternative fare path extraction engine 82 may be configured to determine whether the third fare path 272 includes the route 276 including the PAR 262 and the third fare path 272 since the third fare path 272 includes the stop reference 278 ), It selects the third toll path 272 to be extracted, where the stop reference represents a value that does not exceed the toll of the toll path. The fourth toll path 274 is ignored because the toll data 275 associated with the fourth toll path exceeds the stop reference 278. [

Although the description and examples described herein have described filtering the fare path based on the stop criteria and geographic location included in the associated route, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a user may be used by the travel server 10 to provide a preferred travel provider, preferred language, area of interest (e.g., wine, fine dining, seafood, (e.g., modern art, golf, swimming architecture, etc.) and the like in a corresponding user profile and / or travel request. Moreover, in some embodiments, alternative travel recommendations may include alternative destinations.

Figure 8 provides an exemplary output for the user interface 64 at the client device 16 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention whereby a user interfaces with a travel server and reviews and reviews travel recommendations or alternative travel recommendations, / / Can be selected. As shown in this example, the travel request includes an air travel from the NCE to the MIA. In this example, the output allows the user to select a travel recommendation 302, and furthermore, this output suggests adding a one-week stay in New Orleans, Louisiana, And an alternative travel recommendation 304 that provides a price 306 associated with the service 304.

Thus, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations may be generated in response to a user's travel request. Embodiments of the present invention selectively filter the toll path of the minimum toll path graph database based at least in part on whether the toll path includes an additional location in the associated route. The filtered fare paths can be extracted with alternative fare paths, and alternative travel recommendations can be generated based on alternative fare paths. Thus, embodiments of the present invention dynamically limit the number of fare paths to explore to generate alternative travel recommendations of interest to the user.

The program code embodied in any of the applications described herein may be distributed individually or collectively into a plurality of different types of program products. In particular, the program code may be distributed using a computer readable medium, which may include a computer readable storage medium and a communication medium. The computer-readable storage medium, which may be uniquely non-volatile, is volatile and nonvolatile, implemented in any method or technology that stores information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data, Removable and non-removable tangible media. The computer readable storage medium may be any of a variety of storage devices including but not limited to RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM), or any other optical storage medium, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and that can be read by a computer . The communication medium 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 the like. Any combination of the above can also be considered to be included as a computer-readable medium.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus, or systems and computer program products in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Each block of the flowchart and / or block diagram, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram, may be implemented by computer program instructions. The computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause instructions to be executed via a processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to be transmitted to a block or block Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > function / action. ≪ / RTI >

These computer program instructions may also be stored on a computer, other type of programmable data processing apparatus, or on a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that implement the functions / operations designated by the blocks and / or blocks of the flowchart illustrations and / May be stored in a computer-readable medium that may be enabled to function in a particular manner of producing an article of manufacture.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded into a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to enable a series of operations to be performed on the computer, other processing device, or other device to cause the flow diagram and / To create a computer-implemented process that provides one or more processes that implement the functionality / behavior specified in the block or blocks.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the words of a word form are intended to include plural forms unless the context dictates otherwise. The word " comprising "and / or" comprising "as used herein is intended to describe the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / , Steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof are not intended to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements. Further, when the terms "comprising", "having", "having", "having", and "including" are used in this specification or claims, It is intended to be implicit in a similar way.

While the invention has been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus, and method, and illustrative form shown and described. Accordingly, modifications may be made to these details without departing from the inventive general inventive concept thereof.

Claims (15)

CLAIMS 1. A method of generating one or more travel recommendations and one or more alternative travel recommendations,
Receiving at the travel server a travel request that includes geographical constraints and temporal constraints;
Determining at the processor of the travel server one or more minimum fare paths comprising an associated value based on the geographic constraints of the travel request and the temporal constraints;
Generating one or more trip advisories based on the one or more minimum fare paths, wherein each trip advisor includes at least one associated price;
Determining one or more alternative fare paths comprising the associated value by filtering a plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated value of the one or more minimum fare paths; And
Generating one or more alternative travel recommendations based at least in part on the one or more alternative fare paths, wherein each alternative travel recommendation includes generating one or more alternative travel recommendations that include an associated price ≪ / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Each alternative travel recommendation includes an additional stop not included in the one or more travel recommendations,
Further comprising determining the additional stop based at least in part on the travel request,
Wherein filtering the plurality of candidate fare paths is based at least in part on whether each candidate fare path includes one or more routes including the additional stops. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein determining the additional stop based at least in part on the travel request comprises:
Analyzing the additional location database associated with the server,
Wherein the additional location database comprises a plurality of additional candidate locations. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein determining the additional stop based at least in part on the travel request comprises:
And analyzing a user profile corresponding to a user of the travel request stored in a user database associated with the travel server. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum fee path graph database stores the plurality of candidate fee paths and one or more routes associated with each of the candidate fee paths. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the determining the one or more alternative fare paths comprising the associated value by filtering a plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on an associated value of the one or more minimum fare paths,
And extracting a particular candidate fare path from the minimum fare path graph database as an alternative fare path based at least in part on whether the route of the particular candidate fare path includes an additional stop. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the determining the one or more alternative fare paths by filtering the plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated value of the one or more minimum fare paths,
And discarding each candidate fare path having an associated value exceeding the stop criteria,
Wherein the stop criteria is based at least in part on the associated value of the at least one minimum toll path. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the one or more alternative fare paths by filtering the plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated values of the one or more minimum fare paths comprises:
And discarding each candidate fare path having an associated value that is lower than the associated value of each minimum fare path,
Wherein said price of each alternative travel recommendation is higher than any price associated with any travel recommendation. The method according to claim 1,
Forming one or more charge combinations for each alternative charge path of the one or more alternative charge paths, wherein each charge combination comprises one or more charges;
Analyzing the charge combination of each alternative charge path to identify a stop probability at the charge combination based at least in part on the charge rule associated with the charge of the charge combination; And
Further comprising filtering the rate combination of each alternative fare path to select each rate combination comprising the identified stop probability,
Wherein the one or more alternative travel recommendations are based at least in part on one or more selected rate combinations that include the identified stop possibilities. A travel server configured to generate one or more trip advisories and one or more alternative travel advisories,
A processor; And
And program code configured to be executed by the processor,
The program code causing the processor to:
Receiving travel requests that include geographical constraints and temporal constraints,
Determining one or more minimum fare paths that include associated values based on the geographic constraints and the temporal constraints of the travel request;
Generating one or more trip advisories that include an associated price based on the one or more minimum fare paths,
Determining one or more alternative fare paths comprising the associated value by filtering a plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated value of the one or more minimum fare paths; and
Generating one or more alternative travel recommendations that include an associated price based at least in part on the one or more alternative fare paths;
To the travel server. 11. The method of claim 10,
Each alternative travel recommendation includes an additional stop not included in any travel advisories and the program code is further configured to cause the processor to perform the operation of determining the additional stop based at least in part on the travel request Wherein the plurality of candidate fare paths are filtered based at least in part on whether each candidate fare path includes one or more routes including the additional stops. 12. The method of claim 11,
The program code configured to cause the processor to perform the step of determining the additional stop based at least in part on the travel request,
And program code configured to cause the processor to perform an operation of analyzing an additional location database associated with the travel server, wherein the additional location database includes a plurality of additional candidate locations. 11. The method of claim 10,
The program code configured to perform the operation of determining the at least one alternative fare path by filtering the plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated fare of the at least one minimum fare path, ,
Performing an operation of extracting a specific candidate fare path from the minimum fare path graph database associated with the travel server as an alternative fare path based at least in part on whether the route of the particular candidate fare path includes an additional stop Wherein the minimum fee path graph database stores the plurality of candidate fee paths and the minimum fee path graph database stores values and one or more routes associated with each candidate fee path. Travel server. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the program code causes the processor to: form one or more rate combinations for each alternative fare path of the one or more alternative charge paths; analyze the charge combination of each alternative charge path to determine one or more Identifying an arbitrary stop probability in the rate combination based at least in part on a rate rule associated with the rate, and filtering the rate combination in each alternative fare path to select each rate combination comprising the identified stop probability ≪ / RTI > wherein the travel server is further configured to perform operations. As a program product,
A computer readable storage medium; And
And program code stored in the computer readable storage medium,
The program code, when executed,
Receiving travel requests that include geographical constraints and temporal constraints,
Determining one or more minimum fare paths that include associated values based on the geographic constraints and the temporal constraints of the travel request;
Generating one or more trip advisories that include an associated price based on the one or more minimum fare paths,
Determining one or more alternative fare paths comprising the associated value by filtering a plurality of candidate fare paths based at least in part on the associated value of the one or more minimum fare paths; and
And generate one or more alternative travel recommendations that include an associated price based at least in part on the one or more alternative fare paths.

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