KR20150067030A - Automated detection of travel incidents and rebooking of travel itineraries impacted by same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method, an apparatus and a program product automatically propose alternate travel services to a traveler in response to detection of a travel incident that impacts one or more travel services in the itinerary of the traveler. By doing so, the impact of a travel incident on the traveler, and in many cases, the resulting stress of the traveler and the burden of rearranging schedule of the traveler to accommodate the travel incident, may be reduced.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an automatic detection of travel accidents and the re-

Cross-reference to related application

This application is related to United States patent application Ser. No. 10 / 398,303, filed on the same day as Yalcin, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, is entitled " GENERATION OF OFFERS WITH LIMITED TIME FRAME GUARANTEED AVAILABILITY AND PRICING FOR TRAVEL ITINERARIES & .

Technical field

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer and computer software, and more particularly to the use thereof in the travel industry.

Computer technology is increasingly being used by travelers to reduce travel difficulties and increase travel efficiency. With an automated bookkeeping system, for example, travelers can view prices and schedules for passenger vehicles such as airplanes, buses, trains, subways, ferries, cruise ships, etc., You can purchase tickets for the means. Flight and transit status systems are available for tracking delays on scheduled flights, buses, subways and passenger trains, so travelers often need to know where the passenger vehicle is currently located and the scheduled time to arrive at the intended destination in real time can see. Furthermore, in road trips by automobiles, traffic information is often available in real time, allowing the traveler to identify if there is a delay in a particular route, and in many cases can be avoided by changing the planned route.

As computer technology improves, travelers are increasingly relying on mobile devices such as smartphones. Many travel-related tools that are restricted to access via computers, for example, through websites, are no longer accessible via mobile devices, whether by mobile-device-optimized websites or web-based applications, It is optimized to be accessed through applications.

Despite these improvements in travel-related computer technology, many problems still remain for many travelers. Specifically, travelers are often at risk of encountering unplanned travel accidents such as delays and other travel-related problems that may require changes to the itinerary, and these changes may be used to schedule the itinerary or to process the itinerary It is often stressful and questionable for travelers, not to mention the travel providers and staff the travelers depend on.

For example, a traveler can often contact a travel agent or airline to request a rebook on a different flight to a destination when they know that a traveler is about to miss a flight, or when a traveler has already missed a flight. In addition, the traveler may consider all other factors and travel services (e.g., hotels, car rental, parking, etc.) in the itinerary that may be affected by any change, You need to perform an update or cancellation. For example, a traveler who missed a flight and then took the next flight to the same destination could arrive late, and potentially after the car rental office closes, or after a pre-booked taxi is scheduled. Even hotel room reservations may have expired due to extended delays. Furthermore, if a traveler is required to take a flight to a different city for one night and then return to the original destination, the hotel room reservation at the original destination will need to be canceled and a new hotel room reservation in another city will need to be booked.

Updating many of the affected elements is often complex, time consuming, cumbersome and stressful for travelers, and travel can have many problems when dealing with these factors. For example, a traveler may find it difficult to attempt to re-book a new flight, hotel or car with a phone, and travelers may have to pay a high international call if traveling outside their home country. The traveler may also be in a time zone different from the employee or travel provider, or may attempt to contact the employee or travel provider during non-working hours or weekends. Travelers may be foreigners who are not fluent in their local language. Furthermore, searching for and re-booking new flights, hotels, cars, etc., often takes a lot of time, even if the online travel service is advanced, and travelers can, for example, If you are busy with other tasks, you may not have enough time to change the itinerary.

Furthermore, the need to re-book travel services in a dynamic environment where pricing and / or availability is constantly in some cases can add additional stress to the traveler. Changes that may be in the travel itinerary initially placed by the traveler may not be available anymore or may be more expensive when the traveler can finally confirm this change. Considering that travelers should deal with other problems related to unplanned travel accidents, additional stress associated with re-bookings under these circumstances is often unpleasant.

Therefore, there is a great need for a way to facilitate re-bookings of travel services and travel itineraries in response to delays and other types of incidents that may affect the traveler's itinerary.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a method, apparatus, and program product for automatically suggesting an alternative travel service to a traveler in response to detecting a travel accident that affects one or more travel services in a traveler's travel itinerary, Solves problems associated with technology and other problems. By doing so, the impact of travel accidents on travelers, and in many cases, the burden of accommodating travel accidents by rearranging the traveler's final stress and traveler's schedule can be reduced.

Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the itinerary is an act of detecting a trip accident associated with a traveler's travel itinerary using at least one processing unit in response to a travel accident, The trip accident causing the traveler to disable at least one of the plurality of travel services; Identifying at least one affected travel service that is affected by the detected trip accident among the plurality of travel services on the itinerary; And automatically suggesting a plurality of alternative travel services that replace the travel services affected in the travel itinerary.

These and other advantages and features which characterize the invention are set forth in the claims which follow the description and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the present invention and the advantages and objects achieved through its use, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying descriptive matter, which illustrate the embodiments of the invention.

1 is a block diagram of a computer system configured to implement an automatic rebooking service in accordance with the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of an exemplary implementation of a computer system capable of implementing the automatic re-booking system of FIG.
3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary sequence of actions for a travel accident detection routine performed by the automatic re-booking system of FIG.
4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations for a cascading impact analysis routine performed by the automatic re-booking system of FIG.
5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations for an offer generation routine performed by the automatic rebooking system of FIG.
6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary operational sequence for a travel reconfiguration routine performed by the automatic rebooking system of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary sequence of operations for a guaranteed offer generation routine that may be executed by the computer system of FIG. 1;

An embodiment in accordance with an aspect of the present invention provides a method and system for a traveler to update their travel itinerary by proposing an unplanned trip accident and subsequent accurate and operationally appropriate re- So as to allow the traveler to continue his or her initial journey with little or no interruption, without the need to manually replace any affected booking factor or travel service.

In this regard, a itinerary is a set of travel services that are packed in travelers that constitute trips or trips taken by travelers when traveling between a starting point and one or more destinations. Travel services may be provided between locations such as, for example, flights, railways, cruises, ferry trips, bus tours, car trips, and other travel-related services such as hotel stays, car rentals, Towing tickets, and other assisted travel services. Since there are numerous types of travel-related services that may be included in a itinerary, the present invention is not limited to use only with the specific travel services described herein.

A travel accident is any event that potentially prevents a traveler from using at least one of a plurality of travel services on a travel itinerary. Travel accidents are generally unplanned and are generally unplanned and can be delayed due to traffic jams, illnesses, long-running business meetings, etc., which may be due to missed flights or trains and which are outside the responsibility of any travel provider and / It is understood that it may be related to other problems. As can be appreciated, some travel accidents, such as missed flights, can cause travelers to miss other connected flights, miss scheduled car pickups, and miss out on check-in at a destination hotel If possible, it can have a chain effect on the itinerary.

Thus, embodiments in accordance with this aspect of the present invention provide a method and system for accessing data related to a traveler ' s and / or traveler's travel schedule, automatically detecting travel accidents, Identify services, and automatically propose a number of alternative travel services that replace any affected travel services (e.g., propose packages that include alternative solutions to replace all affected services) , The need to change the itinerary can minimize the disruption or delays experienced by the traveler.

In some embodiments according to other aspects of the invention, the proposed alternative travel service is offered to travelers following a trip accident and takes the form of a guaranteed offer that is guaranteed to the traveler in terms of availability and price for a limited time period . Further, in some embodiments, the bookkeeping probability may be assigned to a travel service associated with the guaranteed offer, and an overbooking factor for the at least one travel service may be determined based on the assigned bookkeeping probability. By doing so, the traveler can be provided with a guarantee of price and availability before bookkeeping, while managing inventory and / or revenue management for the travel provider in a more accurate manner.

It can be seen that a guaranteed offer can be used in a situation different from that associated with re-booking the itinerary after a travel accident. In addition, alternative travel services not associated with the guaranteed offers described herein in some embodiments may be proposed in response to a travel accident. Accordingly, it is understood that the different aspects of the invention may be used separately in some embodiments, and the invention is not limited to embodiments combining all of these features.

Other variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Hardware and software environment

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary data processing system 10 capable of implementing an automatic rebooking service in accordance with the present invention. The system 10 includes an automatic reblocking system 11 including a plurality of modules including a travel accident detection module 12, a chain effect analysis module 14, a reblocking module 16 and a travel reconstruction module 18, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > services. ≪ / RTI > In some embodiments, the automatic rebooking service may be provided as a billable service to the traveler or the employer of the traveler, potentially providing additional financial benefits to the travel agent and the travel provider (e.g., airline).

The trip accident detection module 12 may be configured to detect a trip accident in accordance with, for example, a traveler database 20, a departure control system 22, a geographic location tool 24, a travel status monitor 26, a notification tool 28 and / Collects a variety of information from the global distribution system (GDS) 30 that may indicate a travel accident, and is configured to detect travel accidents that may affect one or more travelers. The chain impact analysis module 14 is configured to analyze the potential chain consequences of the travel events detected for other elements of the booking record (also referred to herein as travel services of the itinerary). The re-booking module 16 is configured to generate one or more sets of proposed alternative travel services that resolve the travel services that are affected in the itinerary, and when the proposals are generated, the inventory system 32, the revenue management system 34 ) And / or with the profile database 36. The travel reconfiguration module 18 interacts with the traveler via, for example, a traveler computing device 38 (e.g., a smartphone) and communicates the offer to the traveler, and if there is an accepted offer, Receive a command from the traveler about the proposal, and update the itinerary accordingly.

Modules 12,14, 16 and / or 18 and configurations 20-38 may be combined in some implementations and implemented in the same or different computer systems, and the functionality of some modules / , Or it is understood that this function can be divided into separate modules / configurations. Moreover, the modules 12,14, 16 and / or 18 and the configurations 20-36 may be operated by a same or different entity, e.g., a third party that supports a travel provider or multiple travel providers, and / Or managed.

The system 11 may be implemented in a number of ways in accordance with the present invention. 2 illustrates an exemplary device 50 that may implement various steps from, for example, an automatic re-booking operation in a manner consistent with the present invention. For purposes of the present invention, the computer 50 may represent virtually any type of computer, computer system, or other programmable electronic device. Moreover, the computer 50 may be implemented using one or more networked computers, for example, in a cluster or other distributed computing system, or may be implemented using a single computer or other programmable electronic device such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer , A handheld computer, a cell phone, a set-top box, and the like.

The computer 50 generally includes a random access memory (RAM) device including a main storage of the computer 50 and any supplemental level of memory, e.g., cache memory, non-volatile or backup memory (CPU) 52 that includes at least one processing unit, e.g., a microprocessor, coupled to a memory 54, which may represent a processor (e.g., a programmable or flash memory), read only memory . Further, the memory 54 may include any cache memory physically located in the computer 50, for example a processor in the CPU 52, and a virtual memory, for example, a mass storage device Or any other computer connected to the computer 50, or any storage capacity used as a virtual memory. The computer 50 also typically receives a number of inputs and outputs that communicate information with the outside. To interface with a user or an operator, the computer 50 typically includes one or more user input devices (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a joystick, a touchpad and / An LCD display panel and / or a speaker). Alternatively, user input may be received via another computer or terminal.

For additional storage, the computer 50 may include one or more mass storage devices 56, e.g., a floppy or other removable disk drive, a hard disk drive, a direct access storage device (DASD), an optical drive Drive, DVD drive, etc.) and / or a tape drive. Furthermore, the computer 50 may include other computers and electronic devices, such as one or more client computers 64 (e.g., interfacing with travelers) and one or more servers 66 (e.g., (E.g., LAN, WAN, wireless network and / or the Internet) and an interface 60 capable of communicating with a computer (e.g., implementing any of the described systems and components) have. The computer 50 generally includes suitable analog and / or digital interfaces between the CPU 52 and the respective components 54,56, 58 and 60 as is well known in the art. Other hardware environments may be considered within the context of the present invention.

The computer 50 operates under the control of an operating system 68 and executes or rely upon various computer software applications, configurations, programs, objects, modules, data structures, . Furthermore, various applications, configurations, programs, objects, modules, etc. may be executed on one or more processors in another computer connected to the computer 50 via the network 62, for example in a distributed or client- , The processing required to implement the functions of the computer program can be assigned to and processed by a plurality of computers via the network.

In general, the routines that are implemented to implement embodiments of the present invention, whether implemented as part of, or even a subset of, an operating system or a specific application, configuration, program, object, module or command sequence, Quot; or simply "program code ". The program code generally includes one or more instructions residing in various memory and storage devices in a computer that when executed by and executed by one or more processors in a computer causes the computer to implement various aspects of the invention Or to perform the steps necessary to execute the element or step. Moreover, although the present invention may be described in the context of fully functional computer and computer systems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various embodiments of the invention may be distributed in various forms of program products, It will be appreciated that the invention is equally applicable regardless of the particular type of computer readable medium used to perform the actual 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 non-volatile, implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, Non-removable media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any type of storage medium such as 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, versatile disk, or other optical storage medium, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage device or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 50 . 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, e.g., wired networks or direct-wired connections, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Any combination of the above may be further included within the scope of computer readable media.

The various program codes described below may be identified based on the application implemented in a particular embodiment of the present invention. However, it is to be understood that the term any specific program thereafter is used merely for convenience, and that the present invention should not be limited to use with any particular application identified and / or implied by the term. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the computer program (e.g., a program, a program, a program, a program, It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular configurations and program function assignments described herein, as the manner in which the functions may be assigned generally has no end.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the exemplary environments illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 are not intended to limit the present invention. In fact, those skilled in the art will recognize that other alternative hardware and / or software environments may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Automatic rebooking service

Traditionally, when a traveler knows that he or she is about to miss a flight, or has already missed a flight on a itinerary, the traveler is required to contact the travel agency or airline to re-book a new flight to the original destination. Additionally, the traveler may be required to provide all other booking elements (e.g., hotels, cars, parking, etc.) of the itinerary that may require time extension, update or cancellation in accordance with flight date / It is necessary to think about.

Furthermore, missing one of the elements of the initial itinerary can have a chain effect on the entire itinerary. For example, if you catch the next flight to your destination, you usually arrive later and the rental office may have already closed or missed a pre-booked taxi. Even hotel room reservations may have expired due to extended delays. Thus, a traveler must do this by himself when attempting to update or cancel all of these affected elements, which can often be complicated, time consuming, annoying and stressful for travelers.

Moreover, re-booking may not be a simple process in all situations. As described above, a traveler may encounter difficulties in re-booking a new flight, hotel or car with a phone, adding a long distance international communication fee or a special extra charged number, You may be in the country you are using and may not be able to contact your travel agent or airline in your country.

The embodiment of the present invention implements an automatic re-booking service that combines the creation of a proposal for an alternative travel service that replaces any travel service affected by a travel accident detected in the itinerary and the detection of a travel accident This problem is handled by doing. Referring back to FIG. 1, these functions may be implemented in some embodiments through the use of a trip accident detection module 12, a chain effect analysis module 14, a re-booking module 16 and a travel reconstruction module 18 .

3 illustrates one exemplary implementation of a trip accident detection routine 80 that may be implemented, for example, in the trip accident detection module 12. The routine 80 is executed in a loop that periodically or continuously monitors one or more accident data sources for potential accidents affecting the monitored traveler (block 82). In this regard, the monitored traveler may include a traveler who is currently or immediately following the journey of the traveler (or potentially any traveler), where the automatic re-booking service is performed. In some embodiments, the traveler list and the link to the itinerary can be provided to the trip accident detection module by an external system, such as a GDS, a reservation system, or other sources of traveler's travel schedule data.

A number of different accident data sources may be used, as illustrated by components 20 to 30 of FIG. For example, the incident data may be stored in a traveler database 20, for example, implemented in a computer reservation system and stored in the form of a Passenger Nave Record (PNR) or a Customer an Product Record (CPR) Lt; / RTI > Traveler data may include initial booking or travel schedule details, including flight, hotel, car rental, or any other travel service that may be associated with the itinerary, as well as identifying any missed or missed services Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > and / or < / RTI > In some embodiments, the traveler data includes an indication of whether or not the traveler has authorized the trip accident detection, for example, whether the traveler or the tourist's employer has joined the service, or a one-time fee (" one-time fee).

The incident data may further include, for example, traveler status data obtained from a departure control system (DCS) The traveler status data indicates whether the traveler has boarded and / or checked in, when the traveler is waiting, when the flight has departed, when the departure of the flight is anticipated, when flight delays are anticipated, when gate changes are anticipated, And may include real-time data. Thus, travel accidents such as travelers who have not checked in yet, or travelers who have not been able to board before gate closing can be detected.

The incident data may further include location data obtained from, for example, one or more geographic location tools 24 that provide the current location of the traveler. The geolocation tool may be integrated into or separate from the traveler's smartphone or other portable computing device.

Further, the incident data may include, for example, trip state data obtained from the trip state monitor 26. [ For example, real-time travel status data such as traffic conditions, parking rate of an airport car, weather conditions, real-time police / custom / security / check-in status or predicted waiting time, Can be used to determine, for example, the likelihood that a traveler will be able to board a flight based on the traveler's current location, or the data associated with the time period the traveler takes to complete the boarding process. This information can be used, for example, from airport data processing systems, police / customs / security data processing systems, weather services and other systems, which may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present invention ≪ / RTI >

The incident data may further include, for example, a notification received directly from the traveler via the notification tool 28. The notification tool may collect traveler notifications from, for example, a mobile app, an SMS or text message, a phone call, an email, a mobile or desktop website, collect notifications communicated through a travel provider's data processing system, Or in any other way that the traveler may indicate that he or she may miss a flight or other travel service associated with a travel itinerary. Thus, for example, a traveler who is totally blocked by a traffic jam can generate a notification that his or her mobile phone app is likely to miss the traveler's flight, receive it, and declare a trip accident .

Any data managed by the GDS 30 and any other data processing system that can track other travel-related systems, e.g., hotel systems, public transportation systems, railroad systems, or travel services Other information, including data, may be collected for incident detection. Further, the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,304, entitled " TRAVEL HURRY STATUS MONITOR "filed by Tumayan et al. On April 5, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. Additional information and / or functionality as disclosed in Application No. 13 / 440,413 may be used.

Referring again to FIG. 3, when detecting a potential accident, control proceeds from block 82 to block 84 to assess the risk that a traveler will miss a portion of his itinerary and then to block 86 To determine whether this risk reaches a threshold value that indicates to the traveler that a travel accident should be declared. If not, control returns to block 82 to continue monitoring for potential incidents. If so, however, control proceeds to block 88 to declare a trip accident, notify trip impact analysis module 14, and then return to block 82 to monitor for other incidents.

In the illustrated embodiment, each block 82, 84, and 86 may use the one or more business rules 90 to define logic when declaring a travel accident based on accident data collected for a given traveler . It is understood that other types of logic may be used to declare a trip accident based on accident data, for example, using an expert system, fuzzy logic, neural network, or other data analysis logic.

Through business rules, for example, a rule can simply be based on the fact that the flight departed and the fact that the traveler was not able to board the flight. These rules can be, for example, a high probability of a travel accident or a high risk. However, other business rules may contain more data points and may be based on a relatively lower probability. For example, the departure control system reports that the traveler has not yet checked in, the departure of the flight is still scheduled on time within 60 minutes, and the traveler's location reported by the GPS of the traveler's smartphone, Is still 40 km from the airport and traffic conditions between the traveler's location and the airport are reported as appropriate and the security queue is reported as light, the probability of a trip accident being declared is reasonable ≪ / RTI > Several types of incident data can constitute travel incident factors and the probabilities or risks associated with these factors are summed together in some embodiments and compared to a threshold value and a single incident data point triggers a trip accident Although not enough, combining the data points can sufficiently indicate that there is a significant likelihood that a trip accident will occur.

Therefore, when a trip accident is detected, the chain effect analysis module 14 (FIG. 1) is notified. FIG. 4 shows a chain effect analysis routine 100 that may be executed, for example, by module 14. The routine 100 analyzes the potential chain consequences of the travel accident declared for another element of the bookkeeping record (e.g., PNR). It is understood that the services associated with the traveler's itinerary are not all stored in the same PNR or data record, or even stored in the same data processing system, so these elements are also referred to herein as travel services of the itinerary. In some embodiments, for example, different databases may be accessed to obtain various travel services associated with a given traveler's current itinerary.

The routine 100 begins at block 102 and determines the travel services affected in the itinerary. Missing an early-bound travel service, such as a flight, can have multiple effects on the overall schedule, such as missed flights, hotel bookings may have expired, and vehicle rental offices may have been closed do. Thus, by accessing multiple travel services on a itinerary, by re-booking or re-scheduling the travel service by applying the re-booking logic to identify services that are affected and require extensions, updates or cancellations, You can make an attempt to minimize the impact. While other travel services may have already been consumed, other services may not have been fully influenced by travel accidents in the future.

As an example, if only the return flight from Frankfurt to Nice is missed, only the remaining FRA-NCE segments will be affected, while the traveler will be able to see the NCE-PAR leg of the Nice / Singapore destination bookings, , This section or potentially the entire itinerary may be affected, and hotel reservations may also be affected if an overnight stay is required. As another example, a business traveler who missed a return flight from Paris to Marseille departing at 3:00 pm will have minimal impact if other flights are available at 4:00 pm. On the other hand, if the traveler missed the last flight on this day, the traveler would need to catch early flights the next day, and may require additional travel services such as hotel reservations and vehicle rental extensions.

Once the affected travel service is determined, control proceeds to block 104 to identify one or more catch-up points. The catch-up point may "catch up" (or catch up) the previously booked travel schedule or rejoin the previously booked travel itinerary, preferably minimizing the impact of the entire travel itinerary on the remaining travel services It is a point on the itinerary. Thus, if one misses the first leg of a flight reservation for three segments to the destination, one suitable catch up point may be the departure of the second leg, while the other catch up point may be the departure of the third leg, The catch-up point may be arriving at the final destination. While re-booking a connecting flight that arrives at the same airport in sufficient time to catch up with a previously booked second leg may have the lowest impact on the overall itinerary, Booking can have a bigger impact, and re-booking arriving at a destination using a completely different set of flights can have the greatest impact among the three potential catch-up points.

Next, block 106 performs a loop for each catchup point and executes blocks 108 and 110 for each such point. Block 108 limits the constraints on any affected travel services, including flights and any hotel, car, and the like. For example, this constraint may require that alternative flights arrive at the same airport as the missed flight, or that alternate flights arrive fast enough to avoid the need for hotel stay. Block 110 notifies the re-booking module 16 (FIG. 1) of the affected services from among the travel services on the itinerary and requires an update that includes any limited restrictions on these travel services.

5, this FIG. 5 shows a suggestion generation routine 120 that may be executed by the re-booking module 16 in response to a notification of a chain effect analysis module 14 for one or more catch up points . In some embodiments, the routine 120 is executed for each catch-up point, or alternatively, as shown in block 122, the routine 120 may generate a set of suggestions for the traveler, The catch up points can be collectively processed.

In either case, block 122 requires obtaining travel services that are affected by a travel accident in the itinerary and updating it appropriately, e.g., in the form of cancellation, extension, replacement or change. Block 124 generates a set of suggestions for alternative travel services. Each proposal in the proposal set may include a set of one or more alternative travel services that, if accepted by the traveler, update the itinerary to minimize the impact of a travel accident. Alternative travel services may include new additional travel services on the itinerary, and travel services that replace other travel services that may be canceled. Further, some travel services affected by the original itinerary may be canceled without being replaced in the travel offer. So if, for example, a segment that misses a flight in Paris makes a proposal to replace this missed segment on a flight via Brussels, this proposal will only replace the missed flight on the new flight Alternatively, you can add a hotel reservation for a random layover in Brussels, cancel your hotel reservation for any unloading in Paris, or rent a car, taxi, etc., as needed to accommodate the changing circumstances of the traveler You can control other services like.

Creating a suggestion at block 124 retrieves inventory system 32 and revenue management system 34, and other travel-based systems such as GDS, hotel reservation system, vehicle rental reservation system, or travel service, May select a set of one or more travel services that may minimize the impact of a travel accident, including accessing, booking, reserving, or even temporarily reserving any other travel-based system for this travel service . Monetary information can be considered to minimize any change costs (e. G., Cancellation penalties and new service costs), travelers can receive different proposals focused on different priorities, For example, one proposal may be the lowest cost option, another proposal may be the shortest duration option, and another proposal may be the most popular option based on another traveler's choice (however, a different number of offers and different combinations It is understood that the proposed type may be used in other embodiments). Further, taking into account the limited constraints created by the chain impact analysis module when generating a proposal, it is more efficient to operate, for example, to have less duration, less connection time and less disruption to the entire itinerary There is a choice of travel services.

Block 124 may select a travel service for each offer using the business rules or other analytical methods described above. Further, as shown in block 126, once a proposal is created, additional personalization may be performed using, for example, a profile database storing the preferences of travelers and / or companies (employers) The proposal can be created for a particular traveler. The profile database includes information such as whether a traveler's employer requires or desires a particular booking grade or cabin, type or brand type of hotel, car rental, flight (direct or via), preference of the traveler in the past, personalization Or any other information collected or stored for the traveler and / or his employer that may be used to increase the likelihood that a traveler will be able to find an acceptable offer to update the traveler's travel itinerary .

Next, at block 128, the proposal may be ranked and / or filtered to select one or more proposals for presentation to the traveler for review and consideration. In some cases, it may be desirable to suggest different categories of proposals, e.g., the lowest cost, the shortest duration and the most popular proposals, or multiple proposals from each category with options to view additional proposals if desired Can be presented. On the travel web site, for example, often a large number of search and filtering options are provided to the traveler, allowing travelers to find travel services that best meet their needs, and any such functionality can be provided in embodiments To provide additional customization options to travelers as desired, but in many embodiments it is often desirable to minimize the amount of effort required by the traveler in a stressful or urgent situation when the traveler is likely to miss or miss a flight It may be desirable to limit the choices offered to travelers.

When ranking and / or filtering the proposal, block 130 passes these proposals to trip reconfiguration module 18 (FIG. 1) to deliver the selected proposal until it reconfigures the traveler's travel itinerary with the updated travel service To support travelers. The module 18 may execute the same routine as the travel reconfiguration routine 140 of Figure 6, which starts at block 142 and delivers the generated proposal to the traveler's computing device, e.g., a smartphone . This proposal may be sent to a mobile app running on the device, or alternatively, sent via a text message, e-mail or other form of electronic communication, and optionally linked to a mobile or desktop website . Upon receiving by the traveler computing device (e.g., computing device 38 of FIG. 1), the device displays the offer, for example, a mobile app, an email app, a browser app, We wait for judgment from traveler. For example, if the traveler chooses to reject all offers, then block 146 returns this rejection to module 18, canceling all offers at block 148. [ However, if the traveler chooses one of these suggestions, block 146 returns the acceptance to module 18, which validates the proposal received at block 150, and then, at block 152, Update your itinerary. At this time, it is possible to update the itinerary by canceling, changing, updating, adding, etc., and the optional non-selected proposal is canceled.

Confirming at block 150 may take into account any proposed time constraints since the proposal may expire after some time period, and the travel service, e.g., a flight, may be no longer available when accommodated by the traveler have. Block 150 may check the price and availability to update the proposal if the situation changes between when the proposal was created and when the proposal was accepted. Further, by confirming the offer, the traveler can generally formally accept any additional fees that come with the selected offer.

Block 152 typically makes the itinerary realistic and after the proposal is verified, this block may be used to update the itinerary, to cancel the elements of the initial travel record, to reissue the flight ticket, And the like, by minimizing the traveler's intervention, and in some circumstances, allowing the traveler to go to the airline ticketing desk and travel Thereby avoiding updating the schedule. Further, in some embodiments, the check-in is automatically handled so that the traveler can be avoided from going to the check-in desk before boarding the flight.

In some embodiments, it is understood that if a suggestion is selected, the element that was initially cached in the itinerary can be canceled. Travelers who miss the first leg of their Nice-Paris / Paris-New York flight and confirm their connection and new flight offer in Frankfurt will be automatically canceled at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport You can book an early hotel at.

In some embodiments, each generated offer can be configured as an offer that is a collection of one or more travel services for which price and availability are not warranted, together with availability and price quotations made to the traveler prior to bookkeeping have. Such an offer can be considered as a snapshot of this offer at any given moment. In such a case, when the traveler selects an offer, the offer information can be updated appropriately by checking availability / price.

However, in other embodiments, the offer may consist of a guaranteed offer, which is a collection of one or more travel services, together with an availability and price quotation made to the traveler prior to bookkeeping and with a guarantee of price and availability for a limited time frame.

Thus, for example, seats on flights departing at 20:00 PM may be warranted (by price and availability) until 17:30 PM. Further, this time frame in which the proposal is warranted or protected may be used as an input to the revenue management system, and the proposal may be used to calculate the excess bookkeeping when pricing other seats of the flight as described in more detail below Can be considered.

In general, the availability and price-guaranteed offerings are linked to each other and are both protected for a fixed period of time, accepting one offer automatically cancels all other offers and releases associated services to purchase. Further, if there is no traveler response within the limited time frame, all guaranteed offers are canceled. In some embodiments, for an expired offer, the traveler may request an update of the availability and price, e.g., via a mobile app, to allow the traveler to select the offer using the updated availability and price information .

To further illustrate the operation of the present invention, Mr. Lee is a frequent business traveler in Nice, France, and Lee ' s company considers an exemplary scenario for subscribing to an automatic rebooking service according to the present invention. Lee schedules a round-trip trip between Nice and Singapore, with flights from NCE to CDG departing at 19:15 on Monday and arriving at 20:45, flights from CDG to SIN departing at 23:15, : It is scheduled to arrive at 00:00. Lee schedules a two-day workshop, with return flights from SIN to CDG departing at 20:00 on Thursday, arriving at 3:15 on Friday, and flights from CDG to NCE scheduled to depart at 12:30. Lee also has a hotel room booked on Friday from CDG Airport to rest when getting off the bus. Lee has strong constraints, and even if he arrives later than the initial schedule, he must return to Nice on Friday with his daughter's birthday.

At 18:30 on Thursday, Lee is in the presentation, but Lee finds it difficult to see his wristwatch and catch the return flight at 20:00. Lee is in a panic when he thinks he can not contact the travel agency because it is a bank holiday in France. However, he thinks about the benefits of joining the automatic rebooking service, and Lee can calm down and return to his presentation without interruption.

The travel accident detection disclosed in this specification is based on the current position of Mr. Lee, and is used to detect the traffic state between Lee's location and the airport, the status of the rental vehicle not returned, the flight check-in close at 19:00, Detecting the status of a non-checked-in Lee and having a high risk of a travel accident affecting flights from SIN to CDG triggers an analysis of the chain effect.

When assessing the chain effect, check your itinerary to identify operational flights that meet your constraints. In this case, the catch-up point can be identified as CDG and NCE.

A connecting flight from CDG to NCE leaves at 12:30 on Friday, so the restriction can be limited to CDG catch-up points that require a restriction to arrive at CDG until 11:00. When searching for a flight to CDG or a neighboring airport, it can be determined that it is not possible to replace only SIN-CDG flights because the flight initially booked on Lee was the last flight on that day and the last flight arrived until 11:00 the next day It is because it is.

As a result, the next catch-up point (NCE) can be analyzed, other flights replacing flights between Singapore and Nice, and the appropriate hotels in any connected city can be identified.

You can check your availability / pricing and suggest efficient and precise flights to your company considering the traveler / company's preferences / policies, and the traveler's past experience. In this example, Mr. Lee 's corporate policy pushes to business class when flights exceed five hours and pushes first on the sky team alliance flight. Therefore, when selecting a proposal, SkyTeam flights may be preferred in business class. Furthermore, Lee's company is subscribed to a guaranteed offer, so the proposal generated is guaranteed and protected within the time limit. In this case, three exemplary suggestions may be sent to the portable computing device of Lee ' s for review and approval:

Offer 1 (lowest cost):

20:55 Thursday - 03:00 Friday, Singapore - London QF3345

12:50 Friday - 15:45 Friday London - Nice, BA342

Hotel: Heathrow Hotel, 1 night.

Total: 760 Euros

Offer 2 (shortest duration)

21:00 Thursday - 00:10 Friday, Singapore - Dubai, EK405

09:25 Friday - 14:15 Friday, Dubai - Nice, EK77

Hotel: Dubai Hotel, 1 Night

Total: 890 Euros

Offer 3 (Most Popular)

21:55 Thursday - 04:40 Thursday, Singapore - Amsterdam, KL836

15:35 Thursday - 17:40 Thursday, Amsterdam - Nice, KL 1263

Hotel: Amsterdam Hotel, 1 night

Total: 790 Euros

Lee is at 19:15 when he finishes his presentation, but Lee is relieved to see that his mobile phone has received an appropriate flight and hotel rebooking proposal. Lee selects Opportunity 3, which connects late through Amsterdam and flights the next morning to Nice. After confirmation, all necessary changes to his PNR are automatically processed, canceling the original flight and hotel, re-booking on the new flight and making a new hotel reservation in Amsterdam. Lee did not worry about all these adjustments of his trip; Lee did not have any difficulty in contacting his travel agency, especially during the holidays. Furthermore, since Mr. Lee can not speak in French, Mr. Lee may have had difficulty attempting to re - book with his travel agent and phone. Lee knows that he has plenty of time to get to the airport on time for his late flight and can still have time to relax in Amsterdam before connecting to Nice.

Guaranteed offer

As described above, in some embodiments of the present invention, it may be desirable to suggest an alternative travel service in which availability and price are implemented with a guaranteed guaranteed offer for a limited time frame. The traditional offer is not guaranteed, and it can change at the time the traveler confirms the proposed booking to the travel agent. Some travel agents can handle this situation by booking some actual and guaranteed PNR (or even some travel schedules that are sometimes in the same PNR); This is considered fraudulent in the travel industry, as it generally affects the determination of the pricing and availability of travel services that are known to be canceled by employees.

However, in some embodiments of the invention, an offer can be made for a limited time frame and can be used to influence inventory and revenue management principles based on the bookkeeping probability. The offer warranted in some embodiments may be a billable service to a traveler or a traveler's company, and may be purchased on an individual basis or on a subscription basis. Furthermore, this service may be free in some cases.

In some embodiments, multiple offers for the same itinerary between the source and destination may be linked in sets, using the entire set of probabilities as an input to the inventory and / or revenue management system to enable the use of travel services by other potential travelers Potentially affecting both the likelihood and the pricing. As is known in the art, travel services are often overbooked to maximize return on investment based on the risk of being canceled at the last minute. Inventory and revenue management systems generally prorate travel services and report availability of travel services based on algorithms that take into account the risk of cancellation and often volatility for these travel services.

An embodiment in accordance with the present invention is directed to assigning a probability to a travel service associated with each guaranteed offer in a guaranteed set of offers and using the assigned probability as an input to an inventory and / You can consider contract bookings of travel services associated with an offer. This probability can be calculated, for example, based on counting the guaranteed offers in this set, if the guaranteed offer is N, the probability of each travel service in each guaranteed offer is assigned 1 / N, The probabilities for any travel services that are common to the guaranteed offers are summed based on the number of guaranteed offers that share the same travel service. Thus, if, for example, there are N guaranteed offers and a particular travel service has M of these guaranteed offers shared, then the probability for this travel service may be M / N.

Further, when a guaranteed offer is given as being associated with the same itinerary between the origin and the destination, the offer is grouped to calculate the probability, and when one guaranteed offer is confirmed, the other guaranteed offer in the set is automatically And the inventory and / or revenue management system may be updated to reflect all of the agreed upon offers and other canceled offers. Further, if the limited time frame for the guaranteed offer expires, the inventory and / or revenue management system may be updated to reflect the cancellation of all offers.

As an example, a traveler may want to travel from Nice to New York for two weeks, and three options may be presented to confirm within a day:

Option 1 (4000 euros)

AF123 Probability of booking Paris from Nice: 1/3

AF456 Probability of bookkeeping from Paris to New York: 2/3 (segment is the same for options 1 and 2)

Option 2 (€ 4100)

AF798 Probability of booking Paris from Nice: 1/3

AF456 Probability of bookkeeping from Paris to New York: 2/3 (segment is the same for options 1 and 2)

Option 3 (€ 6200)

BA 123 Chance to book London from Nice: 1/3

BA456 Probability for bookings from London to New York: 1/3

In particular, since one segment is common to option 1 and option 2, the overall probability is 2/3, not 1/3, as in the case of other alternative services.

By including this probability in inventory and revenue management calculations, more accurate pricing and availability can be determined, and the probability of bookkeeping for each flight segment is used instead of the traditional assumption that all bookings are 100% do.

Further, in terms of excess bookkeeping, for example, if only one seat is available on a flight, then the inventory system will have one guaranteed offer with a 50% probability of success and two different offers with a 25% By taking the risk of accepting a guaranteed offer, you can potentially make up to four bookings, not just one bookkeeper, on your flight. While there is a risk that all offers will be confirmed and three excess bookings will be made to the traveler, this risk of overbooking can be offset by lowering the cost of offloading other travelers who have lower prices and a lower financial contribution to the flight offloading of the system to profit management.

FIG. 7 illustrates a guaranteed offer generation routine 160 that may be executed to generate one or more guaranteed set of offers, for example, on an alternative travel schedule for the journey between the origin and destination. Further depicted is an inventory and revenue management system 32, 34 that can be accessed and updated in association with generating a guaranteed offer.

Each travel itinerary may include one or more travel services, as described above, and the routine 160 begins at block 162 to generate a guaranteed set of offers that meet the desired parameters of the itinerary between the origin and destination. A guaranteed offer may be generated for a proposal in the manner described above in response to a detected trip accident or, for example, whenever a traveler wants to purchase a travel service associated with an upcoming trip, Can be generated in a situation where

Once a guaranteed set of offers is created, a probability is assigned to the travel service for each guaranteed offer at block 164. As described above, in some embodiments, this probability may be based in part on the count of guaranteed offers in the set.

As a result of assigning the probabilities, the inventory and / or revenue management system 32, 34 is updated so that pricing and / or availability is determined based on the assumption that each travel service in each guaranteed offer is billed with the assigned probability . One of the operations affected by this probability is to calculate the excess bookkeeping factor at block 166 and to include the probability assigned to the temporarily bumped travel service associated with the guaranteed offer, It will be understood to be within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art.

In one embodiment, for example, the excess bookkeep calculation may be based on subtracting the sum of the respective bookkeeping probabilities from the aircraft capacity plus the excess bookkeeping allowance. In this embodiment, if the aircraft has a capacity of 100 passengers and has an excess bookkeeping capacity of 10, then the availability may be 1 if already 109 normal bookings (a probability of 1) have been made, Can be:

0.5의 확률을 갖는 1개의 보증된 오퍼 및 0.25의 확률을 갖는 2개의 보증된 오퍼를 취하여, 112명의 승객이 이 항공편에 부킹되거나 보증되게 하여 더 이상 이용가능성이 없음.

There is no longer a possibility that 112 passengers will be booked or guaranteed on this flight, taking one guaranteed offer with a probability of 0.5 and two guaranteed offers with a probability of 0.25.

1개의 정상 부킹을 취하여, 110명의 승객이 부킹되어 더 이상 이용가능성이 없음.

Taking one full bookkeeping, 110 passengers have been booked and are no longer available.

1/3의 확률을 갖는 2개의 보증된 오퍼를 취하여, 111명의 승객이 부킹되어 1/3의 이용가능성이 있음.

Taking two guaranteed offers with a probability of 1/3, 111 passengers will be booked and 1/3 available.

If the probability is allocated and used to update the inventory and / or revenue management system, then control proceeds to block 168 to determine whether the guaranteed offer is for example a web site, mobile app, email or other form of electronic communication It offers to the traveler through. Alternatively, a guaranteed offer may be offered to the traveler in person or by phone using a travel agency employee or travel provider employee (e.g., an airline ticketing agent). Guaranteed offers generally include travel services associated with the itinerary with prices or costs incurred in accepting the guaranteed offer. Further, the guaranteed offer is typically associated with a limited time frame (e.g., up to the next X minute, hour or day, or by a specific time and / or date) , Requiring the traveler to accommodate one of the offers within a limited time frame.

If one of the offers is accepted, then control proceeds to block 172 to accept the accepted offer and then proceeds to block 174 to cancel the other guaranteed offer in the set. In connection with making an offer and canceling another offer, the inventory and / or revenue management system is updated and reflects the change (e.g., the accepted offer is updated for a 100% Cancel travel service). However, referring back to block 170, if the traveler rejects all offers or does not accept the offer within a limited time frame, then control directly goes to block 174 to cancel all outstanding prospective offers in the set , And updates the inventory and / or revenue management system to reflect cancellation of all travel services associated with the guaranteed offer set.

It is understood that some of the features of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be used without corresponding use of other features. While the embodiments described above focus on air travel in some aspects, some embodiments may be applied to other types of travel, including but not limited to travel through rail, road or ship, or other services generally associated with travel It is understood that the focus can be placed. Further, various additional modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

Claims (22)

CLAIMS 1. A method for updating a travel itinerary in response to a travel accident,
The travel schedule includes a plurality of travel services, and the travel accident prevents a traveler from using at least one of the plurality of travel services. The travel accident is detected by using at least one processing unit to detect a travel accident associated with the traveler's travel schedule step;
Identifying at least one affected travel service that is affected by the detected trip accident among the plurality of travel services on the itinerary; And
Automatically suggesting a plurality of alternative travel services to replace the affected travel services in the travel itinerary. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting the trip accident comprises accessing a departure control system to determine a departure state of the traveler. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting the trip accident comprises accessing traveler status information to determine the departure status of the traveler. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting the travel accident comprises receiving from the traveler a notification indicating that the traveler is unable to use at least one of the plurality of travel services as a result of a travel accident. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting the trip accident comprises the step of determining the location of the traveler. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting the travel accident comprises the step of determining a weather condition. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein detecting the travel accident comprises determining real-time travel state data associated with a time required for the traveler to complete the boarding process. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of detecting a travel accident comprises summing probabilities of a plurality of travel accident factors,
Wherein each travel accident factor is selected from the group consisting of departure control system information, notification information, location information, weather information, and real-time travel state information. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein identifying at least one affected travel service comprises identifying a chain effect of the trip accident for a plurality of affected travel services. 10. The method of claim 9,
Further comprising determining a catch-up point in the travel itinerary in which the remainder of the travel itinerary may be consecutive, the step of identifying the at least one affected travel service,
Wherein automatically suggesting the plurality of alternative travel services comprises identifying at least one alternative travel service that catches the traveler from the trip schedule to the catch up point. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the travel accident is associated with a missed flight, the step of identifying the at least one affected travel service and the step of automatically suggesting the plurality of alternative travel services are performed prior to the traveler missing the flight Lt; / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein suggesting the plurality of alternative travel services comprises generating a plurality of offers each associated with the plurality of alternative travel services. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein said plurality of offers are each associated with a set of alternative travel services, said set of alternative travel services being selected from the set of lowest cost of alternative travel services, the shortest duration set of alternative travel services, ≪ / RTI > 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein each of the plurality of offers is a guaranteed offer and each guaranteed offer warrants the price and availability of the associated alternative travel service for a limited time frame. 15. The method of claim 14,
In response to the traveler selecting the first guaranteed offer from the plurality of guaranteed offers,
Booking the alternative travel service associated with the first guaranteed offer; And
Canceling all other guaranteed offers from the plurality of guaranteed offers and releasing the alternative travel service associated with another guaranteed offer. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising automatically re-booking the affected travel service by reissuing a ticket associated with the affected travel service. 17. The method of claim 16,
Wherein the automatically re-booking step further comprises performing an automatic check-in of the reissued ticket. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising automatically re-booking the affected travel service in response to selecting an alternative travel service selected from the plurality of alternative travel services. 19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the automatically re-booking further comprises updating the travel itinerary to identify the selected alternative travel service. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of travel services comprises a first travel service for a first flight from a departure city to a first destination city, a second travel service for a second flight from the first destination city to a second destination city, Includes a third travel service for one of the hotels near the destination city,
The trip accident is to cause the traveler to miss the first flight,
Wherein identifying the at least one affected travel service comprises identifying the first, second, and third travel services as first, second, and third affected travel services,
Wherein automatically suggesting the plurality of alternative travel services comprises:
A first alternative flight from the departure city to an alternative destination city, an alternative hotel near the alternative destination city, and a second alternative flight from the alternative destination city to the second destination city. Further comprising suggesting an alternative travel service set. At least one processing unit; And
Program code,
Wherein the program code, when executed by the at least one processing unit,
A travel schedule includes a plurality of travel services, wherein a travel accident prevents a traveler from using at least one of the plurality of travel services, and wherein at least one processing unit is used to detect a travel accident associated with the travel schedule of the traveler action;
Identifying at least one affected travel service that is affected by the detected trip accident among the plurality of travel services on the itinerary; And
And to update the itinerary by performing an operation of automatically suggesting a plurality of alternative travel services to replace the affected travel service in the itinerary. As a program product,
Computer readable medium; And
And program code stored on the computer readable medium,
The program code, when executed by at least one processing unit,
A travel schedule includes a plurality of travel services, wherein a travel accident prevents a traveler from using at least one of the plurality of travel services, and wherein at least one processing unit is used to detect a travel accident associated with the travel schedule of the traveler action;
Identifying at least one affected travel service that is affected by the detected trip accident among the plurality of travel services on the itinerary; And
And to update the itinerary by performing an action of automatically suggesting a plurality of alternative travel services to replace the affected travel service in the itinerary.

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