WO2008090530A2

WO2008090530A2 - Travel management system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2008090530A2
Application number: PCT/IB2008/050300
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher Drake Gavan
Original assignee: Christopher Drake Gavan
Priority date: 2007-01-26
Filing date: 2008-01-28
Publication date: 2008-07-31
Also published as: WO2008090530A3

Abstract

A travel management system (10) and method for enabling a client to manage travel-related expenses incurred by a user are disclosed. The method and system provide for receiving information from the user regarding a proposed trip, the proposed trip including at least one travel- related service to be provided by a travel service supplier and storing a travel data record in a database, the travel data record comprising the at least one travel-related service. The at least one travel-related service with the relevant travel service supplier is booked and the database is updated accordingly. Once the travel service supplier has been paid and the database has again been updated, the client is allowed to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database.

Description

TRAVEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a travel management system, method and associated software that, in combination, enable effective travel management through the collection, linking and appropriate exposure of all of the necessary information from all of the relevant parties involved in providing travel products to the traveller. The traveller may be an individual or an organisation.

At present, travellers typically instruct a travel agent to make the necessary bookings, including flights, accommodation, car hire etc., for a particular trip. The travel agent then uses their own mechanisms to make bookings with the necessary service suppliers, and thereafter invoice the traveller accordingly. However, one of the problems is that such travel bookings are not entirely transparent, with the traveller as an individual, or whoever is responsible for the travel expenses in the case of an organisation, not easily being able to check that the costs charged by the travel agent are in line with the costs charged by the actual suppliers of the services, nor are they able to easily see what was spent by whom.

Another issue that exists with current approaches to providing a travel portal or service to travellers is that the models currently in use tend to revolve around the payments, by a travel agent, through what is generally called a payment switch. This is called a bill-back system, whereby the travel agent pays the supplier in arrears, and then eventually provides an invoice to the customer in arrears. The problem with this is that the customer (usually a corporate client) only gets a reconciliation of their travel spend two months or more after the trip has occurred. They therefore have no control and cannot take timely corrective action if a travel policy has been violated. Furthermore, the customer may get charged a merchant fee, which should have been incurred by the service supplier, as well as an administration fee. The result is that this process is costly and reconciliation may be very difficult to achieve.

It is thus an aim of the present invention to provide a system, method and associated software that can easily and conveniently enable a traveller to manage travel-related expenses in real time without necessitating the centralisation of the payments involved or an intermediary, such as a travel agent, in the payment process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a travel management system for enabling a client to manage travel-related expenses incurred by a user, the system comprising:

a trip creation module for enabling the user to create an itinerary for a proposed trip, the itinerary including at least one travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier;

a database for storing a travel data record comprising the at least one travel-related service;

a booking module for booking the at least one travel-related service with the relevant travel service supplier, and for automatically updating the database accordingly;

a payment processing module for enabling the travel service supplier to be paid by the client, and for automatically updating the database accordingly once payment has been made;

a reconciliation module for allowing the client to reconcile the travel- related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database; and

a reporting module to allow for detailed feedback to be examined through the agency of reports.

The system may additionally comprise a payment consolidation module configured to extract financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service from statements of financial institutions, or from information communicated by financial institutions.

The trip creation module or booking module is to allocate one or more unique identifier to the travel service. The one or more unique identifiers may include an order number, a PNR (passenger name record) number, a booking reference number or any other unique identifier that is appropriate.

The payment consolidation module may be configured to extract the financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service based on the one or more unique identifiers.

Preferably, the user and client is an individual, an employee of a corporate entity or a travel agent.

Typically, the travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier includes, but is not limited to, flights, accommodation and car hire.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a travel management method for enabling a client to manage travel-related expenses incurred by a user, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving information from the user regarding a proposed trip, the proposed trip including at least one travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier; storing a travel data record in a database, the travel data record comprising the at least one travel-related service;

booking the at least one travel-related service with the relevant travel service supplier, and updating the database accordingly;

paying the travel service supplier, and updating the database accordingly once payment has been made; and

allowing the client to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database.

Preferably, the method further comprises extracting financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service from statements of financial institutions, or from information communicated by financial institutions.

Typically, the method may additionally comprise allocating one or more unique identifier to the travel service. The one or more unique identifiers may include an order number, a PNR (passenger name record) number, a booking reference number or any other unique identifier that is appropriate.

The method may further comprise extracting the financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service based on the one or more unique identifiers.

Preferably, the user or client is an individual, an employee of a corporate entity or a travel agent.

Typically, the travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier includes, but is not limited to, flights, accommodation and car hire. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a travel management system for enabling a client to manage travel-related expenses incurred by a user, the system comprising:

a memory including program instructions; and

a processor operating responsive to the program instructions to:

receive information from the user regarding a proposed trip, the proposed trip including at least one travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier;

store a travel data record in a database, the travel data record comprising the at least one travel-related service;

book the at least one travel-related service with the relevant travel service supplier, and updating the database accordingly;

pay the travel service supplier, and update the database accordingly once payment has been made; and

allow the client to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the employee with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1 shows a block diagram illustrating modules of a travel management system relative to other existing systems as well as other existing systems with which the travel management system communicates, in accordance with an example embodiment;

Figure 2 shows a high level schematic diagram illustrating the travel management process in relation to various users and modules of the travel management system of Figure 1 , in accordance with an example embodiment;

Figure 3 shows an additional payment platform that may form part of the travel management system of Figure 1 , which is used in terms of line item information which may not be know at the time of booking a trip; and

Figures 4 to 10 show breakdowns of different reports that may be generated by the travel management system of Figure 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In broad terms, the present invention delivers real time travel reservations and payment processing that caters for any travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier including, but not limited to, flights, accommodation and car hire.

Referring to Figure 1 , a travel management system 10 according to the present invention is central to, and connected to, other existing systems. This configuration of the travel management system 10 with other systems creates a holistic environment, giving clients direct access to travel service suppliers and greater control of their travel services expenditure.

Travellers that register through affiliate programs may also benefit from pre- negotiated discounts at participating travel service suppliers. The travel management system 10 has the following travel management system functions: trip creation, trip booking and payment, trip tracking, reporting on a consolidated basis, a secure log in and an open lodged card. The term open lodged card is typically used for debit or credit cards of corporate entities specifically used for the payment of travel services. Significantly, these features may be customized by the role of the different users of the system and various levels of access may be given to the different users. For example, a procurement manager would have access to the reporting functionality, while a travel booker will have access to the trip creation, trip booking and payment and trip tracking portions of the system.

The travel management system 10 provides, according to an example embodiment, an online interface, in the form of a website that allows the different users of the system to access the system, e.g., to create and plan trips, to make payments and to run reports.

In an example embodiment, the travel management system 10 may be connected to a 3^rd party direct booking system 12 and a Global Distribution System (GDS) 14, such as Galileo. The GDS 14 is the traditional system that a travel agent uses to book a required travel service.

The travel management system 10 comprises a trip creation module 16 for enabling the user to create an itinerary for a proposed trip. The trip creation module 10 provides the user with an online interface to request a travel arrangement and set up the associated itinerary. The itinerary may typically include at least one travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier. For example, the trip information recorded by the trip creation module 16 may be stored in a database 18, and generally comprises a subset of the following, as appropriate:

• Basic trip information

• Start and end dates of the trip

• Reasons for the trip β Special requests and comments « Client travel order number « Details of the traveller

• Authoriser details (if a group or company, the details of the manager who authorised the trip)

• Travel agent details (the details of the travel agent who created and booked the trip)

• Flight details (all flight reservation details for the particular trip) ^β Accommodation details (all accommodation reservation details for the trip) ■ Car hire details (all car hire reservation details)

The user of the trip creation module 16 is typically the traveller that needs to set up and plan a trip. Alternatively, the user of the trip creation module 16 may be somebody tasked to perform this functionality, e.g., a personal assistant of the traveller or a travel agent.

The system 10 may further comprise a traveller profile management module 20 which stores pre-recorded information (e.g., in the database 18) on a particular traveller. For example, where a corporate entity makes use of the travel management system 10, information on employees may be pre-recorded for use by the travel management system 10 when a travel request or an itinerary is created for the employee. This traveller profile information may include relevant information on the traveller, such as full names, address, contact numbers, identity number, passport number, travel preferences, frequent flyer membership and membership numbers, as well as previous travel information that may be necessary for visa applications.

The travel management system 10 may also comprise a policy management module 22 which is to record and manage the travel policy or policies of a particular corporate entity. This travel policy may specify basic budgets, preferred suppliers and other relevant information that should be taken into account by a person making a booking. Travel policies may also be stored in the database 18.

As mentioned, the database 18 storing a travel data record that comprises the at least one travel-related service, may be the same database storing traveller profile information or travel policies. Alternatively, different databases may store this type of information and may, where necessary be linked to each other to access information as required.

Information from the traveller profile management module 20 and the policy management module 22 may be drawn into the travel request and itineraries during their creation.

The travel management system 10 further comprises a booking module 24 for booking the at least one travel-related service with the relevant travel service supplier and for automatically updating the database 18 with this information. The booking module 24 provides an interface to a booking agent, e.g., a travel agent, an employee of a corporate entity tasked with making bookings for other employees or making a personal travel booking.

In making the required bookings the travel management system may communicate with the 3^rd party direct booking system 12 and the GDS 14, thereby to effect the booking and record the necessary information relating to the booking.

An authorisation module 26 may additionally form part of the travel management system 10. The authorisation module 26 may present an interface or alternative communication to a particular user that is to authorise travel arrangements for a corporate entity. For example, the proposed trip itinerary and associated costs may be sent to the relevant authoriser for authorisation. In one example embodiment, the proposed trip itinerary and associated costs may be e-mailed to the authorisers, but SMS notification and/or authorization may also be employed. If a trip is authorised, the status of the trip on the system would be changed from pre-authorised to authorised.

It will be appreciated, that depending on the travel policy of the corporate entity, the authorization step may not always be applied by the travel management system 10. For example, if the corporate entity uses trip pre- authorisation based on a catalogue, and the actual costs at the time of booking the trip are less than the pre-approved budget amount, the status of the trip may automatically be changed from pre-authorised to authorised by the trip management system 10.

In all cases where the trip cost at the time of booking exceeds the budget estimate final approval needs to be obtained prior to payments (e.g., particularly payment of flights).

The travel management system 10 also includes a payment module 28 to enable the travel service supplier to be paid by the client, e.g., the person responsible for making the booking, such as the trip planner or the travel agent. The payment module 28 is also to automatically update the database once payment has been made.

A payment consolidation module 30 may be provided to extract financial information from statements of financial institutions or banks 36. Alternatively, the payment consolidation module 30 may receive this information direction from the financial institutions or banks 36. This process is described in more detail below.

A reconciliation module 32 is also provided to allow the client to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database 18.

A reporting module 34 allows for detailed feedback to be examined through the agency of reports. The reporting module 34 provides for various types of reports, examples of which are shown in Figures 4 to 10, to be generated from the various types of information stored in the database 18.

In use, the travel booking process comprises the following steps, shown in Figure 2:

Step 1 - Creating the Trip

To begin the booking process, the travel management system 10 may be accessed by a user such as a traveller 40 to create, through the use of the trip creation module 16, a travel request 42, and in particular an itinerary for a proposed trip. The user 40 may be an individual, an employee acting on behalf of an organisation, or any other party that makes use of the system, such as the travel agent. This trip information gets stored on the database 18 and generally comprises a subset of information mentioned above. In one example embodiment, the traveller's details and personal preferences get pulled in from the traveller profile management module 20 and travel policy information from the travel policy module 22.

Essentially the trip, once created, serves as an itinerary for the traveller as a mechanism for linking all of the components of a trip together.

The travel request gets sent to the specified authorisers 44 (specified during the travel request) for pre-authorisation. The travel request may additionally allow users to submit a budget for the trip, which could be calculated automatically from a catalogue of similar trips, if the corporate entity so desires.

Once the trip is pre-authorised (e.g., if the travel request is less than the budgeted amount), then the booking of the different components of the trip may commence.

Step 2 - Making the booking

A travel booker 46 may book flights, cars and accommodation by making use of the booking module 24, either directly or through the 3rd party booking systems, such as booking system 12, of various suppliers or the GDS system 14. The travel booker may either be the user or a travel agent.

Typically, the person booking the trip, i.e., the travel booker, logs into the travel management system 10 through the booking module 24, picks up the trip request and proceeds to make the bookings.

Significantly, these bookings are automatically linked in a manner that allows them to be seen collectively as a trip or an itinerary. The various suppliers may include suppliers of flights, accommodation, car hire and any other goods and services as appropriate.

Each trip booking is stored in the database 18 of the travel management system 10 together with the initial amounts for the various supplier services, which are marked as unpaid.

The standard rate for each component of the trip or itinerary, where available, which would have been charged if the travel management system 10 had not been used, is also identified so that the travel management system 10 can calculate the discounted supplier rates and savings. The client may thus, through this mechanism, have an accurate measure of the savings being achieved.

One or more unique identifiers will be associated with the booking. The unique identifiers may include an order number, a PNR (passenger name record) number, a booking reference number or any other unique identifier that is appropriate.

Step 3 - Authorisation (optional)

The proposed trip itinerary and associated costs may be sent to the relevant authoriser 44 for authorisation. As mentioned, the proposed trip itinerary and associated costs are e-mailed or sent via SMS to the authorisers. Once authorised, the status of the trip on the system would be changed from pre-authorised to authorised.

It should be noted that, once booking of the trip has been done, this information will already be available in reports that are run through the reporting module 34. For example, a procurement manager 52 may view reports on the travel requests lodged on the system 10.

Step 4 - Payment Processing and Consolidation

As indicated above, it is essential to reconcile the original booking against the actual payment from the client to the travel agent or supplier. This must be done so that the client can track and analyse spending, as payments are often received after a number of weeks, or in some cases months, later. A payment processing module 28 and associated bank (shown in Figure 1 by reference numeral 36) are used to facilitate payment to the various travel service providers, which process is well known in the art. The travellers' trip expenses are shown by reference numeral 48 in Figure 2.

Typically, for airline bookings, payments are processed at or around the time of the booking, which is prior to the trip. For example, if any flights booked through the GDS system 12 needs to be ticketed, then the ticketing agent would be instructed to do so (and be provided with the relevant PNR reference and order number). The order number needs to be included in the ticketing commands sent to the ticketing agent to ensure that this order number is printed on the credit card statement. This is necessary for reconciliation purposes by the reconciliation module 32. Typically, low cost carriers would be paid directly through the payment processing module 28 of the travel management system 10 by the travel booker.

For hotel and car hire bookings, payments are usually processed at the conclusion of the instance of use of the car or accommodation, as appropriate. If the supplier is acquired by the same bank 36 as the issuer of the card that the traveller uses to make the payment, then it is possible for one or more of the unique identifiers to be passed to the travel management system 10 by the bank 36. The unique identifier supplied by the bank 36 may then be matched to the unique identifiers on the booking and trip details and the three components may then be consolidated for reporting and analysis.

Any payments that are made are immediately viewable in the real-time reports generated by the reporting module 34. Items previously recorded in the booked section of the reports are moved to the paid section, after payment. For example, a financial manager 54 would be able to view reports after a payment reconciliation has been completed.

An advantage of the payment process described above is that it enables reconciliation to happen very close to the time that the transactions take place.

To facilitate this, client credit or debit cards are presented at all travel suppliers, as well as point of sale (POS) EFT devices or any other payment interfaces, as appropriate. The travel supplier receives payment by swiping the credit or debit card through the EFT devices or entering it into any other appropriate interface, asking, if necessary, for one or more of the unique identifiers mentioned above. This may include payments for services provided by suppliers (e.g., restaurants, laundromats, taxi services), which are not connected in any way with the travel management system 10.

For example, with car hiring services the simplest solution may be for a corporate entity to use a back-to-back lodge card solution (e.g., a credit card for the payment of travel expenses) with their car hire supplier. This streamlines the payment process and, the travel management system 10 will under these circumstances send through the order number to the car supplier at the time of booking, which facilitates payment reconciliation.

In the event that the corporate entity does not want to make use of the back-to-back approach, the car hiring service may be paid through the use of a credit or debit card using the technique described below for accommodation payments.

This additional payment process may be used, for example for accommodation, where a particular payment platform may allow the service suppliers to log onto a special supplier payment portal, record the line item information and either settle the payment directly or send it on to the travel booker for payment, who can then pay it from the travel management system front-end.

A high-level overview of this additional payment process is summarised in the block diagram of Figure 3, where the payment process provides the corporate entity detailed line item information and the ability to negotiate an early settlement discount with the supplier of services, thereby avoiding the merchant fees and administration costs associated with a travel agent bill- back systems. This additional payment process provides the corporate entity with the flexibility to settle the account either at the supplier (with a card-in-wallet) or through their travel booker (with a lodged card).

Payments to suppliers can either be done through the travel management system 10 individually for each trip, or periodically (e.g., every two weeks) in batch mode (for multiple trips and order numbers) once the corporate entity has had time to review and query all of the invoices.

With the consent of the corporate entity, the travel management system 10 may receive credit or debit card statements of the corporate entity, and then automatically reconcile that information to the paid information on the travel management system, thereby providing a complete an end-to-end solution of travel request to reconciliation.

Any unmatched statements may be provided to a corporate entity in an exception report.

Step 4 - Reporting Lastly, customized reports can be generated for suppliers and clients upon request or at the end of periods. Basic reports include spend per individual or group with drill downs to the following:

• overall individual spending on travel; β overall group spending on travel;

• spending per category (e.g. flights, accommodation, meals, bar, gifts, etc.);

• spending for a particular travel supplier.

These reports may be created for bookings made through the travel management system 10 as well as those made by a travel agent through the traditional means of the global distribution system (GDS). For the latter case, a machinable interface record (MIR) file, or equivalent will need to be provided by the GDS partner, e.g., Galileo. The system 10 will then parse the file for the information required to consolidate the original travel request with the actual booking made. This information may include the order number and the trip details such as departure date, locations etc.

To generate a travel analysis report for a client or user, the travel management system 10 comprises a reconciliation module 32, which extracts the necessary information from the system 10, and a payment consolidation module 30, which extracts the necessary information from the bank 36.

The reporting module 34 may generate reports in a variety of formats (e.g., .pdf, .html, .csv and Excel). Examples of reports that may be generated include the following:

• Flight reports (summary as well as detailed report of booked and paid flights)

• Car hire (summary as well as detailed report of booked and paid car hire transactions)

• Transfer reports ^β Accommodation (summary as well as detailed report of booked and paid hotels) « Trip summary

• Payment summary « Supplier breakdown

■ Traveller whereabouts

• Exception reports (on out of policy bookings and unmatched card statements)

• Audit trail (who requested, authorized, booked and paid for travel and when it was done)

Examples of breakdowns of the different reports that may be generated are shown in Figures 4 to 10.

Figure 4 shows a summary of the type of information that may be presented through flight reports. A column for the breakdown according to International, Regional and Domestic services may be provided. With this detailed information, the travel management system 10 can readily extract the average fare for the top 5 routes internationally, regionally and domestically and these will be included in a flight summary report which is also an extension of the basic information columns shown in Figure 4.

Turning to Figure 5, a summary of the type of information that may be presented through various car hire report is shown. From the level of detail in the car hire reports it is clear that the travel management system can readily extract information pertaining to the average days per rental, cost of rental, cost per day, average kilometers per day and additional costs e.g., additional mileage and fuel fees.

From the information shown in Figure 6, which relates to the various reports on accommodation, the travel management system 10 can readily extract information pertaining to the number and cost of days stayed, the number and cost of meals, other expenses and the average rate paid per room per night per property.

Figures 7 to 9 shows details of trip summary reports, a payment summary report and a travel discipline, savings and lost savings report.

The trip summary report highlights the time period between the trip request and the trip start date, as well as that between the trip request and the booking date. This shows the travel discipline as well as the efficiency of the travel bookers. The travel management system can configure the policy (e.g., request a trip 7 days in advance) and colour code an exception in these reports. The exceptions will then also be included in the exception reports.

At the time of booking, savings can be entered vs a benchmark (e.g., a Y- class economy flight fare or a suitably defined benchmark). These savings may be reflected in the reports alongside the missed-savings that arise from not choosing the cheapest option available at the requested departure time. As an example, consider an extract of the information from our detailed flight reports shown below.

A traveller whereabouts reports is shown in Figure 10, which report may be used to facilitate business continuity planning in extreme situations. This report returns a table of all the active trips, the corresponding travellers, where the travellers are, their personal contact information and their ongoing travel plans.

Exception reports may also be designed to capture and highlight out of policy bookings and unmatched card statements, Policy violations could be due to insufficient notice for travel, incorrect class of travel, exceeding budget and so on.

To make use of the travel management system 10 described in this document, currently, the client or the travel agent carrying out the booking (Le., the travel booker), requires a computer with an internet browser and an active internet link. There is no restriction on the specific equipment required beyond those mentioned above. Also, the functionality of the invention does not preclude the use of other technologies as they become available.

The key features and benefits of the present invention include: β It is internet based, and so represents an easy to use online, real time travel reservation system; β It provides preferential supplier rates and discount structure

(registered clients only); β It provides tracking at individual client or agency level; β It provides online, real time payment processing; • It provides transparent management of travel spending in real time; » It allows the reconciliation of total travel expenditure per individual or group; and » It allows users to avoid unnecessary costs associated with the current industry practices.

In addition, the present invention achieves effective management of travel without any centralisation of, or indeed handling of money that is involved in, travel transactions. It achieves this by ensuring effective availability of the information that enables the traveller as an individual, or whoever is responsible for the travel expenses in the case of an organisation, to manage their travel and the linking of all of the information about the financial transactions with the appropriate traveller's bookings and personal information, effectively creating a complete picture for the traveller based uniquely on information and not on the control of the payment process.

The invention achieves the above by being a card-based system, which allows for immediate settlement of transactions between the traveller and the relevant suppliers through the agency of a credit or debit card or an EFT from an issuing bank in a way that protects the supplier from having the payment repudiated. This aspect of the system offers the suppliers advantages in two ways, namely immediate payment and much lower chances of repudiation. It also offers the traveller the possibility of early settlement discounts, should they be available. The system acts to allow for the passing of transaction details to the appropriate banking institution, but does not, in any way, actually handle the money being exchanged.

The invention has the additional advantage of allowing the traveller to bypass travel agents for certain travel itineraries, should the traveller wish to do so. This has the outcome of offering the traveller the potential for more direct control over their travel itineraries, as well as saving on booking fees and the administration of the payment process.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A travel management system for enabling a client to manage travel- related expenses incurred by a user, the system comprising:

a reconciliation module for allowing the client to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database; and

a reporting module to allow for detailed feedback to be examined through the agency of reports,

2. A travel management system according to claim 1 , further comprising a payment consolidation module configured to extract financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service from statements of financial institutions, or from information communicated by financial institutions.

3. A travel management system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the trip creation module or booking module is to allocate one or more unique identifier to the travel service.

4. A travel management system according to claim 3, wherein the one or more unique identifiers includes an order number, a PNR (passenger name record) number, a booking reference number or any other unique identifier.

5. A travel management system according to claim 4, wherein the payment consolidation module may be configured to extract the financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service based on the one or more unique identifiers.

6. A travel management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the user or client is an individual, an employee of a corporate entity or a travel agent.

7. A travel management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the travel-related service to be provided by a travel service supplier includes flights, accommodation and car hire.

8. A travel management method for enabling a client to manage travel- related expenses incurred by a user, the method comprising the steps of:

allowing the client to reconcile the travel-related expenses incurred by the user with the amount that has been paid to the travel service supplier as contained in the database,

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising extracting financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service from statements of financial institutions, or from information communicated by financial institutions.

10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising allocating one or more unique identifier to the travel service.

1 1. A method according to 10, wherein one or more unique identifiers includes an order number, a PNR (passenger name record) number, a booking reference number or any other unique identifier that is appropriate.

12. A method according to 1 1 , further comprising extracting the financial information on additional travel expenses related to a travel service based on the one or more unique identifiers.

13. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the user or client is an individual, an employee of a corporate entity or a travel agent.

14. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the travel- related service to be provided by a travel service supplier includes flights, accommodation and car hire.

15. A travel management system for enabling a client to manage travel- related expenses incurred by a user, the system comprising:

a memory including program instructions; and

a processor operating responsive to the program instructions to: