Granted Patent B2

US 7,966,213 · App. 11/549,957 · Granted Jun 21, 2011

Abstract

Claims (26)

1. A method comprising:

generating, via a computer system, an aggregate of travel history data based on one or more travelers, the data including changes made to travel selections of an itinerary following an initial purchase of the travel selections;

receiving a request for travel options in relation to a requested travel itinerary; and

generating a first set of travel options for the requested travel itinerary based on a determination using the aggregate of travel history data that changes made to selected travel options of the requested travel itinerary following an initial purchase of the selected travel options cause the first set of travel options to result in a cost lower than a second set of travel options;

wherein the generating the first set of travel options further comprises generating the first set of travel options based, at least in part, on one or more external events occurring along a travel route or at an accommodation of the requested travel itinerary.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregate of travel history data includes travel history data for a traveler of the requested travel itinerary.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the aggregate of travel history data further comprises performing a post travel analysis to determine whether one of penalties or fees invoked by travel changes could have been less had separate selected travel options been purchased.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options further comprises generating the first set of travel options based, at least in part, on one or more events comprising events related to a schedule of a traveler during the requested travel itinerary, events related to a first entity, events related to scheduled destinations of the requested itinerary, and events related to a second entity.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is based at least in part on events related to the first entity, and the first entity is an employer of the traveler having requested the first set of travel options.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is based at least in part on events related to the second entity, and the second entity is an entity located at a destination of the requested travel itinerary.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the traveler has a scheduled meeting with the second entity during the requested travel itinerary.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is further based on a set of one or more attributes comprising an identified purpose of the travel, identified individuals related to the travel, an origin or destination of the travel, a time period of the travel, and a calendar of a traveler of the requested itinerary.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of travel options includes multiple sets of rate and restrictions for one of the travel options of the first set of travel options.

10. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions which when executed perform a method comprising:

generating an aggregate of travel history data based on one or more travelers, the data including changes made to travel selections of an itinerary following an initial purchase of the travel selections;

receiving a request for travel options in relation to a requested travel itinerary; and

generating a first set of travel options for the requested travel itinerary based on a determination using the aggregate of travel history data that changes made to selected travel options of the requested travel itinerary following an initial purchase of the selected travel options cause the first set of travel options to result in a cost lower than a second set of travel options.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the aggregate of travel history data includes travel history data for a traveler of the requested travel itinerary.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the generating the aggregate of travel history data further comprises performing a post travel analysis to determine whether one of penalties or fees invoked by travel changes could have been less had separate selected travel options been purchased.

13. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options further comprises generating the first set of travel options based, at least in part, on one or more events related to the requested travel itinerary.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options further comprises generating the first set of travel options based, at least in part, on one or more of events comprising events related to a schedule of a traveler during the requested travel itinerary, events related to a first entity, events related to scheduled destinations of the requested itinerary, and events related to a second entity.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is based at least in part on events related to the first entity, and the first entity is an employer of the traveler having requested the first set of travel options.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is based at least in part on events related to the second entity, and the second entity is an entity located at a destination of the requested travel itinerary.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the traveler has a scheduled meeting with the second entity during the requested travel itinerary.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the generating the first set of travel options is further based on a set of one or more attributes comprising an identified purpose of the travel, identified individuals related to the travel, an origin or destination of the travel, a time period of the travel, and a calendar of a traveler of the requested itinerary.

19. The machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the first set of travel options includes multiple sets of rates and restrictions for one of the travel options of the first set of travel options.

Assignments (13)