KR20160085271A - Integration of online self-booking tool and third party system search results - Google Patents

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product are provided for providing a function of an online self-scheduling tool to a user booking a travel offer via a website of a third-party provider. A travel-related search query by a user results in a parallel search on each of a third-party provider's website and a database containing travel offers with agreed prices. The results of the parallel search may be captured and combined in a data-absorbing tool. The data-absorbing tool may combine the combined search results by removing duplicate search results and identifying search results that conflict with corporate travel policies. The harmonized search results can then be formatted based on the display data obtained from the third party web site and displayed to the user. Search results that conflict with corporate travel policies may be deleted or displayed with an indication of a conflict.

Description

INTEGRATION OF ONLINE SELF-BOOKING TOOL AND THIRD PARTY SYSTEM SEARCH RESULTS < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates generally to computer and computer software, and more particularly to methods, systems, and computer program products for integrating online self-booking tools and third party website search results and features for providing travel-related products.

Employees engaged in travel-related businesses of enterprises or other businesses are typically subject to corporate travel policies. The creation and enforcement of corporate travel policies are generally referred to as corporate travel management. Services that can be provided by corporate travel management include consultation with vendors such as airlines and hotels, day-to-day operation of corporate travel programs, setting of traveler's safety policies, and travel and expenditure data on employee trips. Management. These services may be handled internally by the corporate travel department or may be left to the travel management company. In either case, corporate travel management sets policies for service levels where employees are allowed to make reservations for business travel, negotiates corporate rates with airlines, hotels and car rental companies, You can set up a policy on which travel products you can purchase when traveling.

Business travelers who book business trips are normally required to follow certain corporate guidelines for the selection of travel products. To facilitate the implementation of travel-related policies and to ensure that travel goods are purchased at negotiated enterprise preferential prices, the company may prefer employees to book business trips through internal corporate travel managers or designated travel management companies . Such a reservation can be performed using an online self-booking tool.

The online self-scheduling tool can be hosted on a corporate or travel management company server and configured so that employees can log on remotely. Employees can thereby book a trip using a personal computing device connected to the host server via a network such as a corporate LAN or the Internet. Since the online self-booking tool can control which travel options are displayed to the user, the travel policy can be implemented by simply displaying the travel options that match the internal travel policy and the negotiated discount price. Online self-scheduling tools may also flag less desirable travel options by visual cues that disallows the user to select these travel options in a travel option that is inconsistent with the internal travel policy or otherwise.

Since the advent of the Internet, the travel industry has become increasingly fragmented and complex as the number of third-party providers such as online travel agents and airlines, which launch niche services through online channels, has increased. Travelers who wish to purchase travel products through an online channel can access websites operated by third party providers. The traveler will then typically provide search conditions to the website in the form of search queries to identify the travel goods that meet their needs. In response to receiving the search query, the web site will search one or more databases to identify the travel goods that match the parameters of the search query. The matched travel products can then be displayed as part of a travel offering that the traveler can reserve or purchase.

The availability of online channels for purchasing travel products has greatly increased options for travelers who book business trips, particularly trips related to leisure travel. Online channels also allow users to purchase tickets directly from the airline. To encourage this type of purchase, airlines can offer benefits to encourage direct access through their websites. The resulting increased competitiveness of online channels has moved travel-related purchases from traditional channels such as travel management companies and online self-booking tools to online channels. Business travelers who are accustomed to booking personal travel through online channels can also prefer the convenience and familiarity of familiar third-party websites to search and book business trips or a mix of business and leisure travel. Furthermore, the travel options provided by the online channel may provide travel products at prices below the enterprise consultation price in special cases.

One problem with booking a business trip through an online channel is that the travel offer booked through the online channel is in breach of the corporate travel policy or is purchased at a higher price than the negotiated business preference price. Additional problems when making reservations through online channels include (1) the inability to make a complete determination of the location of the trip, which could make it difficult for the corporate travel manager to fulfill the "duty of care" for the company; (2) Difficulty in tracking reservations due to dilution across multiple online channels - this could adversely affect a company's ability to justify a good price or negotiate with a travel provider; And (3) the online channel may not support payment by enterprise card or other account.

To avoid these problems, business travelers can search for travel goods using good online channels and then book preferred merchandise through traditional channels. Because this is a time-consuming and error-prone process, travelers can take the risk and try to book a trip through an online channel, or limit their search to what is available through traditional channels. Also, some preferred travel products identified by the online channel are not available through an online self-booking tool, so it is not possible to use this method to determine if a travel product is suitable for a corporate travel policy.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems, methods, and computer program products for searching and booking travel products that combine the familiarity and convenience of online channels while providing policy enforcement and negotiated prices for traditional channels.

WO 03/034179 A2 discloses acquiring data of travel goods and services from one or more data sources including public websites and other sources. The data obtained from the plurality of data sources is combined into a single display presented to the user. The acquired data is displayed in one format on one display, regardless of the data source.

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

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for providing an online self-booking tool function to a user booking a travel offer via a website. The method includes capturing a search criteria contained in a search query sent to a web site. The first search starts at the website and the second search starts at the database containing the travel offer with the negotiated price. The first search and the second search each include a search criterion. A first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the database are captured and combined into a third set of search results. A fourth set of search results is generated by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results. Display data is generated based on at least a portion of the fourth set of search results and a user interface generated by injecting the display data into a displayed user interface rendered naturally by the website is displayed to the user.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method of augmenting a search result with content from a web site is provided. The method includes receiving a search query at a computer in communication with an on-line self-booking tool, and identifying a travel offer that satisfies the search query. The computer then determines if the travel offer should be purchased through the website. In response to the determination that the travel offer should be purchased through the website, the computer establishes a link with the website and captures content relating to the travel offer transmitted via the link. The computer searches the database for the business travel policy - this travel policy is about content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the computer displays the content and travel policy to the user via an online self-booking tool.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to capture a search criteria contained in a search query sent to a web site. The device then initiates a first search including the search criteria at the website and begins a second search including the second criteria in the database including the travel offer with the agreed price. The apparatus captures a first set of search results from a web site and a second set of results from a database and combines the first and second sets of search results into a third set of search results. The apparatus generates a fourth set of search results by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results, generates display data based at least in part on the fourth set of search results, and displays the display data naturally And displays the generated user interface to the user by injecting the user interface into the displayed user interface.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, another apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory in communication with an on-line magnetic reservation tool. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to receive a search query and identify a travel offer that satisfies the search query. The device determines if the travel offer should be purchased through the website. If a travel offer is to be purchased through a website, the device establishes a link with the website and captures content relating to the travel offer transmitted via the link. The device searches the database for the business travel policy - this travel policy is about content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the device displays the content and travel policy to the user via an online self-booking tool.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a non-volatile computer readable storage medium for storing instructions. The instructions are configured to cause the processor to capture search criteria contained in a search query sent to the web site when executed by the processor. The processor starts a first search at the website and starts a second search in a database that includes a travel offer with a negotiated price, wherein the first and second searches each include search criteria. The instructions then cause the processor to capture a first set of search results from the web site and a second set of search results from the database and to combine the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results . The processor then generates a fourth set of search results by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results and displays at least a portion of the fourth set of search results.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, another computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a non-volatile computer readable storage medium for storing instructions. The instructions are configured to cause the processor to receive a search query and identify a travel offer that satisfies the search query when executed by the processor. The processor determines if the travel offer should be purchased through the website and establishes a link with the website in response to the determination that the travel offer should be purchased through the website. The processor then captures content relating to the travel offer sent over the link and searches the database for the business travel policy for the content. In response to identifying the business travel policy, the processor displays the content and the business travel policy to the user via an online self-booking tool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above, the detailed description of the embodiments given below, do.
1 illustrates an exemplary operating environment including a plurality of computer systems communicating over a network.
Figure 2 shows an exemplary computer system of Figure 1;
FIG. 3 shows a travel reservation system operating in the exemplary operating environment of FIG. 1;
4 is a flowchart showing a search result enhancing process performed by the travel reservation system of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of providing search results reinforced by the process shown in FIG. 4 to a system user.

Various embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods for providing users with travel-related search results, including goods and services from multiple sources, such as Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and third party provider websites do. Various embodiments of the invention may include a travel reservation system that augments the search results from a website of a third party provider to content available for an online self-booking tool. If the search is initiated by the on-line self-booking tool, the search results returned by the on-line self-booking tool may be augmented with third party services and content obtained from the third-party provider's website. Searches initiated at a third-party provider's website may trigger a parallel search in one or more GDS databases. The searches may be initiated by the user, i. E. In response to a user action.

The travel reservation system can receive the search results from the website and the GDS, combine them, and filter the combined results to eliminate redundancies. The travel reservation system can then identify trip offerings that do not fit into one or more corporate policies of the business or user profile profile criteria. The results can then be displayed to the user along with the inappropriate or unfavorable travel offerings marked or filtered to indicate that the results do not comply with one or more corporate travel policies. This allows embodiments of the invention to extend the coverage of online self-service tool services and content to website search results without incurring development dependencies on the website.

Searches initiated from an online self-booking tool may generate travel offers that include one or more travel products that are preferably purchased through an online channel. The travel reservation system may detect such travel offerings and initiate a search for detected results at a web site associated with an online channel. The travel reservation system receives the relevant travel policies and applies them to the search results, and can display the data to the user using the data format of the website. As a result, the online self-service tool search results can be supplemented with content from a website that complies with corporate travel policies or is marked as non-compliant. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention can provide an on-line self-reservation tool having a feature of directly embedding third-party provider contents and services acquired through a website into a GDS search result. This makes it unnecessary for the travel management system to replicate, generalize and maintain specific services and content provided by online travel agencies, airline websites, meta-search engines and other third party providers. The travel reservation system may also include an analysis table management feature that applies specific user and / or enterprise travel policies to search results. This allows the travel reservation system to provide value to the airline by tailoring the results to a particular user requesting a search. In addition, by allowing users to purchase travel products that comply with corporate travel policies, the travel reservation system can increase the likelihood that users will be reimbursed for costs associated with travel products obtained through an online channel. The travel reservation system also allows users to charge their travels booked online with corporate credit cards or other accounts, thereby avoiding the need to refund online purchases.

1, an operating environment 10 according to an embodiment of the invention includes a GDS 12, one or more third party provider systems 14, a travel management system 16, and a user system 18 And they may communicate via the network 20 including one or more private and / or public networks (e.g., the Internet) that allow data to be exchanged between the systems. In one embodiment of the invention, the travel management system 16 may be integrated with the GDS 12, in which case the features of the travel management system 16 may be provided by the GDS 12.

The GDS 12 may be configured to perform transactions with respect to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other travel related goods, as well as storing and retrieving information. To this end, the GDS 12 may maintain a link through the network 20 with various airlines, travel agents and other service provider systems (not shown). Such a link may allow the GDS 12 to route reservation requests between various systems so that flights and other travel products can be booked with multiple service providers through a single connection to the GDS 12.

The third party system 14 may host the website of an online travel agent, a meta search engine, an airline, a hotel, or any other third party provider of travel goods. The website may be configured to allow the traveler to search and book travel products sold by third party providers. This allows the third party system 14 to allow users to search and book travel items through a suitable software application, such as a web browser, operating in the user system 18.

The travel management system 16 may be maintained by a business, such as a business or travel management company, to manage employee travel. To this end, the travel management system 16 may provide an online self-booking tool 52 (see FIG. 3) configured to allow a business traveler to create a travel itinerary in a single centralized location. This allows the travel management system 16 to provide a centralized location for storing data relating to user and enterprise profiles, user and enterprise preferences, enterprise agreements and corporate travel policies. The travel management system 16 may also host programs that provide expenditure management and tracking functions. User system 18 may be any other computing device that provides a user with access to a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, or systems 12, 14, have.

2, the GDS 12, third party system 14, travel management system 16, and user system 18 of the operational environment 10 are coupled to a single computer system 22, such as the exemplary computer system 22, Or may be implemented in a computer apparatus or system. The computer system 22 may include a processor 24, a memory 26, a mass storage memory device 28, an input / output (I / O) interface 30 and a user interface 32.

The processor 24 may be a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a central processing unit, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic device, a state machine, a logic circuit, an analog circuit, a digital circuit, And any other device that manipulates signals (analog or digital) based on the operating instructions. The memory 26 may include, but is not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory , A cache memory, or any other device capable of storing information, or a plurality of memory devices. The mass storage memory device 28 may include a data storage device such as a hard drive, an optical drive, a tape drive, a non-volatile semiconductor device, or any other device capable of storing information. The database 34 resides in the mass storage memory device 28 and can be used to collect and organize the data used by the various systems, applications, modules and tools described herein.

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

The I / O interface 30 may provide a machine interface that operatively couples the processor 24 to other devices and systems, such as the network 20. This allows the application 38 to cooperate with the network 20 by communicating via the I / O interface 30 to provide various features, functions, and / or modules, including embodiments of the present invention. The application 38 may also have program code that is executed by one or more external resources (not shown), or may be provided by other systems or network components external to the computer system 22, Or signals. In fact, almost infinite hardware and software configurations are possible, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention may be located outside of the computer system 22, distributed over a plurality of computers or other external resources, (Hardware and software) that is provided as a service through the network 20 of the present invention.

The user interface 32 may be operatively coupled to the processor 24 of the computer system 22 in a known manner to allow a user to interact directly with the computer system 22. The user interface 32 may include a video and / or alphanumeric display, a touch screen, a speaker, and any other suitable audible, visual and / or tactile indicator capable of providing information to the user. The user interface 32 may also include an input device such as an alphanumeric keyboard, pointing device, keypad, push button, control knob, microphone, etc., capable of receiving commands or inputs from a user and transmitting the input to the processor 24, . ≪ / RTI >

3, a travel reservation system 50 according to an embodiment of the invention may include an online self-booking tool 52 and a data absorption (siphon) tool 54. The on- The online self-booking tool 52 and the data-absorbing tool 54 are connected to the third-party provider database 56 of the third party system 14, the corporate travel offerings database 58 of the GDS 12, A database 60, and a user application 62. The third party provider database 56 may be configured to be accessed through the third party provider's web site. The user application 62 may be any suitable application, such as a web browser, that allows a user to access the travel reservation system 50 via the user system 18. [

Third party provider database 56 may include travel offers provided by third party providers such as airlines, online travel agents, or meta search websites. Third party provider database 56 may be retrieved based on the characteristics of the travel offer stored in this database. These characteristics may include data describing the travel offer, such as the type of travel product, the availability of the travel product, the price of the travel product, the arrival and departure city, the date and time of flight, the star rating, location, . ≪ / RTI > The corporate travel offer database 58 of the GDS 12 may include travel offers specific to a particular business (e.g., a business), such as a flight, hotel room, or other travel product with a negotiated price for purchase . The global travel offer database 60 of the GDS 12 may be a searchable database that includes all travel offers generally available to the public via the GDS 12, such as travel offers that do not include negotiated prices. have. Similar to third party provider database 56, enterprise travel offer database 58 and global travel offer database 60 may be retrieved based on one or more characteristics of the travel offer.

The online self-reservation tool 52 may include an analysis table module 64, an expenditure management database 66, a graphical user interface (GUI) module 68 and an interface module 70. The analytical module 64 includes (1) analytical information for a system user, travel preferences, travel and reservation information, and travel requests; And (2) centralized management of travel policies, approval processes, supplier preferences, supplier agreements, payment and billing information, and communication campaigns for one or more businesses. To this end, the analysis module 64 may include a user analysis table engine 72, an enterprise analysis table engine 74, and a travel policy engine 76. The user analysis table engine 72 may centralize the user profile and travel preference data so that the search results are tailored to the particular user requesting the search. By way of example, the user analysis table engine 72 may provide user data indicating whether the user prefers a particular hotel chain or participates in a particular frequent passenger compensation program. The search query and / or search results may be adjusted based on such user preference data. Similarly, the enterprise analysts engine 74 may be configured to provide data on an enterprise analysts, preferences, and agreements with travel service providers. The company profile information may include, for example, information about a corporate credit card or travel account that allows a company to make direct payments for a booked trip. The travel policy engine 76 may be configured to provide data defining the enterprise policies that apply to the user's business trips. The data provided by the enterprise analytics engine 74 and the travel policy engine may be used to modify the search query and / or the search results so that the search results reflect the enterprise analytics tables and policies of the user enterprise.

The expenditure management database 66 of the online self-reservation tool 52 may be configured to store and maintain data relating to user travel expenses. To this end, for example, data on travel charges generated by the user from the booking product to be booked, as well as payments made to the travel goods supplier, may be stored in the expense management database 66. [ This data can then be used to create a user's expense report, track corporate travel expenses, provide an account with information about corporate travel budgets, or any other suitable purpose.

The GUI module 68 of the online self-reservation tool 52 may be configured to transmit and receive data to the interface module 70 of the online self-reservation tool 52. [ The GUI module 68 may receive the data from the user application 62 via the interface module 70 and format this data for use by the online self-reservation tool 52. [ The GUI module 68 may also receive and format the data generated by the online self-scheduling tool 52 and format it for presentation to the user. In any case, the data exchanged between the GUI module 68 and the GDS 12 passes through the analysis module 64 and the search query and results can be modified based on user and enterprise profiles and preferences as described above. The interface module 70 of the online self-reservation tool 52 may be an application program interface (API) that allows the user application 62 to communicate with the GUI module 68 via an online self-service tool channel.

The data-absorbing tool 54 may include a connector module 78, a result processing module 80, a rendering module 82, and an interface module 84. The interface module 84 of the data-absorbing tool 54 may provide an API that allows the user application 62 to communicate with the presentation module 82. [ The interface module 84 may be configured to provide access to one or more online channels by allowing the user application 62 to communicate with the third party web site via the data absorption tool 54. [

The connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54 may be configured to receive data regarding user actions received from the presentation module 82 of the data-absorbing tool 54. In response to receipt of this data, the connector module 78 sends the analysis module 64 of the online self-reservation tool 52, the global travel offer database 60 of the GDS 12, and the third party system 14, To the third party provider database 56 of FIG. The transmitted data includes a search query that allows the online self-booking tool 52, the third-party supplier database 56, and the global travel offer database 60 to perform functions related to searching and booking travel goods, Or a trigger. The connector module 78 may also be configured to transmit a keep alive signal at appropriate intervals to maintain a link with the third party system 14 and /

In response to receiving search query data from the connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54, the analysis module 64 of the online self-booking tool 52 may generate one or more search queries. This search query may be based on the received search query data and may include (1) the user analytics data provided by the user analytics engine 72, (2) the enterprise analytics table provided by the enterprise analytics engine 72, Data, and (3) enterprise travel policy data provided by the travel policy engine 76. [0060] When the analytical table module 64 has completed the creation of one or more search queries, the analytical module 64 sends one or more queries to the corporate travel offer database 58 and global travel offer database 60 of the GDS 12 Lt; / RTI >

The result processing module 80 of the data-absorbing tool 54 is configured to receive the third party provider database 56 of the third party system 14 and the corporate and global travel offer database 58, 60 of the GDS 12. [ Lt; / RTI > The result processing module 80 may merge the search result data and remove duplicate travel offerings. The result processing module 80 then reconciles the policy compliance status, guidance and display settings of each travel offer in the received search results by flagging or deleting travel offers that do not match the settings . The result processing module 80 may then provide the coordinated search results to the presentation module 82 of the data-absorbing tool 54 for further processing.

The rendering module 82 may be configured to display the enhancement provided by the result processing module 80 such that the enhanced third-party data is displayed by the user application 62 with a look and feel similar to that provided by the third- Lt; / RTI > search results. The displayed user interface may be generated by the presentation module 82. The presentation module 82 may simply add or inject specific content into the displayed user interface that is rendered naturally by the web site. This allows the directing module 82 to preserve the user experience provided to the user directly accessing the third party provider's website. The presentation module 82 can also track and prompt user actions during any pre-trip and post-trip activities as well as during reservation processing.

The tools, modules, and databases, including the travel reservation system 50, may be hosted in one or more of the GDS 12, the travel management system 16, and / or the user system 18. The connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54, the result processing module 80, the rendering module 82 and the interface module 84 may be implemented as a web browser application One or more plug-in extensions for the plug-in. The online self-booking tool 52 may be provided by an application hosted in the travel management system 16, which may be an enterprise server or a travel management company holding server. In an embodiment of the invention, the travel management system 16 may be hosted by the GDS 12 or otherwise provided.

Various embodiments of the invention extend the management of corporate travel purchases to include online channels such as online travel agent websites, meta search websites, airline websites, hotel websites, car rental websites, or any other suitable service website can do. This can be accomplished by selectively capturing data about the travel offer displayed by the web site and augmenting this data by the enterprise policies and agreements provided by the travel reservation system 50. [

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a travel offering reservation process 90 according to an embodiment of the invention. At block 92, the travel reservation system 50 may generate an inventory of display objects associated with the online channel website on which the search query is performed. The display objects may include text, images, templates, code (e.g., hypertext markup language (HTML) code), or any other data object that defines that it is displayed by an online channel website. A list of display objects may be stored in the memory 26 of the travel management system 16 or the user system 18 as a plurality of data structures 40. A list of display objects may also be stored in the travel management system 16 or in the database 34 residing in the mass storage device of the user system 18. In either case, a list of display objects may improve the ability of the travel reservation system 50 to interact with content and services received from an online channel website.

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

At block 96, the travel reservation system 50 may determine if the data received from the online channel website should be augmented. This determination can be made based on, for example, whether the reinforcement feature is activated in the travel reservation system 50. [ The reinforcement option may be set by the user based on the identity of the online channel, based on search conditions such as the type of travel product desired, or for any other suitable reason. The status of the reinforcement option may also be selected based on the user or company profile data provided by the analytical table module 64 of the online self- In either case, in response to the reinforcement option being inactive ("no" branch of decision block 96), travel reservation system 50 may proceed to block 98. In response to the reinforcement option being active ("Yes" branch of decision block 96), travel reservation system 50 may proceed to block 100 to begin processing to reinforce the search results provided by the online channel website.

At block 100, the travel reservation system 50 may retrieve one or more of the corporate travel offer database 58 and the global travel offer database 60 of the GDS 12. The search may be for a travel offering that satisfies the search parameters used to search the online channel website. To this end, the connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54 may send the data to the analysis table module 64 of the online self-reservation tool 52. This data may include parameters or retrieval conditions received from the user application 62. In response to receiving the data, the analytical table module 64 obtains the user analytical table data using the user analytical model engine 72 and uses the enterprise analytical model engine 74 to generate data about the enterprise analytical tables, policies, preferences and agreements And obtain the corporate travel policy using the travel policy engine 76. [ The analytical table module 64 then sends the data received from the connector module 78 as well as the data received from the user analytical table engine 72, the enterprise analytics table engine 74 and the enterprise travel policy engine 76, The above database query can be generated. The online self-booking tool 52 may send one or more search queries to the GDS 12. In response to receiving the search query, the GDS 12 may search the corporate travel offer database 58 and / or the global travel offer database 60 for travel offers that satisfy the search query. The travel offer that satisfies the search query may be sent to the result processing module 80 of the data-absorbing tool 54.

In response to receiving the search results from the corporate travel offer database 58 and the global travel offer database 60 at the result processing module 80, the travel booking system 50 may proceed to block 102. At block 102, the results processing module 80 may combine the search results received from the GDS 12 with the search results received from the online channel website. The search results received from the online channel website may be obtained by querying the third party provider database 56. This allows the travel reservation system 50 to augment the search results received from the online channel website with the travel offer obtained from the GDS 12 and proceed to block 104. [

At block 104, the results processing module 80 may remove redundant travel offers and improper or inconsistent travel offers from the search results. Improper travel offers may include, for example, corporate travel policies or travel offers that do not fit user preferences. The remaining travel offers may then be sent to the director module 82. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, instead of removing the inappropriate travel offerings from the search results, the inappropriate travel offerings are each flagged to indicate a reason not appropriate, and then, together with the appropriate travel offerings, Lt; / RTI >

In block 106, the directing module 82 may update the online channel website display data to include any additional travel offers added by the result processing module 80 to the search results. This allows the rendering module 82 to combine the travel offers from the GDS 12 and the online channel website to generate display data to generate an integrated display. The resulting integrated display may include additional business offerings, policy status information, and compliance guidance. Examples of compliance guidance may include flags or other indicia indicating whether the displayed travel offerings are compliant with corporate travel policies. The presentation module 82 may also redirect the reservation flow, implement new display settings, remove inappropriate results, or otherwise change what is displayed to the user. The resulting display data may then be transmitted to the user application 62 via the interface module 84. [

At block 98, the travel reservation system 50 may synchronize the user information. This synchronization may occur, for example, in response to a user reserving the displayed travel offer. In response to the user reservation of the travel offer, purchase and expenditure information may be transmitted to the expenditure management database 66 of the online self-booking tool 52. At block 108, this data may be associated with a user in an expense management database 66. [ This allows the travel reservation system 50 to track expenditures for a plurality of travel offerings booked over the other channel by the same user based on the data stored in the expense management database 66. [

Process 90 may be terminated at any point in the process flow based on enterprise preferences. In response to the termination of the process 90, the user may be redirected to the relevant reservation process flow of the online self-reservation tool 52. [ That is, the reservation processing may continue without additional features provided by the data-absorbing tool 54. [ In this case, the redirection may be contextualized using user interaction captured from an online channel web site. For example, the user may be redirected to the travel offer availability page for which the relevant search has already been performed.

In operation, the user may initiate their search for a travel offer that satisfies the calendar by activating a user application 62, which may be a web browser running on the user system 18. In an embodiment of the invention, the browser may include a plug-in extension that provides the data-absorbing tool 54 of the travel reservation system 50. The user can then navigate the user application 62 to an online channel website that can be hosted by the third party system 14 or to the online self-booking tool 52 of the travel reservation system 50 have. In an embodiment of the invention, the on-line self-booking tool 52 may be hosted in the travel management system 16. When the user application 62 communicates with the online channel website, the data exchanged between the user application and the website may pass through the data-absorbing tool 54 or be monitored by the data-absorbing tool 54.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a flow diagram illustrating a process 110 for a user to schedule travel options via an online channel website or via an online self-booking tool 52. FIG. At block 112, the user may begin searching. The search may be initiated by the user entering data into the field displayed by the user application 62 and activating the search button, for example. The data entered by the user may define one or more search parameters, such as a start / destination city pair, a desired travel date, and any other parameter that can be used to identify a travel offer that meets the schedule. The user can also enter data that uniquely identifies the user. For example, if a user has an existing account for an online channel website, the user may log in to their account using the username and password before starting the search.

If the search is initiated at the online channel website ("Yes" branch of decision block 114), processing may proceed to block 116. At block 116, the search parameters may be captured by the connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54 and transmitted to the analysis table module 64 of the online self-reservation tool 52. The connector module 78 may also send the user identification data to the online self- The online self-reservation tool 52 also requires the user or user application 62 to provide data such as a username and password or security code before the data-absorbing tool 54 accesses the online self- .

In response to receiving the retrieved search parameters, the online self-reservation tool 52 may initiate a parallel search in the GDS 12. This parallel search can identify the travel offerings of the corporate travel offer database 58 and the global travel offer database 60 that satisfy the search parameters. Parallel searches can identify corporate travel offerings that have prices negotiated by it, or that are unique to the user in a different way, or that have a price unique to the company that the user is booking the trip with. The parallel search can also identify travel offerings generally available through the GDS 12 that satisfy the search parameters. In response to identifying the travel offerings in one or more of the enterprise and global travel offer databases 58 and 60, the GDS 12 sends the identified travel options to the result processing module 80 of the data-absorbing tool 54 ).

At block 118, the results processing module 80 of the data-absorbing tool 54 may capture search results received from the GDS 12 and the online channel website. In response to the search results being captured by the results processing module 80, the travel reservation system 50 may proceed to block 120 to reconcile the captured search results. To this end, the results processing module 80 may apply the associated travel policies to the combined search results, as well as remove any redundant travel offerings. Travel offers that do not comply with the relevant travel policy may also be removed from the search results. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, an improper travel offer may be flagged or otherwise identified. This may cause the flagged travel offer to be displayed with a warning that the flagged travel offer may be inconsistent with the corporate travel policy. This allows the user to be notified that the company is not refunding the flagged travel offer to the user. In either case, in response to the result processing module 80 coordinating the combined search results, the result processing module 80 may send the combined search results to the presentation module 82 of the data-absorbing tool 54 . Processing 110 then proceeds to block 122. [

If the search is initiated at the on-line magnetic booking tool 52 of the travel reservation system 50 ("NO" branch of decision block 114), processing may proceed to block 124. At block 124, the travel reservation system 50 determines whether any travel offers in the search results received from the corporate travel offer database 58 and global travel offer database 60 of the GDS 12 are available for purchase Can be determined. The decision to purchase a travel offer on an online channel may be made based on a database entry that indicates, for example, that the travel offer should be purchased through an online channel. In this method, the online channel is selected from a plurality of online channels and may be associated with a particular travel offer. If the search results are not received from the enterprise and global travel offer database 58, 60 of the GDS 12, the process 110 may be exclusively dependent on the travel offer from the online channel. That is, the decision to search for an online travel offer may also be made in response to the travel offer being not returned by the corporate and global travel offer database 58, 60 of the GDS 12. In either case, if any travel offer is to be purchased via an online channel ("yes" branch of decision block 126), the travel reservation system 50 may proceed to block 128.

At block 128, the travel reservation system 50 may obtain data from an online channel website corresponding to the online channel where the identified travel offer is purchased. In an embodiment of the invention, this data may define content received from an online channel website in response to a search query sent to the online channel website by the connector module 78 of the data-absorbing tool 54. In response to receiving data from the online channel website, the travel reservation system 50 may add the travel offer received from the online channel website to the search results and proceed to block 130. [

At block 130, the travel reservation system 50 may reconcile the combined search results. If only online search results are available (e.g., search results have not been received from the corporate and global travel offer database 58, 60 of the GDS 12), then the GDS 12 and the third party system ≪ / RTI > 14) may be omitted. In either case, harmonization may be performed by the result processing module 80 of the data-absorbing tool 54, which may apply the associated travel policy to the combined search results and remove any redundant travel offerings have. Similar to the one described above in connection with block 120, search results that are inconsistent with the associated travel policy may be removed or flagged. In response to the result processing module 80 coordinating the combined search results, the result processing module 80 may send the coordinated search results to the presentation module 82. [ Processing 110 may then proceed to block 122. [

At block 122, the travel reservation system 50 may cause the content of the coordinated search results to be displayed by the user application 62. To this end, the presentation module 82 of the data-absorbing tool 54 is connected to the coordinated travel offerings to create a display or web page that includes both travel offerings from the online channel as well as enterprise- And generate display data based on the display data. The resulting user interface display may be generated by the presentation module 82. The presentation module 82 may add or inject specific content into a user interface that is naturally rendered by the web site. At block 132, the travel reservation system 50 may determine if the user has added at least one of the displayed travel offers to the timetable. In response to the user adding a travel offer (the "YES" block of decision block 132), the trip reservation system 50 may proceed to block 134.

At block 134, the travel reservation system 50 may synchronize the user information. This synchronization may include scheduling of operations performed on different channels, and centralization of purchasing and expenditure data. That is, data about travel products purchased through different online channels can be centralized in the travel reservation system. This is not only the purchase made based on the search result from the online channel website supplemented with the content from the GDS 12 but also the purchase made based on the search result from the GDS 12 supplemented with the online channel travel offer Lt; / RTI > In an embodiment of the invention, the synchronized data may be stored in the expenditure management database 66 of the online self-reservation tool 52. [ If the user has not added the travel offer to the itinerary ("no" branch of decision block 132), process 110 may end.

Embodiments of the invention may facilitate enforcement of corporate travel policies for travel options that are sought and purchased through an online channel. This feature reduces the need to develop redundant services and content from the online travel agent and airline websites of the GDS (12), thereby reducing development and maintenance costs. Also, users who are accustomed to searching and booking travel offers through online channel websites can typically avoid adapting to "offline" channels provided by traditional online self-booking tools. Thus, the reservation process provided by various embodiments of the invention may be less disruptive to the user than the reservation process provided by conventional on-line magnetic reservation tools without this feature. Reducing the need for redundant services and content development can also reduce the time to market new services and content in the travel industry, while increasing the suitability of travel products booked through online channels to corporate travel policies.

By providing access to corporate fares while searching for online channel websites, embodiments of the present invention can also increase the convenience of using online travel agents and airline websites to locate and book business trips. User preferences and spending, as well as corporate travel preferences, programs and agreements, can be synchronized in a central database so that users can shop and purchase travel products from multiple third party providers without having to track expenditures, preferences or corporate policies externally .

Boosting online channel travel offers with corporate travel offers and displaying them together can increase the user's ability to adequately compare alternative travel offers. Filtering duplicate and / or inappropriate travel offers, or identifying displayed travel offers as incompatible with corporate travel policy rules can also reduce the effort required to evaluate competitive offerings. The user experience can be further enhanced by modifying and injecting graphic content into the online channel website display and communicating the travel policy and enterprise preferences to the user during the selection stage. Thus, the embodiment of the present invention can preserve the user's normal online channel reservation experience as much as possible. This feature can also avoid the need for third party providers to develop customized features. That is, the online channel content may be enhanced and displayed without the need for the third party provider to perform any particular operation. In addition, synchronized online reservation, purchase and expense information can improve policy and cost tracking and interactivity with the user.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the program code embodying any of the embodiments of the invention described herein may be distributed individually or collectively as various other types of program products. In particular, the program code may be distributed using a computer readable storage medium and a computer readable medium including a communication medium. An inherently non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, and removable and non-removable, tactile read-only memory (ROM) Media. The computer-readable storage medium may also be a RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other semiconductor memory technology, a portable compact disc read- ROM), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and readable by a computer. The communication medium may embody computer readable instructions, data structures, or other program modules. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Any combination of the foregoing may also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The methods described herein may be implemented by computer program instructions supplied to a processor of any type of computer to produce a machine with a processor executing the instructions to implement the specified function / action herein. Such computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct the computer to function in a particular manner. To this end, the computer program instructions may be loaded into a computer to cause a series of operating steps to be performed, such that the instructions executed thereby produce computer implemented processing to provide processing implementing the specified function / action .

In addition, the program code described herein may be identified based on an application or software component in which the program code is implemented in a particular embodiment of the invention. It should be understood, however, that any particular program nomenclature is used merely for convenience, and therefore the invention is not limited to use with any particular application identified and / or implied by such nomenclature. It is also to be understood that the various features, applications, and devices described herein may be used alone or in any combination. It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a variety of software layers (e.g., operating systems, libraries, APIs, applications, etc.) in which program functions reside in a typical computing system, as well as a myriad of ways in which a computer program is typically organized into routines, , An applet, etc.), and / or in various ways that can be assigned across one or more hardware platforms, the present invention is not limited to the specific organization and allocation of program functionality described herein.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular forms of terms used herein are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" are used to denote the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components but may include one or more other features, integers, , Components, and / or groups thereof, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, to the extent that the terms "comprise, "," with ", "consisting of, ", or variants thereof are used in the detailed description or claims, In a manner similar to "doing "

According to a further aspect of the subject matter of the appended claims, the method described herein is characterized in the following points:

1. A method of augmenting search results provided to a user with content from a third party provider's website,

Receiving a search query from a computer communicating with an online self-booking tool;

Identifying a travel offer satisfying the search query with a computer;

Determining, by a computer, whether the travel offer should be purchased through a web site;

Establishing a link with the web site in response to a determination that the travel offer should be purchased through the web site;

Capturing content related to travel offerings transmitted via the link by a website on a computer;

Searching a first database for the content related travel policy of the business entity;

And displaying the content and the travel policy to a user via an online self-booking tool in response to identifying the travel policy of the business.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the travel policy of the business includes a preference defined by the business.

3. At point 1 or 2,

Receiving at the computer a query indicating that the user wishes to add elements to the travel offer;

In response to receiving the query, forwarding the query to a web site;

Further comprising updating the second database in response to receiving a response from the website indicating that the element has been added to the travel offer,

Wherein the second database provides a central repository of travel activities of the user synchronized with the website.

4. a processor in communication with an online self-scheduling tool;

When executed by the processor, cause the device to:

Receive a search query;

Identify travel offers that satisfy said search query;

Determine whether the travel offer should be purchased through a website of a third party provider;

Establishing a link with the web site in response to a determination that the travel offer should be purchased through the web site;

Capture content related to travel offers sent by the website via the link;

Searching a first database for the content related travel policy of the business entity;

And a memory that stores instructions for causing the user to display the content and the travel policy through an online self-booking tool in response to identifying the business travel policy.

5. In a computer program product,

A non-volatile computer readable storage medium;

And a processor coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is operable, when stored on the non-volatile computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor,

Receive a search query;

Identify travel offers that satisfy said search query;

Determine whether the travel offer should be purchased through a website of a third party provider;

Establishing a link with the web site in response to a determination that the travel offer should be purchased through the web site;

Capture content related to travel offers sent by the website via the link;

Searching a first database for the content related travel policy of the business entity;

And cause the computer to display the content of the business and the travel policy to the user via an online self-booking tool in response to the identification of the business travel policy.

While the embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration of various embodiments and with reference to certain embodiments of the invention, it is not the intention of the applicant to constrain or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such specific descriptions . Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative methods, and illustrative embodiments shown and described. Accordingly, other variations from the above can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of applicant's general inventive concept.

Claims (14)

A method for providing a function of an online self-booking tool to a user booking a travel offer through a website of a third party provider,
Capturing a search criterion contained in a search query transmitted to a website in a computer;
Initiating a first search at the website including the search criteria;
Initiating a second search including the search criteria using a computer in a first database including a travel offer with a negotiated price;
Capturing a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database in a computer;
Combining the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results;
Generating a fourth set of search results by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results;
Generating display data based at least in part on the fourth set of search results;
And displaying the generated user interface to a user by injecting the display data into a displayed user interface that is naturally rendered by the web site. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the fourth set of search results comprises:
Identifying a search result that conflicts with a business travel policy;
And flagging or removing the identified search results. 3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising the step of retrieving the travel policy of the business entity from the travel policy engine of the online self-reservation tool. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Identifying travel offers contained in both the first and second search result sets;
Identifying in the first set of search results first data related to content displayed by the website, the content relating to the travel offer;
Adding second data from the second set of search results to the first data to generate third data, the second data relating to the characteristics of the travel offer;
And displaying the third data to a user. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second data comprises a price of the travel offer. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Transmitting a query from the computer to the web site;
Receiving from the computer a response from the web site, the response including first data related to the content displayed by the web site;
Extracting the first data from the response;
Further comprising storing the first data in a second database configured to maintain a inventory of the content displayed by the website. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first data comprises data that uniquely identifies a travel offer or data that defines a price of a travel offer. 8. The method according to claim 6 or 7,
Querying from one of the first database or the second database second data relating to a business offer, a travel policy status, policy compatibility guidelines, reservation flow redirection, or display settings;
And displaying the second data to a user. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Determining a user's identity;
Capturing data related to the user;
And associating the data with a user's identity in a second database. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data relates to a reservation, purchase, or cost related to a travel offering,
Further comprising synchronizing the data to provide a centralized repository of the user's travel activity. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 31. < / RTI > In the apparatus,
A processor;
A memory including instructions,
Wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the device to:
Capture the search criteria contained in the search query sent to the third party provider's website;
Starting a first search at the website including the search criteria;
Starting a second search including the search criteria in a first database that includes a travel offer with a negotiated price;
Capture a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database;
Combine the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results;
Generate a fourth set of search results by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results;
Generate display data based at least in part on the fourth set of search results;
And display the generated user interface to a user by injecting the display data into a displayed user interface rendered naturally by the web site. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the device to:
Identify travel offers contained in both the first and second search result sets;
Identify in the first search result set first data related to content displayed by the website, the content relating to the travel offer;
Add second data from the second set of search results to the first data to generate third data, the second data relating to the characteristics of the travel offer;
And to display the third data. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the device to:
Send a query to the web site;
Receiving a response from the website including first data related to the content displayed by the web site;
Extracting the first data from the response;
And store the first data in a second database configured to maintain a table of contents displayed by the website. In a computer program product,
A non-volatile computer readable storage medium;
Instructions stored on the non-volatile computer readable storage medium,
The instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
Capture the search criteria contained in the search query sent to the third party provider's website;
Starting a first search at the website including the search criteria;
Starting a second search including the search criteria in a first database that includes a travel offer with a negotiated price;
Capture a first set of search results from the website and a second set of search results from the first database;
Combine the first and second set of search results into a third set of search results;
Generate a fourth set of search results by removing duplicate search results from the third set of search results;
Generate display data based at least in part on the fourth set of search results;
Cause the display data to be displayed to a user by injecting the display data into a displayed user interface rendered naturally by the web site.

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