Abstract:
Systems consistent with the present invention implement provide information regarding savings associated travel alternatives. Such systems receive requests from users reflecting travel itineraries, respectively. Each itinerary is analyzed to determine a set of alternative itineraries comparable to the travel itinerary specified in the request based on selected rules associated with travel. Then a value or cost of the input travel itinerary is determined and a value for each of the alternative itineraries is also calculated. The systems then generate a report reflecting the input travel itinerary specified in the request, each of the alternative itineraries, the value for each travel itinerary, and a difference between the value for the travel itinerary specified in the request and each of the alternative itineraries.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    A. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to electronic commerce and, more particularly, to an apparatus and methods for determining non-obvious savings in the purchase of goods and services.  
           [0003]    B. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    The Internet has been hailed the marketplace of the future, a result of its accessibility and usability. A computer equipped with a communication mechanism such as a modem and telephone connection is nearly all that is necessary to gain access to the Internet. A program called a browser, such as the Netscape Navigator from Netscape Corporation, makes it a simple task to traverse the vast network of information available on the Internet and, specifically, its subpart known as the “World Wide Web.” 
           [0005]    The architecture of the Web follows a conventional client-server model. The terms “client” and “server” are used to refer to a computer&#39;s general role as a requester of data (the client) or provider of data (the server). Under the Web environment, Web browsers reside in clients and specially formatted “Web documents” reside on Internet (Web) servers. Web clients and Web servers communicate using a protocol called “HyperText Transfer Protocol” (HTTP).  
           [0006]    In operation, a browser opens a connection to a server and initiates a request for a document. The server delivers the requested document, typically in the form coded in a standard “HyperText Markup Language” (HTML) format. After the document is delivered, the connection is closed. The browser displays the document or performs a function designated by the document.  
           [0007]    Every day, more people gain access to the Web, and every day, more of them are shopping online. Online shopping provides a level of convenience they want, need and will soon demand. Electronic commerce or “e-commerce” is the term often used to refer, at least in part, to online shopping on the Web. E-commerce is a unique opportunity for businesses of any size. E-commerce can expand a company&#39;s marketplace-and consequently, its customer database. By simply providing a Web server having information on the company&#39;s product offerings and the customer database, and linking the Web server to the Web, the company can track visits, sales, buying trends and product preferences-all at the customer level. The company can then present its customers with products they are most likely to buy-on an individual basis. For this reason alone most marketing professionals consider the Web to be one of the best direct marketing tools.  
           [0008]    But the number of retailers with online stores is growing exponentially every year, making it increasingly difficult for online shoppers to navigate the Web to locate particular products at the best prices. At one site, called the “Internet Mall,” online shoppers can browse through more than 20,000 “virtual stores.” This challenge for consumers also introduces a problem for merchants in designing campaigns to attract consumers to the merchants&#39; Web sites and away from their competitors&#39; sites.  
           [0009]    Certain known business methods, and conventional implementations of those methods, give consumers greater control over a business deal by permitting consumers to set the price they are willing to pay for selected products and/or services, such as travel resources like airfare, car rentals, and similar travel commodities. Such methods and implementations, however, do not necessarily provide consumers with the best available price for the products and/or services, and consequently, they do not permit the merchants to claim that they deliver the best available price for a particular product or service. Consequently, consumers may still be paying too much for products and services using these implementations.  
           [0010]    There is therefore a need for a system that can attract more consumers to a Web server by delivering on a claim that the merchant offers the best available price for a particular product or service. Such a system not only permits the server to expose more consumers to its products and services but also it permits the server to expose an increasing number of consumers to information such a advertisements for products and services.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention overcome the shortcomings of existing systems by enabling consumers to obtain information on savings associated with travel alternatives. Such methods, systems, and article of manufacture receive requests from users reflecting travel itineraries, respectively. Each itinerary is analyzed to determine a set of alternative itineraries comparable to the travel itinerary specified in the request based on selected rules associated with travel. Then a value or cost of the input travel itinerary is determined and a value for each of the alternative itineraries is also calculated. The methods, systems, and article of manufacture consistent with the present invention then generate a report reflecting the input travel itinerary specified in the request, each of the alternative itineraries, the value for each travel itinerary, and a difference between the value for the travel itinerary specified in the request and each of the alternative itineraries.  
           [0012]    Such methods, systems, and article of manufacture may also assign geographical coordinates for each of the originating location and the destination in the requested itinerary and generate a set of locations with coordinates located within a predetermined range of the destination based on information from a geographical coordinates database. This operation may also include reducing the range when a number of locations in the set exceeds a predetermined number or increasing the range when a number of locations in the set is smaller than a predetermined number.  
           [0013]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the user&#39;s request may be for any product or service, and a method, system, or article of manufacture enables users to discover non-obvious savings associated with alternatives for the requested product or service. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of a computer network in which systems consistent with the present invention may be implemented;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 shows a computer network containing a client system and a server system;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 illustrates the retrieval of remote image and text and their integration in a document;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the architecture of a savings discovery server in a manner consistent with the principle of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 illustrates a savings discovery server and its relationship to other computers in a manner consistent with the principle of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the steps performed by a savings discovery server in a manner consistent with the principle of the present invention; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is an exemplary map showing an alternative travel itinerary offering a non-obvious saving associated with a buyer&#39;s request. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0022]    Reference will now be made in detail to an implementation consistent with the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0023]    Introduction  
         [0024]    Systems consistent with the present invention enable consumers to locate non-obvious savings in the purchase price of goods and services. Obvious savings are those that are known to most if not all buyers of a particular product or service. For example, in the case of travel, obvious savings include the price effects of advance purchase, alternative origin and departure times, meeting minimum stay requirements, and choosing air carriers commonly known for low prices (though the infrequent traveler may be unaware of many of these “obvious” savings). Non-obvious savings are those known only by a relative few who have accumulated knowledge in the detailed pricing practices of goods and services, are knowledgeable about non-obvious suppliers such as consolidators/wholesalers, and are willing to search for these savings. For example, in the case of travel, a “seasoned” traveler or travel agent accumulates knowledge about the price effects of alternative origin/destination, alternative air routing/ticketing configurations, travel packages, and alternative lodging or other itinerary components. Even with this knowledge, there is still the time and energy which must be expended to find the non-obvious savings.  
         [0025]    Systems consistent with the present invention permit a buyer, seasoned or occasional, to systematically discover and take advantage of non-obvious savings just as if he or she had the services of a seasoned buyer or buyer agent by his side. Systems consistent with the present invention are pre-programmed with non-obvious pricing knowledge and automatically apply this knowledge to search for non-obvious savings. Such systems conduct this search by performing non-obvious re-configurations of goods and services and/or checking the prices of non-obvious suppliers of pre-packaged goods and services. They go a step further than even the seasoned buyer or buyer agent by requesting just-in-time “best offer” price quotes from suppliers, thereby creating a type of online, last-minute auction. In the case of travel, for example, a non-obvious product re-configuration would include: 1) alternative flight origin or destination cities; 2) alternative lodging accommodations; and 3) splitting a connecting flight itinerary into two tickets. Also in the case of travel, non-obvious suppliers would include: 1) travel consolidators/wholesalers; and 2) pre-packaged tours. In one implementation, a network accessible system such as the Internet, client/server, personal digital assistant (P.A.), or voice telephony, can be used for consumers, to access and retrieve information in a manner consistent with the present invention.  
         [0026]    The systems consistent with the present invention can be pre-programmed with a variety of savings discovery “rules-of-thumb.” For example, in shopping for travel, the rules of thumb might be to check alternate origin/destination airports, alternate times of day, alternate lodging. The systems may also contain fundamental geographic and proximity-based search capabilities for situations where price is influenced by location. They may be able to automatically relax search constraints based upon a buyer&#39;s priorities. For example, in the case of lodging, a free continental breakfast may be a lower priority requirement than having an indoor swimming pool. Consequently, they offer the uninformed, occasional buyer the same savings discovery power as the seasoned buyer or buyer agent.  
         [0027]    Network Architecture  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptual diagram of a computer network  100 , such as the Internet. Computer network  100  comprises small computers (such as computers  102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108 ,  110  and  112 ) and large computers (such as servers  120  and  122 ). In general, small computers are “personal computers” or workstations and are the sites at which a human user operates the computer to make requests for data from other computers or servers on the network. Usually, the requested data resides in large computers. In this scenario, small computers are clients and the large computers are servers.  
         [0029]    In this specification, the terms “client” and “server” are used to refer to a computer&#39;s general role as a requester of data (client) or provider of data (server). In general, the size of a computer or the resources associated with it do not preclude the computer&#39;s ability to act as a client or a server. Further, each computer may request data in one transaction and provide data in another transaction, thus changing the computer&#39;s role from client to server, or vice versa.  
         [0030]    A client, such as computer  102 , may request a file from server A  120 . Since computer  102  is directly connected to server A  120 , for example, through a local area network, this request would not normally result in a transfer of data over what is shown as “network” of FIG. 1. The “network” of FIG. 1 represents, for example, the Internet, which is an interconnection of networks. A different request from computer  102  may be for a file that resides in server B  122 . In this case, the data is transferred from server B  122  through the network to server A  120  and, finally, to computer  102 . The distance between server A  120  and server B  122  may be very long, e.g. across continents, or very short, e.g., within the same city. Further, in traversing the network the data may be transferred through several intermediate servers and many routing devices, such as bridges and routers.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 2 shows, in more detail, an example of a client-server system interconnected through network  100 . In this example, a remote server system  222  is interconnected through network  100  to client system  220 . Client system  220  includes conventional components such as a processor  224 , memory  225  (e.g. RAM), a bus  226  which couples processor  224  and memory  225 , a mass storage device  227  (e.g. a magnetic hard disk or an optical storage disk) coupled to processor  224  and memory  225  through an 1/0 controller  228  and a network interface  229 , such as a conventional modem.  
         [0032]    Server system  222  also includes conventional components such as a processor  234 , memory  235  (e.g. RAM), a bus  236  which couples processor  234  and memory  235 , a mass storage device  237  (e.g. a magnetic or optical disk) coupled to processor  234  and memory  235  through an 1/0 controller  238  and a network interface  239 , such as a conventional modem. It will be appreciated from the description below that the present invention may be implemented in software which is stored as executable instructions on a computer readable medium on the client and server systems, such as mass storage devices  227  and  237  respectively, or in memories  225  and  235  respectively.  
         [0033]    Distributed Document Retrieval  
         [0034]    The Internet consists of a worldwide computer network that communicates using well defined protocol known as the Internet Protocol (IP). Computer systems that are directly connected to the Internet each have an unique address consisting of four numbers separated by periods such as “192.101.0.3”. To simplify Internet addressing, a “Domain Name System” was created that allows users to access Internet resources with a simpler alphanumeric naming system. For example, the name “travelocity. com” is the name for a computer operated by The SABRE Group, Inc.  
         [0035]    To further define the addresses of resources on the Internet, a Uniform Resource Locator system was created that uses a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) as a descriptor that specifically defines a type of Internet resource and its location. URLs have the following format: “resource-type:Hdomain. address/path-name.” The “resource-type” defines the type of Internet resource. Web documents, for example, are identified by the resource type “http”, which indicates the protocol used to access the document.  
         [0036]    To access a document on the Web, the user enters a URL for the Web document into a browser program executing on a client system with a connection to the Internet. The Web browser then sends a request in accordance with the HTTP protocol to the Web server that has the Web document using the URL. The Web server responds to the request by transmitting the requested object to the client. In most cases, the object is a plain text document containing text (in ASCII) that is written in HTML. Such objects often contain hyperlinks to other Web documents. The Web browser displays the HTML document on the screen for the user and the hyperlinks to other Web documents are emphasized in some fashion such that the user can selected the hyperlink.  
         [0037]    In some instances, the HTML document may contain data from more than one server. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates the retrieval of remote text and images and their integration in a Web document by a client system  340 . In FIG. 3, server A  3   10  contains an image  315 , server B  320  contains a combination of text and image data  325  and server C  330  contains text data  335 . Each of these servers is remotely located from the other servers and client  340 . The transfer of data is via network  100 . It should be appreciated that the text and image files could be located in the same server which is remote from client  340 .  
         [0038]    Different techniques are available to display these types of composite Web documents. For example, a program called a servlet executing on one of the servers may combine data from the various servers referenced in a selected Web document and transmit the composite Web document to the client. In other configurations, the client may utilize a program called an applet, which may be transmitted to the client from one of the servers, to access the multiple servers offering parts of the composite and to build the composite Web document.  
         [0039]    System Architecture and Operation  
         [0040]    Systems consistent with the present invention employ a savings discovery server, for example, the server  400  shown in FIG. 4. Server  400  is connected to a network interface  445  that facilitates communication with buyers, traders, and suppliers on the Internet. Server  400  includes a number of components, savings business logic processor  405 , component supplier system interface  410 , geocoding processor  415 , proximity search processor  420 , buyers&#39; requests datastore  425  and traders&#39; datastore  430 , search constraint relaxation processor  435 , and mapping processor  440 . The operation of each of these components will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 5 shows a savings discovery server  400  and machines distributed in the network having facilities such as interfaces for a buyer, trader, and supplier to communicate with server  400 . FIG. 5 illustrates an example of this configuration with buyer interface  510 , trader interface  520 , and supplier interface  530  communicably connected to savings discovery server  400 . Suppliers provide information on available inventory, such as seats available on scheduled flights, rooms available in hotels, cars available at airports for rental, and similar travel resources. Traders, on the other hand, are “consolidators” of travel resources that either buy the resources from suppliers in bulk at discount prices for resale or package various resources to resale. In many instances, traders may have the best available price for travel resources, even better than the price offered by a supplier for the same resource. Although the figure shows only one trader interface and only one supplier interface, the principles of the present invention contemplate many such interfaces.  
         [0042]    In operation, server  400  receives requests from buyers for travel resources; receives price and availability information from various suppliers and traders; sends just-in-time “price-to-beat” messages to the suppliers and traders asking for their last minute best offer; and automatically re-configures and re-prices alternative configurations of the original product request and presents the information to the buyers. Underlying capabilities include geographic data encoding (geocoding), geographic/proximity-based searching, mapping, and search constraint relaxation.  
         [0043]    Buyer interface  5   10  allows each buyer to input product and service requirements such as preferred locations, dates, components, and prices to beat. A buyers&#39; requests datastore  425  persistently stores buyers&#39; requests for subsequent access/marketing analysis.  
         [0044]    Trader interface  520  and supplier interface  530  allow product and service traders and suppliers to input, configure, target, and maintain products, including prepackaged products and services in a traders&#39; datastore  430 . This datastore contains pre-packaged offerings of products and services that have been pre-configured and pre-negotiated by traders such as consolidators and wholesalers.  
         [0045]    Receipt of buyer&#39;s request  201  by savings discovery server  400  triggers savings business logic processor  405  into action to serve as the main process control, apply the pre-programmed non-obvious savings knowledge, and orchestrate the search for non-obvious savings. Savings response  10   1  is transmitted back to buyer interface  510  via network interface  445 .  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the operations performed by server  400 . At step  600 , the buyer (or buyer&#39;s agent) logs on to savings discovery server  400  via network interface  445 , creates buyer&#39;s request  201  via buyer interface  510 . The buyer can then disconnect from the server/network while the request is being processed and later reconnect to receive a response. Buyer request  201  is generally composed of information such as origin and destination addresses; other travel itinerary details such as dates, times, connect points, lodging address/amenities/class, rental car type/amenities; prices for air, lodging, and rental car; and proximity tolerances for the origin and destination addresses. Buyer&#39;s request  201  is also stored in buyer&#39;s request datastore  425  for subsequent access/marketing analysis.  
         [0047]    At steps  610  and  620 , savings business logic processor  405  calls upon the services of geocoding processor  415  to attach geocodes (for example, latitude and longitude or similar information identifying location) to the origin and destination addresses. Savings business logic processor  405  calls upon the services of proximity search processor  420 , in conjunction with component supplier system interface  410 , to communicate with supplier interface  530  for airports and lodgings within the proximity tolerances specified in the buyer&#39;s request  201 . Further, savings business logic processor  405  uses search constraint relaxation processor  435  to “relax” constraints of the buyer&#39;s request  201 , such as the lodging amenities constraint, and test whether this relaxation will lower the total travel cost, such as price of the lodging travel component in this example.  
         [0048]    At step  630 , savings business logic processor  405  checks the air itinerary of buyer request  201  for a connecting routing. If present, the connecting itinerary is split into two separate origin and destination segments.  
         [0049]    At step  640 , savings business logic processor  405  searches traders&#39; datastore  430  for pre-packaged opportunities  645  that meet the requirements of buyer&#39;s request  201 .  
         [0050]    At step  650 , savings business logic processor  405  checks the price and availability of the components of the requested itinerary and all alternative travel components and re-configured itineraries generated by steps  610 ,  620 ,  630 , and  640 . Any that are not available are removed from further consideration. The availability and price request is illustrated in FIG. 5 as the arrow  103  from savings discovery server  400  to supplier interface  530 . The response to availability/price request  103  is illustrated in FIG. 5 as the arrow  150  from supplier interface  530  to savings discovery server  400 .  
         [0051]    At step  660 , savings business logic processor  405  determines the lowest price of all components that have been identified and are available at this point. These lowest prices are formatted as price-to-beat messages  105  and sent to trader interface  520  and supplier interface  530  via component supplier system interface  410  and network interface  445 . Traders and suppliers conduct analysis to determine if they want to respond with prices equal to or less than the price conveyed in price-to-beat messages  105 . If they wish to respond, traders and suppliers format just-in-time offerings  301  and send them to savings business logic processor  405  via network interface  445  and component supplier system interface  410 .  
         [0052]    At step  670 , savings business logic processor  405  re-prices the re-configured travel options, taking into consideration all alternative airports, routings, lodgings, pre-packaged tours, and just-in-time offerings.  
         [0053]    At step  680 , savings business logic processor  405  identifies and sorts the repriced travel options that are lower than the original price conveyed in buyer request  201 . Those not lower are deleted in step  690 . Those travel options that are lower are presented to the buyer in step  685  as savings response  10   1  via buyer interface  5   10  and network interface  445 . Savings business logic processor  405  uses mapping processor  440  to portray savings response  10   1  geographically on a map. Such a map enables the buyer to select from the low-cost alternatives by visualizing the differences. For example, how significant is an alternative flight plan (including, for example, flying in and out of different airports and at different times) or the location of an alternative hotel (staying at a hotel inside or outside a destination city). FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a map produced by mapping processor  440 . Travel routes  710  and  720  show two alternative routes along with their respective prices. In this example, a buyer requesting an itinerary from Jefferson City to Dallas could save $224.76 by driving to Kansas City.  
         [0054]    The following is a example of the report available to the buyer that demonstrates the “non-obvious savings” offered by a system configured in accordance with the present invention.  
                                                                                     Option   Source   Air   Hotel   Car   Total   Savings                                1   Package 1   533.0   236.0   150.0   919.0   181.0       2   Package 2   533.0   248.0   150.0   931.0   169.0       3   Package 3   533.0   254.0   150.0   937.0   163.0       4   alto&amp;D/   340.76   178.0   100.0   618.76   481.24           Alt Lodging       5   Alt O&amp;D   340.76   178.0   100.0   618.76   481.24           Alt Lodging       6   Alt O&amp;D/   340.76   178.0   100.0   618.76   481.24           Alt Lodging           7   Alt O&amp;D/   317.0   178.0   100.0   595.0   505.0           Alt Lodging                  
 
       CONCLUSION  
       [0055]    As explained, systems consistent with the present invention permit a buyer, seasoned or occasional, to systematically discover and take advantage of non-obvious savings just as if he or she had the services of a seasoned buyer or buyer agent by his side. Systems consistent with the present invention can be pre-programmed with nonobvious pricing knowledge and automatically apply this knowledge to search for nonobvious savings. Such systems conduct this search by performing non-obvious re-configurations of goods and services and/or checking the prices of non-obvious suppliers of pre-packaged goods and services. They go a step further than even the seasoned buyer or buyer agent by requesting just-in-time “best offer” price quotes from suppliers, thereby creating a type of online, last-minute auction.  
         [0056]    For examples systems consistent with the present invention provide information on low cost travel alternatives by presenting consumers with options for selecting alternate airports when originating or arriving at an alternate airport can save money, For example, travelers flying in and out of Jefferson City, Mo. can save money by driving 130 miles to Kansas City Mo. Another travel alternative presented may be alternate lodging. Sometimes travelers can save money by picking an alternate hotel; systems consistent with the present invention find lower-priced (but similar) accommodations within I or 2 miles of a traveler&#39;s original planned hotel or appointment. Travel packages offer another source of low cost travel alternatives. Travelers needing air, car, and lodging can sometimes qualify for existing prepackaged deals available in such sources as the SABER Tour guide offered by The SABER Group, Inc. Additionally, splitting tickets may offer cost savings in travel. For example a traveler can save money by converting a ticket with a connecting itinerary into two tickets, each having one segment of the original itinerary. To illustrate further, the H fare from Jefferson City Mo. to San Francisco might be sold out, but still available for Jefferson City Mo. to St. Louis and St. Louis to San Francisco.  
         [0057]    The foregoing description of an implementation of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practicing of the invention. For example, the described implementation includes software but the present invention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and software or in hardware alone. The invention may be implemented with both object-oriented and non-object-oriented programming systems. Additionally, although aspects of the present invention are described as being stored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that these aspects can also be stored on other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM; a carrier wave from the Internet or other propagation medium; or other forms of RAM or ROM. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.