Abstract:
A client-server system for corporate travel planning, expense reporting and travel management that utilizes a corporate database server to enable accurate and timely pre-travel and post-travel decision making that is fed by a travel planning process and an expense reporting process, plus a SABRE data feed of all booked data and back office system data as well as a hand-off of exchange and void ticket information that comprises a Travel Planning module, a Travel Decision Maker module, and a Travel Expense Reporting module. The system uses a corporate database environment communicating with a real-time CRS data feed that enhances the Travel Planning module by offering the traveler live choices of air, car, and hotel availability based upon company travel policy as well as live access to current or company negotiated fares while also allowing the Travel Decision Maker module to make comparisons between booked information and actual current travel data.

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/524,381, filed Sep. 6, 1995 now abandoned. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates in general to a travel and transportation information system, and in particular to, a client-server system that communicates with an airline Computerized Reservation System and places travel information directly in the hands of the corporate traveler. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Historically, corporate travel has often escaped the close scrutiny by management that was used for every other function of the corporation. Travel dollars were seen as a necessary evil and were spent until the corporate balance sheet showed more problem than promise. Recently, corporations have aggressively examined every process and paradigm to re-engineer and transform themselves into a lean and highly-productive corporate machine that can support success and growth. As a result, travel dollars became one of the first expenses tightly controlled or cut. 
   Given that approximately $130 billion were spent on travel in 1994, Corporate Travel Managers are examining and implementing a variety of solutions to manage costs and change the aura that typically surrounds corporate travel expenses. For example, corporations have consolidated travel management in credit card services, published corporate travel policies, and mandated the use of preferred travel providers. 
   Corporate policies, however, that force a frequent traveler to sit through a two hour connection or stay in a less than mid-line hotel off the beaten path have driven the typical frequent traveler to come up with creative ways to circumvent the travel policy in order to meet their own personal requirements. Frequent travelers are bypassing policy at every turn to maintain their productivity and to take advantage of any perks that compensate them for long hours away from home. This scenario compounds the already huge information deficit Corporate Travel Managers are struggling to resolve including travelers&#39; circumvention of corporate policy, which results in travel data being totally lost. 
   From a corporate standpoint, travel has an impact on the traveler, the Corporate Travel Manager, the Department Manager, Accounts Payable and the Corporation itself. The traveler seeks an easy and fast way to arrange travel. Under conventional methods however, the traveler must arrange trips through a series of telephone conversations with a travel management firm or agency. In addition, the traveler seeks an automated expense reporting system. Present methods which combine manual and automated forms may require repetitive data input of previously requested travel information for report presentation. In addition, the approval and reimbursement of expenses is typically manual. 
   The Corporate Travel Manager needs a true summary of the total corporate travel expenses by category. Presently, the Corporate Travel Manager may estimate travel expenses and category breakdowns based upon report information from Travel Management Firms, corporate credit card companies, or preferred vendors. These estimates may be inaccurate, however, if the traveler made on-the-road trip changes, did not comply with usage of corporate travel agencies or credit card, or stayed in a hotel that is not the same as the one which was booked. Corporate Travel Managers must also stay informed as to the status of preferred vendor agreements. Historically, summaries of the corporation&#39;s actual market share performance was provided by travel management firms or the preferred vendor. These summaries, however, were typically not provided on a timely basis, provided minimal information on a pre-travel basis, and provided no method for self-validation of performance. 
   Department managers need pre-travel reporting of travel expenses and possible violations of travel policy. Presently, random manual notification of policy violations is provided by travel management firms to the Corporate Travel Manager. Typically, this notification is insufficient or not timely enough to allow Department Managers to enforce corporate policy on a pre-travel basis. Department Managers also desire an automated expense reporting system. Current methods require manual processing of approval and reimbursements of expenses by Department Managers. 
   Accounts Payable desires an automated processing system for expense reports. Current methods require manual auditing, posting, and payments of expense reports. 
   Many of the limitations on the current corporate travel planning and management systems stem from the corporate traveler&#39;s dependence on travel management firms. Travel management firms currently function as the central hub for all travel service and information regarding travel for the corporate traveler. There is a total reliance on the travel management firm by the travelers for trip planning and management as well as by the Corporate Travel Managers for summary reporting. 
   Therefore, a need has arisen for a corporate travel planning and management system which operates on a corporate database environment that allows automated travel planning from a corporate traveler&#39;s desktop, pre-travel decision support to inform a corporation of planned travel expenditures before corporate dollars are spent, and automated expense reporting. 
   The present invention comprises a client-server system for corporate travel planning and management which operates on a corporate database environment, comprising desktop LAN software as well as a Travel Planning module and a Travel Expense Reporting module, which together provide solutions for two of the manual and most costly areas of corporate business travel management. The two modules may coexist as fully-functional, stand-alone modules or be integrated into a Travel Decision Maker module creating a comprehensive travel management system. 
   The Travel Planning module of the present invention provides the corporate traveler with a desktop system that provides a graphical user interface to real-time Computerized Reservation Service (CRS) Data for efficient travel planning and booking. The system targets two of the most prevalent types of corporate trips, the simple 2–4 segment trips that include air, car, and hotel accommodations as well as the common or repeat trip, estimated at 40%–70% of all corporate travel. 
   The Travel Planning module interacts with locally stored traveler and corporate profiles in a relational database that function as filters against real-time CRS Data output to ensure the appropriate corporate vendor preferences are displayed to and booked by the corporate traveler. The present invention enables the traveler to complete the entire booking process, which results in the creation of a Personal Name Record (PNR), or to create a PNR with a booking request which a travel agency completes. 
   The Travel Expense Reporting module of the present invention provides to the traveler&#39;s desktop a system that automates the preparation of travel expense reports. The system also automates the routing of expense report to assure appropriate authorization, accurate expense reimbursement and timely posting of expense totals to a corporation&#39;s general ledger. 
   In addition, the present invention provides automated summary reporting of the actual costs of corporate travel. The reporting is enabled by the relational database, which resides in the corporate environment, that tracks all data from the expense report process and provides comparisons to yearly vendor market share contracts and budgets. A number of automated reports are provided to both the Corporate Travel Manager and Department-level Managers to enable timely and proactive management of corporate resources. 
   The Travel Decision Maker module of the present invention incorporates information that results from the Trip Planning and Expense Reporting modules to enable comprehensive pre-travel and post-travel reporting for Corporate Travel Managers and Department Managers. The Pre-travel and post-travel information that feeds the Travel Decision Makers module is integrated into a relational database via the travel planning and expense reporting processes. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, including its features and advantages, reference is now made to the detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
       FIG. 1  is a simplified diagram of the platform of the present invention as it may look in a corporation; 
       FIG. 2  is a simplified block diagram of the modules of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a simplified block diagram of the system of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is more detailed block diagrams of the trip planning system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is more detailed block diagrams of the update static tables system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  is more detailed block diagrams of the update static tables system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 7  is more detailed block diagrams of the interface manager system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 8  is more detailed block diagrams of the pre-trip management system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 9  is more detailed block diagrams of the utilities function system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 10  is more detailed block diagrams of the expense reporting system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 11  is more detailed block diagrams of the post-trip management system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 12  is more detailed block diagrams of the post-trio management system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 13  is more detailed block diagrams of the post-trip management system of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 14 , consisting of  14 A– 14 X, is a series of graphical user interfaces for scheduling a trip; 
       FIG. 15 , consisting of  15 A– 15 G, is a series of graphical user interfaces for scheduling repeat trips; and 
       FIG. 16 , consisting of  16 A– 16 M, is a series of graphical user interfaces for creating an expense report. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The client-server system of the present invention for corporate travel planning and management  10  is shown in simplified platform diagram form in  FIG. 1 . The client interface of the present invention may be deployed on any conventional personal computer or client workstation  12 , running a suitable operating system such as Windows, OS\2, or MacIntosh. The client workstation  12  is in communication with an E-mail server  14  via a conventional network connection  16 . The E-mail system may operate any standard E-mail protocol such as VIM or MAPI. The client workstation  12  is in communication with a corporate database server  18  via network connection  20 . The corporate database server  18  may operate any open relational database environment such as Oracle or Sybase. The corporate database server  18  may be a pentium (NT), or Unix having 32–64 MB of memory. 
   A department manager workstation  22  is in communication with the E-mail server  14  the via network connection  16  and the corporate database server  18  via the network connection  20 . The department manager workstation  22  may be any conventional personal computer with a suitable operating system as specified above. The travel manager workstation  24  is in communication with the E-mail server  14  via network connection  16  and in communication with the corporate database server  18  via the network connection  20 . The travel manager workstation  24  may be a conventional  486  personal computer having 16 MB RAM of memory. 
   The E-mail server  14  is in communication with any conventional travel agency  26  via a telecommunication link  28 . The telecommunication link  28  preferably consists of high speed modems and telephone lines or the equivalent thereof. The travel agency  26  is in communication with any airline computerized reservation system such as American Airlines&#39; SABRE Computerized Reservation System  30  via a telecommunication link  32 . The corporate database server  18  communicates with the gateway  34  using a TCP\IP sockets interface, which is the industry standard cross-platform interprocess communication protocol. The gateway  34  will provide a Generalized Data Stream (GDS) style request and reply interface with the CRS  30  via telecommunication link  36 . 
   A simplified block diagram of the corporate travel planning and management system generally designated  38  is represented in  FIG. 2 . The corporate centric client-server system  38  comprises Travel Planning module  40 , Travel Expense Reporting module  42 , and Travel Decision Maker module  44 . From the client workstation  12 , the Travel Planning module  40  receives and sends availability, fare and booking data  46  from the CRS  30 . The Travel Planning module  40  receives policies and preferences data  48  from the corporate database  18  and sends authorization request data  50  to the corporate database  18 . The Travel Expense Reporting module  42  receives trip and card data  52  and expense policy data  54  from the corporate database  18 . The Travel Expense Reporting module  42  sends expense detail data  56  and summary expense totals  58  to the corporate database  18 . The Travel Decision Maker module  44  receives pre-trip booking data  60  and actual expenses data  62  from the corporate database  18 . The Travel Decision Maker module  44  receives GDS data  64  from the CRS  30 . The Travel Decision Maker module  44  sends trip record data  66  to the corporate database  18 . 
   A Simplified block diagram of the functional elements of the corporate centric client-server system  38  is depicted in  FIG. 3 . The functional elements comprise trip planning  68 , update static tables  70 , interface manager  72 , pre-trip management  74 , utility functions  76 , security  78 , expense reporting  80 , and post-trip management  82 . 
   Turning now to  FIG. 4 , the trip planning  68  of  FIG. 3  is described in greater detail. The first step in trip planning  68  is a trip request process  84 . Entry into the trip request process  84  can be done by either the corporate traveler  86  or by a corporate travel arranger (not pictured). The trip request process  84  may also be backfilled through a CRS PNR download if the trip originated with a telephone request. The Corporate traveler  86  must enter an employee number  88  and the trip parameters  90  during the trip request process  84 . After the trip request process  84  has been initiated, the employee record data  92  is retrieved from the employee profile database  94  located in the corporate database  18 . The corporate travel policy data  96  from the corporate travel policy database  98  located in the corporate database  18  is also downloaded during the trip request process  84 . The employee profile database  94  includes information such as seat preferences, special meals, frequent flier, account numbers, hotels, car rental, connecting flights, and airline equipment preferences. 
   The next step in trip planning  68  is the build itinerary process  100 . The build itinerary process  100  allows the traveler  86  to enter basic trip parameters and either request a booking or make a booking with direct access to CRS  30  availability and fare information or allows the traveler  86  to pull up saved, repeat itinerary data  102  from the repeat intinerary file database  104  and provide a new departure date and autofilled trip parameters for use in an availability display. For routine trips, the traveler  86  may fill the trip parameters section from stored repeat itinerary data  106  and subsequently add, modify or delete segments for the itinerary of a specific trip. 
   For standard or non-routine trips, the build intinerary process  100  allows the traveler  86  to enter basic trip parameters such as departure date, time and city, arrival date, time and city, and hotel and car requirements. The traveler  86  will input in a batch all the travel requirements (air, hotel, car) grouped by segment. The build itinerary process  100  via communication with CRS  30  displays flight availability data  108 , fare data  110  and highlights preferred vendor data from the corporate travel policy  112 . The traveler  86  is able to make only one selection from the availability data  108  for each segment. The traveler  86  can change selection if desired using the display window. As selections are made, an in-process itinerary will be built and displayed to the traveler  86  showing information as it is selected or adding to what has been previously selected. The in-process itinerary will display the associated cost of each item as well as a running total of the entire trip, including air, hotel, car and a grand total. 
   From the availability data  108 , the traveler  86  may request a list of preferred hotels in the destination city. The display will highlight which hotels can be booked via CRS  30  access and also those that would need to be contacted directly. The traveler  86  can request availability at one or more of the preferred hotels. The build itinerary process  100  also allows display of preferred chains as well as preferred hotels specified to a city location which are stored in the local property table  114 . 
   The traveler  86  may request a list of preferred rental car vendors through CRS  30 . Special negotiated rates for a vendor in a specific city stored in local car table  116 , when present, will override the data returned from CRS  30 . The build intinerary process  100  returns a queued PNR  118  including air, hotel and car requirements to CRS  30 . 
   The trip planning process  68  further comprises the authorized trip request process  120 . The authorized trip request process  120  provides for the routing of the trip request form to the appropriate authorizer (not pictured) and provides the authorization utility. Once authorized, the traveler  86  is notified of the authorization electronically. Actual routing of the trip request form is determined in the authorization table  122  and the travel policy table  98 . The routing may be to a specific person or a specific manager position. The trip request form is electronically signed for the traveler  86  before it is routed for approval. The approver is able to review a version of the trip request form that allows the approver to view the completed itinerary, the cost, the purpose for the trip and the remarks fields. The approver is also able to review the traveler&#39;s  86  request for a travel cash advance. 
   If the approver does not approve the request, the authorized trip request process  120  requires that the approver input a description of the reason for disapproval. The trip request is then routed back to the originator of the request. If the originator was a travel arranger, a copy of the disapproval will be sent to the traveler  86 . If the approver does approve the request, it is routed to the next processing step, for example, travel agency  26 . The trip request form is electronically signed for the approver whether the request is approved or disapproved. 
   Another feature of the trip planning  68  is the cancel booking process  124  which allows the traveler  86  a quick means of cancelling a booked trip from the client workstation  12 . The cancelled booking process  124  displays an abbreviated list of all booked trip records whose departure date is equal to or greater than today&#39;s system date. The traveler  86  receives stored trip data  126  from the trip table  128  and may select a stored trip to cancel from the list. Once a cancelled trip button is activated on the screen, the traveler  86  may send cancellation data  130  to the CRS  30 . A response from the CRS  30  will be displayed back to the traveler  86  confirming the cancellation is complete. 
   Now referring to  FIG. 5 , a block diagram representing the update static tables process  70  of  FIG. 3  is presented. All of the corporation&#39;s static tables are presumably part of the corporate centric client-server system  38  implementation process. Each corporation defines the static tables in order to start using the corporate centric client-server system  38 . Typically, a system administrator inputs the update travel policy data  132 , the update exception codes data  134 , the update projects data  136 , the update reason codes data  138 , the update GL accounts data  140 , the update department information data  142 , the update category data  144 , the update budget figures data  146 , the update accounting periods data  148 , the update expense policy data  150 , the update employment profile data  152 , the update company profile data  154 , the travel policy table  98 , the exception codes table  158 , the project table  160 , the validation error codes table  162 , the GL accounts table  164 , the department table  166 , the expense categories table  168 , the budget figures table  170 , the accounting period table  172 , the expense policy table  174 , the employee profile table  94 , and the company profile table  178 , each of which are part of the larger corporate database  18 . All static tables  70  have the ability to add new records, update existing records, and delete unused records. 
   Now referring to  FIG. 6 , the system administrator may update the static table  70  by inputting the update airline agreements data  180 , the update carrier codes data  182 , the update city/airport codes data  184 , the update currency exchange rates data  186 , the update car table data  190 , the update property table data  192 , the update chain codes data  194 , the update currency codes data  196 , and the update other codes data  198 , respectively updating the airline agreements table  200 , the carrier codes table  202 , the city/airport codes table  204 , the currency exchange table  206 , the local car table table  116 , the local property table  114 , the chain code table  212 , the currency code table  214 , and the other codes table  216 , each of which are part of the corporate database  18 . 
   Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a block diagram detailing the interface manager  72  of  FIG. 3  is depicted. The interface manager  72  involves processing CRS  30  data which consists of five distinct processes: the drive GDS query process  218 , the pull apart PNR process  220 , the validate data fields process  222 , the check policy process  224 , and the modify trip record process  226 . The drive GDS query process  218  resides on the CRS Supersaver  34  and serves to retrieve the GDS data  64  for each PNR. After the GDS data  64  is retrieved, the GDS data  64  is forwarded to the corporate database  18  where the parsing of the stream is performed and the trip is inserted into the interface manager table  228 . 
   The pull-apart PNR process  220  reads GDS data  64  and maps the CRS elements to the interface manager table  228 . 
   The validate data fields process  222  ensures the integrity of the data being inserted into the trip table  128 . An incomplete PNR or a PNR containing a value that cannot be found in the static tables  70  will be rejected by the validate datafields process  222  and the queued for reprocessing through CRS  30 . The PNR&#39;s which pass the validation data fields process  222  are assigned a unique trip number that does not already exist in the trip table  128  and such valid trips are inserted into the trip table  128 . 
   The check policy process  224  has a heirachical order of application, for example, project policy takes precedence over employee policy and a negotiated hotel rate takes precedence over a company-preferred vendor. In the check policy process  224 , each policy violation is flagged and the violation is assigned a code type based upon the nature of the violation. Depending upon how the violation is set up in the policy record, the violation will either simply be an item on a report, or it may be queued to an individual specified in the employee or project record for approval or rejection. The status of the violation is stored within the policy exception table  230 . Data from trip table  128  is compared against data from the travel policy table  98 , the local car table table  116 , the local property table  114 , and the airline agreement table  200 . If the check policy process  224  finds any violations, a code from the exception code table  158  is applied and then stored in the policy exceptions table  230 . 
   The modify trip record process  226  allows the traveler  86  to maintain non-purged PNR&#39;s in the interface manager table  228 . Maintenance may occur at two levels, a high-level delete of detail older than a specified date, or a modification utility which allows fixes to fields such as project I.D. which, once repaired, will enable the PNR to populate the trip table  128 . 
   Now referring to  FIG. 8 , a detailed block diagram of the pre-trip management  74  of  FIG. 3  is pictured. The analyze vendor goal share process  232  imports data from the local car table  116 , the airline agreements table  200 , the local property table  114 , and the trip table  128 . The analyze vendor goal share process  232  analyzes each preferred airline vendor on a specified city pair and divides the number of segments booked on that airline by the total number of segments booked and compares the obtained percentage with the share agreement for that airline. 
   The review and approve exceptions process  234  imports data from the trip table  128 , the exception table table  238 , and the department roll-up table  236  and creates exception reporting for the overall corporation, an overall cost center, an individual, trend analysis, year-to-date totals, and chronic policy violators. 
   The destination analysis by date process  240  uses data from the trip table  128  and reports to the corporate travel manager all destination cities where multiple travelers  86  will be traveling on a given date or date range for the purpose of managing opportunities for obtaining zone fares or discounted group hotel rates. 
   The analyze booked versus budgeted travel and entertainment expense process  242  imports data from the trip table  128  and travel and expense budget table  244  to show projected cost of booked trips, a comparison between booked and budgeted expenses, and a trend analysis for forecasting if the travel budget will be met based upon trends. 
   The query unauthorized trips process  246  imports data from the department roll-up table  236  and trip table  128  to provide department managers or corporate travel managers information regarding unauthorized trips that require either authorization or cancellation. Department managers or Corporate Travel Managers may either cancel or authorize trips and electronic notification of cancelled trips will be sent to the traveler  86 . 
   The exception trends report process  250  imports data from the department roll-up table  236 , the exception table  238 , the trip table  128 , the accounting periods table  172 , and the calendar year table  248 . The exception trends report process  250  provides a trend analysis of travel policy exceptions for a defined time frame. Both written and graphical reports show trends of exceptions by individual, by type, and by department as well as the known costs of those exceptions. 
   The vendor chain analysis process  252  imports data from the trip table  128 , the chain codes table  212 , the accounting periods table  172  and the calendar year table  248  and provides an analysis of the booked plus actual activity for a specific date range for a given hotel or car chain. The output includes a total transaction count for number of room/nights or car/days plus a summary of the dollar value of each transaction as well as an average room/car nights per booking and average daily rates. 
   Now referring to  FIG. 9 , a detailed block diagram of the utility functions  76  of  FIG. 3  is depicted. The import back office data process  254  creates an electronic handoff of data from agency back office system  256  such as ADS or TravelBase, at a defined frequency. The import back office data process  254  is a means by which agency invoice numbers associated with tickets, refunds or exchanges are obtained by the corporate database  18 . 
   The extract summary trip data process  258  provides nightly updates to the trip table  128  and provides data to the summary air trip table  260  and summary city trip table  262 . 
   The archive/delete expense detail process  264  allows input of date parameters such that select expense detailed records that match date parameters are purged from the expense detail table  266  and placed in the archive expense table  268 . 
   The archive/delete trip detailed process  270  allows input of the date parameters such that select trip records that match date parameters are purged from the trio table  128  and placed in the archive table  272 . 
   Now turning to  FIG. 10 , a detailed block diagram of the expense reporting  80  from  FIG. 3  is pictured. The create expense form process  274  provides secured access to the expense forms, autofills the forms with data from the employee profile table  94  and allows the traveler  86  to construct an expense report semi-automatically as well as by pulling stored data from the trip table  128 . The create expense form process  274  imports data from the expense category table  168 , the expense policy table  174 , and the travel policy table  98  and provides this information to the traveler  86  so that the traveler  86  can construct a policy compliant expense report. 
   The create expense form process  274  also imports data from the currency exchange table and allows the traveler  86  to process currency exchange conversions. When the traveler  86  has completed the expense report, a filled expense form is electronically forwarded to the expense form table  276 , where it is assigned a unique expense form number. The number is assigned the first time an expense form is saved. The number is associated with a optional receipt envelope which may be printed at any time after the initial saving of the expense report has taken place. There is also a traveler reference number to support pre-bar coded envelopes for receipts. 
   The update expense form process  278  allows the traveler  86  to modify or cancel an expense report. The traveler  86  may import expense form data from expense form table  276  and modify an expense form until it has been approved or may pull up disapproved expense forms for modification and resubmission. An unsubmitted or disapproved expense report may also be cancelled. 
   The perform validations process  280  checks an expense form against data from the travel policy table  98  to identify unapproved policy violations. Policy violations on the expense form are highlighted and the approver has access to explanations for each of the errant fields. The approver will be able to approve the violations or return the form to the traveler  86  with comments. 
   The approve expense form process  282  comprises two methods of expense approval. First, the manager level approval gives the manager the option of rejecting an expense form if, for example, it exceeds the data provided from the average cost table  284 . If the manager rejects the expense form, it can be routed back to the traveler  86  with comments. If the manager approves the expense form, it is routed to the Accounts Payable  286  for further processing. All approved expense data is also routed to the expense totals table  288 . In the second case, the corporation can define situations when approval will be automatic and the expense form is routed directly to the Accounts Payable department  286 . 
   Now turning to  FIG. 11 , a detailed block diagram of the post-trip management  82  of  FIG. 3  is depicted. The analyze air usage process  290  imports data from the trip table  128 , the airline agreements table  200 , and the summary air city table  292 . The analyze air usage process  290  reports the percentage of goal share achieved for a specified city pair carrier, percent of goal share achieved for a carrier overall, overall usage for a given city pair, overall air cost for a given city pair, and average leg fare cost for a given city pair. 
   The analyze car usage process  294  imports data from the local car table  116 , the trip table  128  and the summary trip table  296 . The analyze car usage process  294  reports percent of goal share achieved for specified chain in a specified city, percent of goal share achieved for chain overall, overall usage for a given city, overall car dollar spent in a given city, overall chain usage, and average car rental day cost in each city. The analyze hotel usage process  298  imports data from the local property table  114 , the summary trio table  296  and the trip table  128 . 
   The analyze hotel usage process  298  reports percent of goal share achieved for a specified hotel chain in a specified city, percent of goal share achieved for a chain overall, overall usage for a given city, overall hotel dollars spent in a given city, overall chain usage, and average hotel night cost in each city. 
   The analyze policy exceptions process  300  imports data from the expense table  288 , the expense category table  168 , the department roll-up table  302 , the trip table  128 , the employee/department table  304 , the travel policy table  98 , and the exception data and summaries table  306 . The analyze policy exceptions process  300  creates on request reports, for example, for monthly reporting of exceptions by employee and by type, overall monthly exception trends by employee and type, overall monthly exception trends by department and type, and overall exceptions by type and monthly trends. 
   The analyze expenses process  308  imports data from the expense summaries table  310 , the expense table  288 , the expense category table  168 , the department roll-up table  302 , the employee/department table  304 , and the travel and expense budget table  244 . The analyze expenses process  308  creates a report that shows trends by overall company, summary by department, summary by project, and summary by employee. 
   The ticket tracking process  312  imports data from the trip table  128  and the expense trio table  314 . The ticket tracking process  312  reports on the status of any given ticket, lists tickets older than a given number of days that have not appeared on an expense report or been refunded or voided, lists tickets returned for refund which have not been credited, and reports unrefunded tickets or miscellaneous change orders available for exchange. 
   Now turning to  FIG. 12 , a detailed block diagram of post-trip management  82  of  FIG. 3  is detailed. The analyze employee expenses process  316 , uses data from the expense employee summary table  318 , the average costs table  284 , the expense category table  168 , the city/airport codes table  204 , and the employee profile table  94 . The analyze employee expense process  316  summarizes for a given time period employee expenses by category as well as shows trends in employee expenses by category. 
   The analyze company expenses process  318  uses data from the company profile table  178 , the average costs table  284 , the expense category table  168 , the city/airport codes table  204 , the department table  320 , the project detail table  322 , the expense project summary table  324 , the expense company summary table  326 , the department roll-up table  302 , and the travel and expense budget table  244 . The analyze company expenses process  318  creates a summary for a given time period of company expenses by category and by project as well as trends in company expenses by project and by category. 
   The analyze department expenses process  328  imports data from the employee profile table  94 , the city/airport codes table  204 , the expense department summary table  330 , the department table  320 , the project detail table  322 , the expense project summary table  324 , the department roll-up table  302 , the travel and the expense budget table  244 , the expense table  288 , the average costs table  284 , and the expense category table  168 . The analyze department expenses process  328  creates a summary for a given time period of departmental expenses by category and by project. The analyze department expenses process  328  also reports trends in departmental expenses by category and by project. 
   Now turning to  FIG. 13 , a detailed block diagram of another aspect of the post-trip management  82  of  FIG. 3  is depicted. The employee trip policy violations process  330  imports data from employee trip exception the summary table  332 , the carrier codes table  202 , the trip exception table  334 , the travel policy table  98 , the expense detail table  336 , the trip table  128 , the car type codes table  338 , the chain codes table  212 , the city/airport codes table  204 , the exception codes table  158 , the expense category table  168 , and the employee profile table  94 . The employee trip policy violations process  330  creates a summary for a given time period of employee trip violations by category and violation trends by category. 
   The department trip violations process  340  imports data from the department trip exception summary table  342 , the travel policy table  98 , and the city/airport codes table  204 . The department trip policy violations process  340  creates a summary for a given time period of department trip violations by category and reports trends in department trip violations. 
   The department expense policy violations process  344  uses data from the city/airport codes table  204 , the exception codes table  158 , the expense category table  168 , the average costs table  284 , the expense policy table  174 , the department expense exception summary table  348 , the company expense exception summary table  350 , and the department table  320 . The department expense policy violations process  344  creates a summary for a given time period of departmental expense policy violations by category and trends in departmental expense policy violations. The employee expense violations process  352  uses data from the employee profile data base  94 , the average costs table  284 , the expense policy table  174 , the expense detail table  346 , the expense explanations table  354 , the expense policy exceptions table  356 , the company expense exception summary table  350 , and the employee expense exception summary table  358 . The employee expense violations process  352  creates a summary for a given time period of employee expense violations by category and trends in employee expense violations. 
   Now turning to  FIG. 14 , which consists of  FIGS. 14A–14X , which are drawings that depict graphical user interfaces for trip planning module  68  as described above in reference to  FIG. 4 . The traveler  86  places a cursor  360  on the New Trip icon  362  and energizes the New Trip icon  362 . The traveler  86  then enters the purpose of the trip and charge center for the trip and purpose of trip in the Charge Center window  364  then energizes Okay button  366  with cursor  360 . The traveler  86  selects origination and destination data in Flight Request-Segment  1  window  368  and energizes the Search button  370  with the cursor  360 . The traveler  86  selects a flight from the Flight List window  372  which makes a record of the flight in the Trip Activity Log  374  and the Calendar  376 . The traveler  86  selects the Continuing Trip icon  378  and selects an origination and destination in the Flight Request-Segment  2  window  380 . The traveler  86  selects flight data from the Flight List window  82  and a record of the selected flight is made in the Trip Activity Log  374  and the Calendar  376 . 
   The traveler  86  selects the Hotel icon  384 . From the Hotel Request Information window  386 , the traveler  86  may search for hotels in the destination city. The traveler  86  selects from a list of hotels from the Hotel List window  388 . A record of the hotel selection is made in the Trip Activity Log  374  and on the Calendar  376 . 
   The traveler  86  may select the Rental Car icon  390  to see the Car Request Information window  392 . After energizing the Search button  394 , the traveler  86  receives a list of available cars and prices in the destination city from the Car List window  396 . After the traveler  86  selects a car, a record of the car selected is made in the Trip Activity Log  374  and on the Calendar  376 . 
   The traveler  86  selects the Cost icon  398  to view the Trip Price Information window  400 . From the Trip Price Information window  400 , the traveler  86  may search for cheaper flights by energizing the Search for Cheaper Flights button  402  which brings up the BargainFinderPlus Parameters window  404 . From the BargainFinderPlus Parameters window  404 , the traveler  86  may search for cheaper flights by selecting from a menu of parameters. After completing the search, results are displayed from the BargainFinderPlus Search Results window  406  from which the traveler  86  may select from a menu of flights. The traveler  86  may select a different flight by energizing Yes button  408  in the Replace Flights Message window  410 . A record of this transaction is made by updating the Trip Activity Log  374  and the Calendar  376 . 
   The traveler  86  may confirm ticketing by energizing the Confirm Ticketing icon  412 . From the Confirmation-Ticket Delivery window  414 , the traveler  86  may choose a method for obtaining tickets by energizing Okay button  416 . The travel Itinerary window  418  is then displayed for the traveler  86 . 
   The traveler  86  may create a reservation by pressing the Finish icon  420 . If the traveler  86  wishes to finish the reservation process and send it on to the travel agency for processing, the traveler  86  may energize Yes button  422  in the Finish Reservations window  424 . The resulting display shows the the Trip Activity Log  374  and the Calendar  376  with current travel information. 
   Now turning to  FIG. 15 , which consists of  FIGS. 15A–15G , which are diagrams of graphical user interfaces for repeat trip planning as described above in reference to  FIG. 4 . The traveler  86  energizes the Frequent Trip icon  426  to receive a menu of frequent trips in the Frequent Trip window  428 . The traveler  86  then requests additional details from a selected frequent trip by energizing the Details button  430 . If the appropriate frequent trip was selected, the traveler  86  energizes Okay button  432  from the Frequent Trip Details window  434 . The traveler  86  then energizes the Select Trip button  436  from the Frequent Trip window  428 . The traveler  86  then inputs the date on which travel will begin and energizes the Reserve button  438  in the Frequent Trip Dates window  440 . As this information is being processed, the Frequent Trip-Reserving window  442  is viewed by the traveler  86 . If Cancel button  444  is not depressed, the Frequent Trip Completed window  446  is displayed and the traveler  86  finishes the reservation process by energizing Yes button  448 . 
   Now turning to  FIG. 16 , which consists of  FIGS. 16A–16M , which are diagrams of graphical user interfaces for creating an expense report as described above in reference to  FIG. 10 . The traveler  86  selects New Expense Report icon  450  or Modify Expense Report icon  452  from the Expense Report window  454  which shows the status of saved expense reports in an Expense Report Log window  456 . Energizing the New Expense Report icon  450  or the Modify Expense Report icon  452  brings up the Expense Data Range window  458 , from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills date, project and purpose of the trip/expense parameters. The traveler  86  then energizes the Okay bottom  460  to view the Air Item Detail window  462  from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills charge parameters for the selected city pair  464 . The traveler  86  may also enter an explanation of expenses in the Explanation window  466 . 
   The traveler  86  then energizes the Okay bottom  468  to view the Car Item Detail window  470  from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills car rental and car receipt parameters. The corporate database  18  also provides corporate policy data  472  to the traveler  86 . The traveler  86  then energizes the Okay bottom  474  to view the Hotel Item Detail window  476  from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills hotel booking and hotel receipt parameters. The traveler  86  then energizes the Okay bottom  478  to view the Meals Detail window  480  from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills reimbursement parameters. The traveler  86  then energizes the Okay bottom  478  to view the Business Entertainment Detail window  484  from which the traveler  86  enters or the corporate database  18  autofills entertainment parameters. To return to the Expense Report window  454 , the traveler  86  energizes the Okay button  486 . 
   The traveler  488  may select the Calculate Totals icon  488  to bring up the Calculate Totals window  490 . Expense are totaled by date or by type for the traveler  86 . The traveler  86  may also input payment instructions. 
   The traveler  86  may check for policy compliance by energizing the Check Policy button  492  from the Calculate Totals window  490  of the Check Policy icon  494  from the Expense Report window  454 . The traveler  86  views the Check Policy Compliance window  496  while the system does a policy check. The traveler  86  may request explanation of policy violations by energizing the View Exceptions button  498 . The traveler  86  may also energizing the Okay button  500  to view the expense report in Expense Report window  502 . The traveler  86  submits the expense report for approval by energizing the Submit for Approval icon  504 . 
   Although the invention has been described in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and examplary only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only to the terms of the appended claim.