Patent Publication Number: US-2016247099-A1

Title: Dynamic travel expense optimization

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of online travel reservations, and more particularly to dynamically optimizing employee business travel expenses based on real-time information. 
     Particular organizations often implement a business travel policy for the employees, in order to set rules and guidelines for the employees when making business travel plans. These business travel policies often factor in direct costs, such as air fare and hotel expenses. The business travel polices often allow an employee to use the travel options which provide the overall lowest cost to the employer. In some organizations, if an employee wants to implement a travel option outside of the approved travel policy, the employee must provide a justification for the exception to a manager, who must then subsequently approve the exception. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for travel expense optimization is provided, the method comprising: for a set of planned travel parameters, mining, by an analytics engine, a plurality of data types; transposing, by the analytics engine, the plurality of data types into a set of variables; performing, by the analytics engine, a constraint-based optimization, wherein the constraint-based optimization comprises more than one constraint; performing, by one or more processors, a genetic algorithm, wherein the genetic algorithm is based, at least in part, on a plurality of data from one or more media feeds; and generating, by the analytics engine, a list of travel options, wherein the list of travel options is based, at least in part, on results associated with the constraint-based optimization and results associated with the genetic algorithm. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram illustrating a data processing environment, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is a flowchart illustrating operational steps for dynamically determining a set of optimized travel costs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is a flowchart illustrating operational steps for performing a constraint-based optimization on a set of variables, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2C  is a flowchart illustrating operational steps for performing a genetic algorithm on a set of variables, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of internal and external components of the computing device of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Many organizations have a pre-approved business travel policy for their employees, which calculates the lowest direct cost to an employer. However, the business travel policies do not account for factors such as the value of an employee&#39;s time and loyalty programs in which the employee may be enrolled. Embodiments of the present invention provide efficient and cost-effective systems and methods for dynamically optimizing the business travel expenses incurred by an employee, using employee travel preferences and real-time data provided by various social media feeds. 
     The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the Figures.  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram illustrating a data processing environment, generally designated  100 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Modifications to data processing environment  100  may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as recited by the claims. In an exemplary embodiment, data processing environment  100  includes media feeds  120 , variable data files  130 , and computing device  140 , all interconnected over network  110 . 
     Network  110  can be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a combination of the two, and can include wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In general, network  110  can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communication and/or access between media feeds  120 , variable data files  130 , and computing device  140 . 
     Media feeds  120  receive information from media sources, such as social network services, online communities, and online news sources. Information received from media feeds  120  may include information associated with social networks, weather, news channels, print media, wikis, blogs, and one or more airline websites, among other information. Information gathered from media feeds  120  may subsequently be parsed into variable data files  130 , accessed via network  110 . 
     Variable data files  130  includes information detailing data gathered from various media feeds, such as media feeds  120 . In this exemplary embodiment, variable data files  130  are stored remotely, such as on a server (not depicted) and may be accessed via network  110 . In other embodiments, variable data files  130  may be stored locally, such as on computing device  140 . 
     Computing device  140  includes user interface (UI)  142 , modeling program  144 , analytics engine  146 , travel optimization program  147 , and dynamic policy analyzer engine  148 . In various embodiments of the present invention, computing device  140  can be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a netbook computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a thin client, or any programmable electronic device capable of executing computer readable program instructions. Computing device  140  may include internal and external hardware components, as depicted and described in further detail with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
     UI  142  may be, for example, a graphical user interface (GUI) or a web user interface (WUI) and can display text, documents, web browser windows, user options, application interfaces, and instructions for operation, and includes the information (such as graphic, text, and sound) a program presents to a user and the control sequences the user employs to control the program. UI  142  is capable of receiving data, user commands, and data input modifications from a user. UI  142  is also capable of communicating with modeling program  144 , analytics engine  146 , travel optimization program  147 , and dynamic policy analyzer engine  148 . 
     Modeling program  144 , in conjunction with UI  142 , may provide an interface, which may be accessed by a user to run multiple variations of travel route optimizations, using a variety of different variables, input by a user. 
     Analytics engine  146  is a predictive analytics engine, which is capable of gathering, mining, and processing various types of data associated with travel cost determinations (e.g., membership in a loyalty program, employee travel trends, and social media data). Analytics engine  146  stores the travel policy rules associated with gathered data and is capable of adding and/or amending the travel policy rules, based on new gathered data (i.e., real-time data obtained from social media feeds). 
     Travel optimization program  147  is a software application capable of receiving information, such as variable data files  130 . Although depicted as a separate component, in one embodiment, travel optimization program  147  may be partially or fully integrated with UI  142 . In other embodiments, travel optimization program  147  is fully or partially integrated within an online travel reservation system or tool. In this exemplary embodiment, travel optimization program  147  is capable of retrieving information via network  110 . Travel optimization program  147  is capable of receiving data from variable data files  130 , performing a multiple constraint-based algorithm on the data, performing a genetic algorithm on the data, and calculating an optimized travel plan for a particular user, based on the preferences and information associated with the particular user. 
     Dynamic policy analyzer engine  148  is a rule-based inference engine and operates as a dynamic feedback loop to travel optimization program  147 . Dynamic policy analyzer engine  148  is capable of approving travel exceptions based on inputs from multiple-data sources and is capable of adding additional rules to analytics engine  146 , based on the results of a multiple constraint-based optimization calculation. 
       FIG. 2A  is a flowchart  200  illustrating operational steps for dynamically determining a set of optimized travel costs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In step  202 , a standard travel program operating on a computing device is initiated by a user. The user may input a set of travel parameters relevant to the planned trip, and the standard travel program generates an initial set of travel expenses and which options are available to the user within the predefined business travel policy rules. 
     In step  204 , analytics engine  146  receives a set of data from various feeds, such as media feeds  120 , and other sources. The data received by analytics engine  146  is then processed and transposed by a standard parser, where the data is then categorized and encoded for future processing. 
     In step  206 , the processed data from step  204  is fed into a multiple-constraint based optimization algorithm. In an embodiment, travel optimization program  147  invokes the multiple-constraint based algorithm of  FIG. 2B  (discussed below) to calculate the optimized travel options for a user, based on a set of constraints, chosen by a particular user. 
     In step  208 , dynamic policy analyzer engine  148  is initiated by travel optimization program  147 , which determines whether there are more rules to add to the travel policy database of analytics engine  146 . One or more new rules may be added to the policy database, based on the results of the multiple constraint-based optimization algorithm (step  206 ). 
     If dynamic policy analyzer engine  148  determines that there are new rules to add, based on the results of the multiple-constraint based optimization algorithm, then, in step  210 , the new rule(s) are added to the travel policy rules database of analytics engine  146 . 
     If dynamic policy analyzer engine  148  determines that there are no new rules to add to the travel policy database of analytics engine  146  from the results of the multiple-constraint based optimization algorithm, then, in step  212 , the genetic algorithm of  FIG. 2C  is implemented by travel optimization program  147  to calculate the optimized travel options for a user, ensuring that the variability in the data is accounted for in the output. 
     In step  214 , travel optimization program  147  generates a list of travel options available to the user, based on the data calculated by the multiple-constraint based optimization (step  206 ) and the genetic algorithm (step  212 ). In this exemplary embodiment, a final list of optimized travel options for the user is generated from the results of the optimization calculations performed on the three outputs from the genetic algorithm (step  410  of  FIG. 2C ). 
     In step  216 , modeling program  144  is executed by travel optimization program  147 . In this exemplary embodiment, modeling program  144  runs multiple scenarios of travel cost optimization, including and excluding various subsets of data gathered by analytics engine  146 . For example, a user may want to further generate a list of travel options from the original optimized output of options, which exclude all flights and/or travel routes which pass through Denver. In this exemplary embodiment, modeling program  144  saves the various scenarios calculated by a user to a database, as well as the user selections, for future analysis. 
     In step  218 , travel optimization program  147  receives the final travel selection from the user. After the user has made a final travel selection from the generated options, the chosen option is saved to a database (not depicted in  FIG. 1 ) and calculations may be performed on the final options for future travel optimization determinations. 
       FIG. 2B  is a flowchart illustrating operational steps of travel optimization program  147  for performing a constraint-based optimization on a set of variables, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In step  302 , information from detailed feeds, including a set of constraints, is received by travel optimization program  147 . In this exemplary embodiment, both hard constraints (i.e., conditions which are required to be satisfied) and soft constraints (i.e., conditions with variable values which are penalized in the objective function) are determined from feed information. For example, a hard constraint may be a low raw cost and membership to a loyalty program. A soft constraint may be the travel preferences of an employee. Detailed feed information is used to generate a file containing the travel preferences (i.e., constraints) of a particular employee. For example, an employee may indicate favored airports (e.g., connection time is less than three hours), favored travel routes (e.g., southern routes in winter), least favored airports (e.g., Cincinnati), and favorite amenities (e.g., only airports with a favored restaurant). Other soft constraints that may be factored in are the role of the employee within a company (e.g., dealing with an important transaction or interfacing with a customer) and the rate of pay of the employee (e.g., the employee time cost per hour). Another soft constraint which may be factored into the multi-constraint optimization algorithm is the historical travel trends of an employee (e.g., trend of reschedules for a particular employee, trend of violations of travel policy for a particular employee, and a trend of rescheduling by an account). For example, an employee who often requests a reschedule of their flight may be allowed to buy a refundable ticket, an exception to a company travel policy, which may help to save the employee&#39;s company money if they do not have to purchase a second ticket when the employee reschedules their flight. 
     In step  304 , after the constraints from the detailed feeds are received, travel optimization program  147  inputs the information into a multi-constraint based optimization calculation. The multi-constraint based optimization calculation implements both hard and soft constraints and is based on a standard constrained optimization problem (i.e., the process of optimizing an objective function with respect to some variables in the presence of constraints on those variables). 
     In step  306 , from the multi-constraint optimization calculation, travel optimization program  147  generates a list of optimized travel options, based on the input constraints (i.e., that information received in step  302 ). After the optimized travel options list is generated, in step  308 , the subroutine returns to step  208  in  FIG. 2A . 
       FIG. 2C  is a flowchart illustrating the operational steps of travel optimization program  147  for performing a genetic algorithm on a set of variables, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In step  402 , travel optimization program  147  accesses the data which has been received and parsed by a standard parser. For example, travel optimization program  147  may receive data that has been parsed from social networking sites, blogs, and/or news sites (i.e., media feeds  120 ). 
     In step  404 , travel optimization program  147  analyzes the parsed data by tagging and scoring the data based on a potential impact to a travel route. In this exemplary embodiment, each tag denotes the type of variable, a description of the possible adverse event, and a relative impact score based on how much of an impact the event may have on various travel routes (e.g., a relative impact scale using scores from 1 to 5, where  1  indicates no adverse impact and 5 indicates a large adverse impact). For example, data received from a weather feed may indicate a severe storm in the south which may adversely affect a planned travel route which passes through Atlanta, and the variable is then scored accordingly. Variables may be, for example, a service slowdown, a labor dispute, a weather prediction, the fullness of a particular flight, good seats on a flight, the on-time rating of an airport, a local event or conference (e.g., Oktoberfest in Munich), among other variables. 
     In step  406 , travel optimization program  147  permutates the tags and scores in the genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm is able to selectively mutate the variables obtained from the data, by using a plus one or minus one scoring methodology, based in part on the likely veracity of each variable, in order to determine the coefficients of each variable. The scoring methodology ensures that variability in the data is adequately accounted for in the output options that are determined for a user. For example, data received about a service slowdown from an airline spokesperson may be assigned a 0.9% veracity, while the same information received from a tweet may be assigned 0.5% veracity. 
     In step  408 , travel optimization program  147  inserts the permutated scores into a standard optimization function, and the top three rated permutations are input into a final optimization calculation (based on all of the gathered data and calculations). 
     In step  410 , the top three rated permutation outputs are fed into the remaining variables and travel optimization program  147  performs a final optimization on all of the variables. After the optimization calculations using the genetic algorithm are completed, in step  412 , the subroutine returns to step  214  in  FIG. 2A . 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of internal and external components of a computer system  500 , which is representative of the computer systems of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 3  provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. In general, the components illustrated in  FIG. 3  are representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Examples of computer systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be represented by the components illustrated in  FIG. 3  include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, laptop computer systems, tablet computer systems, cellular telephones (e.g., smart phones), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices. 
     Computer system  500  includes communications fabric  502 , which provides for communications between one or more processors  504 , memory  506 , persistent storage  508 , communications unit  512 , and one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces  514 . Communications fabric  502  can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric  502  can be implemented with one or more buses. 
     Memory  506  and persistent storage  508  are computer-readable storage media. In this embodiment, memory  506  includes random access memory (RAM)  516  and cache memory  518 . In general, memory  506  can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage media. Software (e.g., modeling program  144 , travel optimization program, etc.) is stored in persistent storage  508  for execution and/or access by one or more of the respective processors  504  via one or more memories of memory  506 . 
     Persistent storage  508  may include, for example, a plurality of magnetic hard disk drives. Alternatively, or in addition to magnetic hard disk drives, persistent storage  508  can include one or more solid state hard drives, semiconductor storage devices, read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROM), flash memories, or any other computer-readable storage media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital information. 
     The media used by persistent storage  508  can also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive can be used for persistent storage  508 . Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer-readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage  508 . 
     Communications unit  512  provides for communications with other computer systems or devices via a network (e.g., network  110 ). In this exemplary embodiment, communications unit  512  includes network adapters or interfaces such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. The network can comprise, for example, copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. Software and data used to practice embodiments of the present invention can be downloaded to computing device  140  through communications unit  512  (e.g., via the Internet, a local area network or other wide area network). From communications unit  512 , the software and data can be loaded onto persistent storage  508 . 
     One or more I/O interfaces  514  allow for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computer system  500 . For example, I/O interface  514  can provide a connection to one or more external devices  520  such as a keyboard, computer mouse, touch screen, virtual keyboard, touch pad, pointing device, or other human interface devices. External devices  520  can also include portable computer-readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. I/O interface  514  also connects to display  522 . 
     Display  522  provides a mechanism to display data to a user and can be, for example, a computer monitor. Display  522  can also be an incorporated display and may function as a touch screen, such as a built-in display of a tablet computer. 
     The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention. 
     The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. 
     Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. 
     Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention. 
     Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. 
     These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.