Patent ID: 8612273

Claim:
A system for managing vehicle travel, the system comprising: a processor configured execute a travel management software application, the travel management software application configured to (1) receive data from a user that represents a plan to travel by vehicle, wherein the vehicle travel plan data comprises an origin and a destination, (2) determine a distance for the vehicle travel plan based at least in part on the received vehicle travel plan data, (3) retrieve vehicle travel mode data for a plurality of vehicle travel modes that satisfy the vehicle travel plan based at least in part on the received vehicle travel plan data, wherein the vehicle travel modes comprise a rental vehicle travel mode and a reimbursable personal vehicle travel mode, (4) compute a monetary cost for a rental vehicle based on the vehicle travel plan data and the retrieved vehicle travel mode data, the computed monetary cost for the rental vehicle being associated with a first vehicle travel mode option, the first vehicle travel mode option corresponding to travel by the rental vehicle from the origin to the destination in accordance with the vehicle travel plan, (5) compute a data value for another parameter for the rental vehicle based on the vehicle travel plan data and the retrieved vehicle travel mode data, the another parameter comprising a parameter other than monetary cost, the computed another parameter data value for the rental vehicle being associated with the first vehicle travel mode option, (6) compute a normalized cost for the first vehicle travel mode option as a weighted combination of the computed monetary cost and the computed another parameter data value for the rental vehicle, (7) compute a monetary cost for a reimbursable personal vehicle based on the vehicle travel plan data, the determined distance, and the retrieved vehicle travel mode data, the computed monetary cost for the reimbursable personal vehicle being associated with a second vehicle travel mode option, the second vehicle travel mode option corresponding to travel by the reimbursable personal vehicle from the origin to the destination in accordance with the vehicle travel plan, (8) compute a data value for the another parameter for the reimbursable personal vehicle based on the vehicle travel plan data and the retrieved vehicle travel mode data, the computed another parameter data value for the reimbursable personal vehicle being associated with the second vehicle travel mode option, (9) compute a normalized cost for the second vehicle travel mode option as a weighted combination of the computed monetary cost and the computed another parameter data value for the reimbursable personal vehicle, and (10) make a selection as between the first vehicle travel mode option and the second vehicle travel mode option according to a vehicle travel mode selection rule based on the computed normalized costs for the first and second vehicle travel mode options.