Patent ID: 7539620

Claim:
A system for facilitating a transaction among a consumer and a provider of travel-related services comprising: a booking engine in communication with a technology provider, wherein said technology provider is in communication with a provider of travel-related services, and wherein said technology provider is configured to operate independently from said provider of travel-related services and said booking engine to minimize updates for said booking engine, and wherein said technology provider is configured to facilitate receipt, maintenance and provision of information regarding available travel-related services, wherein said technology provider retrieves said information by connecting to a plurality of global distribution systems (GDS), travel vendor databases, multi-use terminals of a plurality of travel counselors, and travel websites such that the plurality of travel counselors have access to the travel vendor databases and the plurality of GDSs, wherein the connection is accomplished via a frame relay network having hubsites and using an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) backbone and multiple redundant data centers; wherein the connection further includes a translation server configured to communicate natively with the plurality of GDSs, travel vendor databases, multi-use terminals of a plurality of travel counselors, and travel websites; wherein the translation server is configured to communicate with the plurality of GDSs, travel vendor databases, multi-use terminals of a plurality of travel counselors, and travel websites via at least one of: (i) XML, (ii) a native application programming interface (API), or (iii) an open standard alliance; switching among GDSs for the trip request, using the connection, in response to a configuration item which identifies a particular GDS based upon minimum transaction requirement; said booking engine is configured to receive a request from an agent in communication with said booking engine, retrieve information from said technology provider in accordance with said request, present said retrieved information to said agent, and facilitate a transaction between said agent and said provider of travel-related services; and, wherein said retrieved information comprises information content responsive to said request from said agent, and an information format configured for presenting said information content.