Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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REVENUE-OPTIMIZED OPAQUE BOOKINGS
Field of the Invention
[0001] Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computers and
computer software, and more specifically, to the use of computers and computer
software to handle opaque bookings in the travel industry.
Background of the Invention
[0002] Computer reservation systems are used in the travel industry to store
and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, rail
travel,
hotels, car rental, and other travel-related activities. In particular, third
party
reservation agents, such as travel agents, and/or customers (e.g., travelers)
often
utilize computer based devices to interface with a reservation system, such as
a
Global Distribution System (GDS), to book travel arrangements and/or travel
related
services for the customer.
[0003] It has been found in the travel industry that adding some uncertainty
to the travel-related transactions can provide a benefit to both travelers and
travel
providers. The hotel industry, for example, retails some hotel offers in a
manner that
does not reveal all of the details of the offers prior to finalizing booking.
Some offers
of this type are generally referred to as opaque bookings in the travel
industry.
[0004] With an opaque booking, a traveler, for example, may be permitted to
select specific nights and a general location for a hotel stay and be
presented with
one or more offers, with each offer specifying a price and some general
details about
the type of hotel that the traveler would stay in upon acceptance of the
offer, e.g.,
from a budget-level hotel up to a luxury hotel. It is only after a traveler
selects and
pays for an offer that the hotel name and exact location are revealed to the
traveler.
[0005] Opaque bookings are a benefit to travelers because such bookings
are generally less expensive to compensate for the opacity of the booking.
Such
bookings are also of a benefit to travel providers because the bookings often
enable
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the travel providers to select travel products for such opaque bookings in a
manner
that attempts to optimize revenue. For instance, for hotel providers, hotel
rooms
having the greatest availability may be selected over other hotel rooms having
lower
availability to reduce the risk of hotel rooms going unused.
[0006] The opacity of a conventional opaque booking, however, generally
ends once an opaque booking has been completed, i.e., once a purchase of the
opaque booking has been completed. As such, a travel provider is generally
required to commit to a particular travel itinerary (e.g., defining one or
more travel
products such as specific hotels, flights, etc.) to fulfill an opaque booking
at the time
the booking is completed. Some opaque bookings, however, may be made days,
weeks, or months in advance of travel, and changes in circumstances may occur
between the time at which an opaque booking is completed and the time of
departure (i.e., the time at which any travel product associated with the
opaque
booking is used). As such, it may no longer be the case that a travel product
selected as an optimum travel product at the time an opaque booking is
completed is
still the optimal travel product at the time of departure.
[0007] Therefore, a need continues to exist in the art for a manner of
optimizing revenue in association with opaque bookings.
Summary of the Invention
[0008] The invention addresses these and other problems associated with
the prior art by providing an apparatus, program product and method that delay
finalization of a travel itinerary for an opaque booking until a point in time
after the
opaque booking is completed, such that the travel itinerary for the opaque
booking
may be reassessed prior to finalizing the travel itinerary. Reassessment of
opaque
booking travel itineraries may be performed using a global optimization that
operates
across multiple opaque bookings to attempt to generate travel itineraries that
optimize revenue for one or more travel providers.
[0009] Therefore, according to one aspect of the invention, a travel itinerary
may be generated for an opaque booking. In response to receiving a first
opaque
booking for at least one traveler, an initial travel itinerary for the first
opaque booking
is generated, where the initial travel itinerary includes travel between a
departure
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location and a destination location, and where at least a portion of travel
itinerary
details for the first opaque booking are initially withheld from the at least
one traveler
after the first opaque booking is completed. After generating the initial
travel itinerary
for the first opaque booking, and prior to communicating withheld travel
itinerary
details to the at least one traveler in advance of departure by the at least
one
traveler, a global optimization of the first opaque booking and at least a
second
opaque booking is performed to optimize revenue across at least the first and
second opaque bookings, where performing the global optimization includes
modifying the initial travel itinerary for the first opaque booking to
generate a
modified travel itinerary that increases revenue relative to the initial
travel itinerary.
After performing the global optimization, withheld travel itinerary details
associated
with the modified travel itinerary are communicated to the at least one
traveler prior
to departure by the at least one traveler.
[0010] These and other advantages and features, which characterize the
invention, are set forth in the claims annexed hereto and forming a further
part
hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, and of the
advantages
and objectives attained through its use, reference should be made to the
Drawings,
and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there are described
example
embodiments of the invention.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0011] FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of one or more reservation systems,
inventory systems, travel provider systems and travel reservation devices
consistent
with embodiments of the invention.
[0012] FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of an inventory system of Fig. 1.
[0013] FIGURE 3 is a block diagram of an example schema for a global
architecture suitable for managing revenue-optimized opaque bookings
consistent
with the invention.
[0014] FIGURES 4 and 5 are block diagrams of an example data model
suitable for use in the architecture of Fig. 3.
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[0015] FIGURE 6 is a sequence diagram that illustrates a sequence of
operations that may be performed when managing revenue-optimized opaque
bookings consistent with the invention.
[0016] FIGURE 7 is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of operations that
may be performed for a flight selection process consistent with the invention.
[0017] FIGURE 8 is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of operations that
may be performed for an opaque booking optimization process consistent with
the
invention.
Detailed Description
[0018] Embodiments consistent with the invention delay finalization of a
travel itinerary for an opaque booking until a point in time after the opaque
booking is
completed, such that the travel itinerary for the opaque booking may be
reassessed
prior to finalizing the travel itinerary. Reassessment of opaque booking
travel
itineraries may be performed using a global optimization that operates across
multiple opaque bookings to attempt to generate travel itineraries that
optimize
revenue for one or more travel providers.
[0019] An opaque booking, in this regard, is a booking for a travel itinerary
including one or more travel products, where at least some of the details of
the travel
itinerary are withheld from a traveler until after the booking has been
completed, i.e.,
after a purchase of the booking has been completed. For the purposes of this
disclosure, an opaque booking may be considered to be in various states. For
example, once the purchase of an opaque booking has been completed, the opaque
booking may be considered to be completed. In addition, whenever the rest of
the
details of the travel itinerary are provided to the traveler, the opaque
booking may be
considered to be finalized because the travel provider(s) associated with the
travel
itinerary are at that point obligated to provide the designated travel
products in the
travel itinerary. In addition, in the illustrated embodiments, an opaque
booking that is
completed, but not yet finalized, may be considered to be unfinalized. When in
the
unfinalized state, at least a portion of the details of a travel itinerary
associated with
the opaque booking have not yet been disclosed, and from the perspective of
any
travel provider associated with that travel itinerary, are subject to change.
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Consequently, a travel provider is allowed to change one or more travel
products
associated with the travel itinerary prior to finalization, e.g., if it is
determined that a
different travel product would be better suited for the travel provider from a
revenue
or resource allocation perspective.
[0020] A travel itinerary as discussed herein may include one or more travel
segments between two or more locations, e.g., between one or more of a
departure
location, a destination location and/or one or more intermediate locations.
Additional
travel products or services may also be included in an itinerary, including
travel via
multiple types of carriers (e.g., air, rail, road, sea, etc.) as well as
additional travel
products such as hotels, car rentals, shuttles, attractions, etc.
[0021] The details of a travel itinerary that may be initially withheld may
therefore vary in different applications. For example, details such as dates
of
departure and/or return, times of departure and/or return, travel destination,
travel
provider (e.g., airline, hotel operator, train operator, cruise operator,
rental car
company, etc.), specific travel product (e.g., specific flight, hotel, train,
cruise, rental
car, etc.) may initially be withheld and only provided at a point in time
closer to
departure (i.e., the point in time in which one or more travel products of a
travel
itinerary are used by a traveler).
[0022] The hereinafter-described embodiments, for example, will focus on
an airline-oriented application in which an opaque booking is associated with
a travel
itinerary where the travel segments are represented by flights. As such, an
opaque
booking may be made with an airline specifying, for example, one or more
departure
locations or airports, one or more destination locations or airports, one or
more
departure dates and/or times, one or more return dates and/or times and/or one
or
more durations, with varying degrees of uncertainty or opacity applied such
that at
least a portion of the details of a resulting travel itinerary are initially
withheld from
the traveler. Thus, for example, an opaque booking might be made for travel
between New York and Nice, France, departing during the first week of
September
and returning two weeks thereafter, with the traveler being provided with
details
(e.g., dates, times, flight numbers, airports, etc.) for the outgoing and
returning flights
provided at a later time.
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[0023] It will be appreciated, however, that the principles of the invention
may be applied to other travel-related bookings, including other travel
products (e.g.,
hotels, rental cars, cruises, trains, etc.) as well as packages of multiple
travel
products, e.g., including both air travel and other types of travel products.
In
addition, the principles of the invention may also be applied in multi-
provider
scenarios, e.g., where flights or other travel products may be supplied by
multiple
travel providers. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the particular
airline-
oriented application disclosed herein.
[0024] As will become more apparent below, in some embodiments
consistent with the invention, in response to receiving an opaque booking for
at least
one traveler, an initial travel itinerary for traveling between a departure
location and a
destination location is generated. The opaque booking, though completed, is
unfinalized because at least a portion of the details of the travel itinerary
are withheld
from the traveler. After generating the initial travel itinerary for the
opaque booking,
and prior to communicating the withheld travel itinerary details to a traveler
in
advance of departure, a global optimization of multiple opaque bookings is
then
performed to optimize revenue across those opaque bookings. The global
optimization may include, for example, modifying the initial travel itinerary
for an
opaque booking to generate a modified travel itinerary that increases revenue
relative to the initial travel itinerary. After performing the global
optimization, and
prior to departure, withheld travel itinerary details associated with the
modified travel
itinerary may then be communicated to the traveler prior to departure.
[0025] As will further become more apparent below, in some embodiments,
modifying the travel itinerary may include modifying the destination location,
changing one or more travel segments between the departure location and the
destination location, changing one or more travel segments between the
departure
location and a modified destination location, modifying a departure date or
modifying
a return date. In some embodiments, the global optimization may be performed
as a
regular maintenance batch operation or in response to unavailability of a
destination
location during booking of an opaque product.
[0026] In some embodiments, an opaque product inventory may be
maintained, including, for each of a plurality of date, departure location and
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destination location combinations, a set of matching travel itineraries, an
associated
cost and an availability. Generating the initial travel itinerary may also
include
selecting a destination location and date for the initial travel itinerary
based upon the
associated costs and availabilities for at least a subset of the date,
departure location
and destination location combinations.
[0027] In some embodiments, the opaque product inventory may be updated
in response to a new opaque booking or a regular batch operation. In some
embodiments, the global optimization may be performed in response to one or
more
of a travel inventory item being canceled, a travel inventory item expected
load factor
meeting a threshold, or a travel inventory item lacking capacity for
additional opaque
bookings.
[0028] In some embodiments, maintaining the opaque product inventory
further includes, for each of the plurality of date, departure location and
destination
location combinations, maintaining for each of a plurality of travel inventory
items
included in the set of matching travel itineraries one or more of an expected
load
factor, an opaque capacity or a bid price displacement cost. Generating the
initial
travel itinerary may further include selecting a matching travel itinerary
from among
the set of matching travel itineraries for a date, departure location and
destination
combination matching the selected destination location and date for the
initial travel
itinerary based upon the one or more of the opaque capacity, expected load
factor,
or bid price displacement cost for one or more travel inventory items included
in the
set of matching travel itineraries for the date, departure location and
destination
combination matching the selected destination location and date for the
initial travel
itinerary.
[0029] In some embodiments, performing the global optimization includes
reselecting a destination location and date or reselecting a matching travel
itinerary
from among the set of matching travel itineraries for the date, departure
location and
destination combination matching the selected destination location and date
for the
initial travel itinerary.
[0030] In some embodiments, performing the global optimization includes
comparing a cost of changing an opaque booking from a first, less expensive
date,
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departure location and destination location combination to a second, more
expensive
date, departure location and destination location combination with a benefit
of
reopening the first, less expensive date, departure location and destination
location
combination for another opaque booking.
[0031] In some embodiments, the associated cost for a travel itinerary may
be based at least in part on a tax associated with one or more locations
associated
with the travel itinerary and an expected load factor and displacement cost
associated with one or more travel inventory items associated with the travel
itinerary. In some embodiments, communicating withheld travel itinerary
details
associated with a modified travel itinerary to a traveler may be performed at
a time
relative to departure by the traveler. Furthermore, in some embodiments a
plurality
of global optimizations may be performed between a time of completing an
opaque
booking and a time relative to departure by a traveler to refine the initial
travel
itinerary based on changes in availability and/or revenue data from the time
of the
opaque booking.
[0032] Other variations and modifications will be apparent to one of ordinary
skill in the art.
Hardware and Software Environment
[0033] Turning now to the drawings, wherein like numbers denote like parts
throughout the several views, Fig. 1 illustrates a data processing system 100
including one or more devices and/or systems that may be used to implement the
various features of the invention. A reservation system 102 may be implemented
as
one or more servers, and may be connected to a communication network 103,
where
the communication network 103 may comprise the Internet, a local area network
(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a cellular voice/data network, one or more
high
speed bus connections, and/or other such types of communication networks. A
travel reservation device 104 may be connected to the communication network
103,
such that a reservation agent (e.g., travel agency, traveler, or other such
travel
reservation service) may initialize a reservation session with the reservation
system
102 to communicate a booking request and/or other such relevant data to the
reservation system 102. The travel reservation device 104 may be a personal
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computing device, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, thin
client
terminal, smart phone and/or other such computing device.
[0034] One or more servers for one or more inventory systems 106 may also
be connected to the communication network 103, as may one or more travel
provider
systems 108. The reservation system 102 may initialize an inventory session
over
the communication network 103 with each inventory system 106 for which a
travel
inventory item is to be booked. Consistent with embodiments of the invention,
a
reservation agent may interface with the reservation system 102 using the
travel
reservation device 104 in a reservation session to provide data for a booking
request. In turn, the reservation system interfaces with each inventory system
106
that provides a travel inventory item needed for the booking request in an
inventory
session. Moreover, while the reservation system 102, inventory system 106,
and/or
travel provider system 108 are described herein as separate entities, the
invention is
not so limited. In some embodiments, various hardware, software components,
and/or sequences of operations described with respect to the reservation
system
102, inventory system 106, and/or travel provider system 108 may be
implemented
on the reservation system 102, inventory system 106, and/or travel provider
system
108. Furthermore, as will be appreciated, in some embodiments the reservation
system 102 and/or travel provider system 108 may be components of a Global
Distribution System (GDS).
[0035] Turning now to Fig. 2, this figure provides a block diagram that
illustrates the components of the one or more servers of the inventory system
102
that are related to implementing the herein-described opaque booking
functionality.
The inventory system 106 includes at least one processor 160 including at
least one
hardware-based microprocessor and a memory 162 coupled to the at least one
processor 160. The memory 162 may represent the random access memory (RAM)
devices comprising the main storage of inventory system 106, as well as any
supplemental levels of memory, e.g., cache memories, non-volatile or backup
memories (e.g., programmable or flash memories), read-only memories, etc. In
addition, memory 162 may be considered to include memory storage physically
located elsewhere in the inventory system 106, e.g., any cache memory in a
microprocessor, as well as any storage capacity used as a virtual memory,
e.g., as
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stored on a mass storage device or on another computer coupled to the
inventory
system 106.
[0036] For interface with a user or operator, the inventory system 106 may
include a user interface 164 incorporating one or more user input/output
devices,
e.g., a keyboard, a pointing device, a display, a printer, etc. Otherwise,
input may be
received via another computer or terminal (e.g., the reservation system 102,
the
travel provider system 108, and/or the travel reservation device 104) over a
network
interface 168 coupled to the communication network 103. The inventory system
106
also may be in communication with one or more mass storage devices, which may
be, for example, internal hard disk storage devices, external hard disk
storage
devices, external databases, storage area network devices, etc.
[0037] The inventory system 106 typically operates under the control of an
operating system 170 and executes or otherwise relies upon various computer
software applications, components, programs, objects, modules, engines, data
structures, etc., including for example, an opaque booking module 172, which
includes an opaque space inventory 174 and opaque bookings table 176. In
general, the opaque booking module 172 may be configured to manage opaque
bookings over the course of their lifetimes. The opaque space inventory 176
tracks
the current allocation of opaque bookings to travel products, while the opaque
bookings table tracks opaque bookings.
[0038] Various additional applications, components, programs, objects,
modules, etc. may also execute on one or more processors in another computer
coupled to the inventory system 106 via the communication network 103, e.g.,
in a
distributed or client-server computing environment, whereby the processing
required
to implement the functions of a computer program may be allocated to multiple
computers over a network.
[0039] In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of
the invention, whether implemented as part of an operating system or a
specific
application, component, program, object, module or sequence of instructions,
or
even a subset thereof, will be referred to herein as "computer program code,"
or
simply "program code." Program code typically comprises one or more
instructions
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that are resident at various times in various memory and storage devices in a
computer, and that, when read and executed by one or more processors in a
computer, cause that computer to perform the steps necessary to execute steps
or
elements embodying the various aspects of the invention. Moreover, while the
invention has and hereinafter will be described in the context of fully
functioning
computers and computer systems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that
the
various embodiments of the invention are capable of being distributed as a
program
product in a variety of forms, and that the invention applies equally
regardless of the
particular type of computer readable media used to actually carry out the
distribution.
[0040] Such computer readable media may include computer readable
storage media and communication media. Computer readable storage media is non-
transitory in nature, and may include volatile and non-volatile, and removable
and
non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of
information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program
modules or other data. Computer readable storage media may further include
RAM,
ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid state
memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD), or other optical
storage,
magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage
devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information
and
which can be accessed by a computer. Communication media may embody
computer readable instructions, data structures or other program modules. By
way
of example, and not limitation, communication media may include wired media
such
as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as
acoustic,
RE, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above may
also
be included within the scope of computer readable media.
[0041] Various program code described hereinafter may be identified based
upon the application within which it is implemented in a specific embodiment
of the
invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program
nomenclature that follows is used merely for convenience, and thus the
invention
should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified
and/or implied
by such nomenclature. Furthermore, given the typically endless number of
manners
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in which computer programs may be organized into routines, procedures,
methods,
modules, objects, and the like, as well as the various manners in which
program
functionality may be allocated among various software layers that are resident
within
a typical computer (e.g., operating systems, libraries, API's, applications,
applets,
etc.), it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the
specific
organization and allocation of program functionality described herein.
[0042] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the example environment
illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is not intended to limit the present invention.
Indeed,
those skilled in the art will recognize that other alternative hardware and/or
software
environments may be used without departing from the scope of the invention.
Revenue-Optimized Opaque Bookings
[0043] Opaque bookings, particularly in the airline industry, have
conventionally maintained opacity only for the duration of a shopping
transaction,
i.e., all the itinerary details of an opaque product are disclosed upon
booking
completion. In a typical transaction, a traveler might select an opaque
product (e.g.,
a beach trip) from a travel provider web site and may be presented with a set
of
possible destinations and dates. The traveler may refine his/her selection by
reducing opacity on travel destinations and/or dates (e.g., by de-selecting
some
destinations and/or selecting price travel dates, with the price of the opaque
product
increasing as the opacity is reduced. Once the traveler is satisfied with the
selection,
the traveler may then go to a payment page, enter his/her details and commit
to the
transaction. The travel provider then, in the background, selects a flight
meeting the
traveler's requests based upon the travel provider's current inventory, e.g.,
by
selecting a flight having the greatest availability, and thus the most unused
capacity,
among the flights that match the traveler's selection. At that point, the
travel provider
may then disclose the details of the traveler's itinerary (e.g., in a
confirmation email).
The opaque booking is then treated like a standard booking given that the
travel
provider has committed to the specific itinerary presented to the traveler.
[0044] It has been found, however, that by committing to a specific itinerary
at the completion of an opaque booking, sub-optimal results may occur,
particularly
when an opaque booking is completed well prior to the commencement of travel.
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Despite travel provider efforts to predict future sales activities, actual
sales over that
time frame may vary from predicted activity, resulting in travel products
having
different availabilities than were predicted when an opaque booking was
completed.
[0045] Embodiments consistent with the invention, on the other hand, delay
finalization of a travel itinerary for an opaque booking until a point in time
after the
opaque booking is completed, such that the travel itinerary for the opaque
booking
may be reassessed prior to finalizing the travel itinerary. In the embodiments
discussed hereinafter, for example, reassessment of opaque booking travel
itineraries is performed using a global optimization that operates across
multiple
opaque bookings to attempt to generate travel itineraries that optimize the
allocation
of opaque bookings across various travel products based upon availability
and/or
revenue concerns.
[0046] As will become more apparent below, in the illustrated embodiments
an opaque product inventory is maintained to track opaque bookings and
virtually
allocate the opaque bookings to travel provider inventories, with global
optimizations
performed to the opaque product inventory at different points in time to re-
allocate
opaque bookings in a manner that optimize availability and/or revenue based
upon
the circumstances that exist when the global optimizations are performed. Once
an
opaque booking reaches a time at which itinerary details are disclosed to a
traveler,
the opaque booking is converted into a standard booking and is removed from
the
opaque product inventory.
[0047] As such, in some embodiments the use of an opaque product
inventory and the global optimizations performed therewith enable travel
providers to
reshuffle opaque bookings to better meet airline business policies and
optimize the
allocation of opaque bookings across a travel provider's network, allowing a
travel
provider to potentially sell more of such products and obtain optimal revenues
therefrom.
[0048] In the embodiments discussed hereinafter, an application of the
invention in the airline industry is discussed, whereby a travel provider is
an airline
and an itinerary (which may also be referred to as a travel solution) includes
one or
more flights as travel products. It will be appreciated, however, that the
invention is
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14
not limited to such an application, and adapting the principles applied herein
to other
travel products and/or travel providers would be well within the abilities of
one of
ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant disclosure.
[0049] Now turning to an example embodiment for booking flights using
opaque bookings, this example embodiment attempts to optimize revenue earned
by
an airline through the sales of opaque products. The opaque products offer to
an
airline three primary axes on which the airline may act to optimize revenue
and load
factor through the assignment of opaque bookings on the most interesting
travel
solutions:
[0050] Destination: A traveler chooses a set of destinations, which have
different airport taxes, and different costs.
[0051] Travel Date: Flexibility on the dates chosen by the traveler.
[0052] Information Date: Date at which the traveler has to be informed about
the details of the itinerary, and until which an opaque booking may be
reassigned to
a new itinerary in order to optimize revenue brought by the corresponding
opaque
booking.
[0053] A schema presenting a global architecture 200 used in the example
embodiment is illustrated in Fig. 3. In this architecture, an inventory system
202 is
coupled to an E-Commerce system 204, reservation and ticketing system 206 and
fare quote system 208. E-Commerce system 204 accesses inventory system 202 to
obtain opaque product availability and price, and accesses reservation and
ticketing
system 204 to create an opaque booking.
[0054] Reservation and ticketing system 206 includes a Passenger Name
Record (PNR) module 210, Electronic Miscellaneous Document (EMD) module 212,
ticket module 214 and pricing module 216. In addition, inventory system 202
includes a number of data structures used for opaque bookings, including
opaque
booking records 218, opaque products 220, opaque space inventory 222 and
flight
dates inventory 224, as well as two modules, a journey server 228 and global
optimizer 230, that manage opaque bookings within the inventory system.
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. .
[0055] PNR module 210 generates opaque booking records 218 in response
to E-Commerce system 204, and both PNR module 210 and EMD module 212 may
access opaque booking records 218, e.g., in connection with ticket exchanges.
Ticket module 214 handles ticketing, while pricing module 216 accesses both
opaque product prices 226 to obtain the prices for opaque products, and fare
quote
system 208 to obtain taxes for selected flights.
[0056] Opaque booking records 218 are used to store confirmed but not-yet
finalized opaque bookings, and may be maintained in opaque space inventory
222,
which maintains all of the opaque bookings that have not been finalized for
the
airline. Opaque products 220 refer to the definitions of the products offered
by the
airline, and opaque product prices 226 refer to the prices that are
established for
different opaque products, both of which may be managed, for example by an
airline
through a business rule framework (BZR) 232 (which may in some embodiments be
administered through a dedicated user interface). A revenue management system
(RMS) 234 may also be accessed to provide revenue data used in allocating
opaque
bookings to particular itineraries, as will be discussed in greater detail
below.
[0057] Opaque products 220 accesses journey server 228 and a current
flight dates inventory 224 (representing the overall inventory availability
for the
airline) for the airline to build the opaque space inventory 222. In addition,
as will be
discussed in greater detail below, global optimizer 230 from time to time
performs a
global optimization to optimize the travel solutions allocated to different
opaque
bookings that have not yet been finalized.
[0058] While a number of different data models may be used to represent
the aforementioned data utilized in connection with the management of opaque
bookings, Figs. 4 and 5 collectively illustrate an example data model that may
be
used in the illustrated embodiment. As shown in Fig. 4, for example, an opaque
booking 232, for example, may reference an opaque product 234, and may further
include additional information such as the number of travelers in the party
236, the
traveler name 238, traveler contact information 240, a point of sale 242 and a
date of
booking 244. An opaque product 234, in turn, may include an opaque product
name
246, a price paid 248, a list of kept destinations 250 (i.e., the destinations
that may
be included in an unfinalized or finalized itinerary or travel solution), a
list of possible
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
16
travel dates 252 (i.e., the travel dates that may be included in an
unfinalized or
finalized itinerary or travel solution), and a communication date 254 (i.e.,
the date
that the traveler will be notified of the finalized itinerary details).
[0059] Fig. 5 illustrates an example data model for an opaque space
inventory. For each combination of origin and destination (O&D) and date 260,
a list
of travel solutions 262 is maintained for that particular O&D and date. In
addition,
each O&D and date combination includes a minimum total tax 264 (i.e., a
minimum
airport tax among the airport taxes for all of the travel solutions 262, a
maximum
opaque capacity 266 (i.e., the maximum number of travelers that can board
together
on a particular O&D and date), a minimum expected load factor 268 (i.e., a
measurement of an airline's traveler carrying capacity utilization, generally
represented as a ratio of passenger kilometers flown to seat kilometers
available,
with the minimum being the minimum expected load factor among all of the
travel
solutions for the particular O&D and date), and a total number of bookings 270
for
that O&D and date.
[0060] Each travel solution 262 references one or more flights 272, and also
includes an estimated total tax 274 (i.e., the total airport tax for a given
travel
solution), a minimum opaque capacity 276 (to ensure all passengers can board
on
the different flights or segments of the same travel solution), a minimum
expected
load factor 278, a total number of bookings 280 and a bid price (BP)
displacement
cost 282 (which, as described below, is indicative of expected revenue).
[0061] Each flight 272 of a travel solution may include an opaque capacity
284 used to determine opaque product availability, an expected load factor 286
representing availability on the flight (and thus useful for determining a
most
interesting travel solution within an O&D and date combination), a bid price
(BP)
displacement cost 288 and a link to the opaque bookings 290 assigned to the
flight.
In some embodiments, opaque booking counters may be maintained at flight,
travel
solution and O&D levels, and in the case that the number of opaque bookings
becomes greater than the opaque capacity, the list of opaque bookings counted
in a
counter may be retrieved in order to know what the flexibility is to move to
another
O&D/Date and/or travel solution.
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
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[0062] The expected load factor and the bid price vectors may be provided
by a revenue management system, and an inventory system may compute both
opaque capacity and bid price displacement cost. The bid price displacement
cost
may be considered to be the bid price differential between the bid price of
the
(expected to board) seat index and the bid price of the (expected to board +1)
seat
index. In addition, in some embodiments, a journey cost estimation, e.g.,
based on
the length of the journey and an estimate cost per kilometer, may be
maintained in
each travel solution 262, with a minimum journey cost amongst the different
available travel solutions maintained at the O&D/Date level. Journey cost
estimates
may also incorporate airport taxes in some embodiments.
[0063] Returning to Fig. 3, in the example embodiment E-Commerce system
204 may be used to retrieve available opaque products and their associated
price
structures through an interface with inventory system 202. A traveler may be
permitted to select from which airport he or she wants to travel, resulting in
the
generation and submission of an opaque product availability request to the
inventory
system 202 to retrieve available opaque products.
[0064] The inventory system 202 may then retrieve a list of opaque products
220 defined for the departure airport, as well as the associated pricing
structure, and
return that information to the E-Commerce system. The pricing structure may be
provided rather than a price so that a range of prices may be dynamically
determined
for an opaque product based upon the options selected by the traveler. For
example, a lower price may be offered if the traveler accepts more possible
destinations, accepts greater flexibility in terms of departure date and/or
duration,
and/or agrees to wait a longer time period before being advised of the
itinerary
details. Thus a pricing structure may be provided that defines one or more
rules
and/or formulas from which a dynamic price may be generated based upon one or
more traveler-defined options. In some embodiments, a set of possible
destinations
may be initially presented to a traveler and the price may increase as the
traveler
excludes destinations from the initial set.
[0065] From the E-Commerce system, a traveler may be able to choose an
opaque product, and choose different options, e.g., number of people
traveling, a
subset of available destinations, a departure date or a range of departure
dates,
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and/or a date or time at which the details of the itinerary will be
communicated to the
traveler, all of which may be considered when generating a corresponding price
from
the pricing structure provided by the inventory system. Once the traveler has
personalized the opaque product, the traveler may request to purchase the
opaque
product, at which point an opaque booking request may be sent to the inventory
system 206 to check availability with the chosen options and verify price. An
opaque
booking confirmation may then be returned to the E-Commerce system 204, which
allows the traveler to proceed to the payment. Once the payment has been
completed, the opaque booking is completed, and an opaque booking notification
may be sent to the inventory system 202 including the same information
provided in
the opaque booking request. When an opaque booking notification is received,
an
optimal current travel solution (i.e., based upon current circumstances in
terms of
availability and/or revenue concerns) may be determined for the opaque
booking. In
one embodiment, for example, a two step flight selection process may be
performed,
where a most interesting destination is selected based upon the available O&D
and
date combination having the lowest associated cost, and then a most
interesting
travel solution may be selected from among those available for the selected
O&D
and date combination.
[0066] As will become more apparent below, a similar flight selection
process may be re-used during a global optimization batch operation that
reassesses the currently selected travel solution for each unfinalized opaque
booking. Once an opaque booking reaches the agreed-upon date when the traveler
is informed of the itinerary details, the currently selected travel solution
may be
selected as the final itinerary, at which point the opaque booking may be
finalized
and converted to a standard booking. In some embodiments, an opaque booking
may retain an opaque booking flag so that the opaque booking may be
distinguished
from other, standard bookings. It should also be noted that unfinalized opaque
bookings in some embodiments do not decrement the availability for standard
bookings such that opaque booking allocation optimization may be performed
without impacting standard bookings, and such that only when an opaque booking
is
turned into a standard booking the inventory is decremented. In such
embodiments,
triggers for global optimization and controls in place may reduce the risk of
overbooking due to opaque bookings that finalize.
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[0067] As also noted above, inventory system 202 may provide a user
interface to an airline to define and create different opaque products to be
offered to
travelers. Opaque products may include a global definition with different
proposed
options, a definition of the flexibility offered for each of the options, and
a pricing
structure corresponding to the flexibility of the different proposed options.
In some
instances, an initial price may also be defined.
[0068] Thus, in one embodiment, an airline may define an opaque product
and the options associated therewith using one or more business rules. An
example
opaque product may include:
= Opaque Product Name,
= Origin Market
= Destination Market
= Sale Date Range
= Departure Date Range and Frequency
= Default Departure Date Flexibility
= Default Information Date at which the traveler will be informed about
itinerary details.
[0069] Next, an airline may define the initial price of the opaque product, as
well as the pricing structure of the different options offered. For example,
for
destination opaqueness, an airline may define a suppression cost associated
with
each possible destination, as well as a minimum number of remaining possible
destinations, and optionally a list of non-suppressible destinations. For
departure
date opaqueness, an airline may define a minimum number of possible departure
dates and a price adjustment corresponding to the increase or the reduction of
the
associated flexibility (e.g., +/- X Euros for +/- N days/week). For
information date
opaqueness, an airline may define a default information date (e.g., 10 days
before
departure and a price adjustment corresponding to the increase or the
reduction of
the associated flexibility (e.g., +/- X Euros for +/- N days/week). In this
embodiment,
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
the price defined by the airline may not be automatically compared to
estimated
taxes and/or costs of possible travel solutions that may be allocated for the
product,
so it may be up to the airline to ensure that the price defined is sufficient.
[0070] An airline may also be able to define an opaque capacity, e.g.,
through a business rule, as a percentage of the flight/date capacity on which
opaque
bookings are allowed. In the example embodiment, the opaque capacity (OC) at
the
flight/date level (block 284 of Fig. 5) may be determined as follows:
OCLc = (LCC x % OBA) - SB
where OCLc is the opaque capacity at the leg/cabin level, LCC is the leg/cabin
capacity, OBA is an opaque booking allowance, and SB is the number of existing
non-opaque (standard) bookings. Once the opaque capacity is determined at
leg/cabin level, and minimum opaque capacity at the travel solution level
(block 276
of Fig. 5) may be determined as the minimum opaque capacity offered on the
different legs incorporated into the travel solution. Then, to determine the
opaque
capacity at the O&D/date level (block 266 of Fig. 5), the maximum opaque
capacity
amongst the possible travel solutions may be used. In some embodiments, in the
event the opaque capacity at the leg/cabin level changes for a travel
solution, a
notification may be sent to the O&D/date opaque inventory item associated with
that
leg/cabin to update as appropriate.
[0071] Now turning to Fig. 6, a flowchart of the operations performed over
the lifetime of an opaque booking are described in greater detail, with the
interaction
of an opaque channel 300, opaque booking table 302, opaque space inventory 304
and reservation system 306 illustrated. Opaque channel 300 in this embodiment
may be considered to be an E-Commerce or other system, or more specifically,
an
opaque product component thereof, through which a traveler or other user
purchases or otherwise commits to an opaque product. In addition, for the
purposes
of simplifying the discussion, opaque booking table 302 and opaque space
inventory
304 are illustrated to represent the functionality in an inventory system to
manage
the data stored in each of these data structures, and not the data structures
themselves.
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
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[0072] As shown in step Al, an opaque booking (0B) request may be sent
from opaque channel 300 to the inventory system, resulting in the generation
of an
opaque booking record in opaque booking table 302 (step A2). An opaque booking
is then added to the opaque space inventory 304 (step A3), at which point a
current
optimal travel solution (TS) is selected for the opaque booking (step A4), and
the
traveler is notified that the opaque booking is completed (step A5). In
addition, as
illustrated in block 308, if no available travel solution can be selected for
the opaque
booking, it may also be desirable in some embodiments to trigger a global
optimization operation to reallocate all unfinalized opaque bookings. In other
embodiments, such a circumstance may not occur due to up-front availability
checking, whereby if no travel solution can be found for a selected opaque
product,
the opaque booking may not be created and the sale may be denied.
[0073] Next, as illustrated in block 310, a global optimization batch
operation
may be performed in steps A6 and A7. The global optimization batch may be
performed periodically and/or may be performed on an adhoc basis, e.g.,
triggered
based upon changes in circumstances such as changes in availability. In step
A6, a
global optimization is triggered, and in step A7, an optimized opaque bookings
distribution is returned to reallocate travel solutions for all of the
unfinalized opaque
bookings in the opaque space inventory 304.
[0074] Next, as illustrated in block 312, a finalize batch operation may be
performed in steps A8-Al2. The finalize batch operation may be run
periodically,
e.g., daily, to finalize unfinalized opaque bookings having an information
date
matching the current date. In step A8, opaque bookings matching the current
date
are selected, and in step A9 an optimized opaque bookings distribution is
forwarded
to opaque space inventory 304 (e.g., based upon a similar operation performed
during a global optimization). In step A10, final travel solutions for the
opaque
bookings to be finalized are returned, and in step All, the opaque bookings
are
finalized by converting the bookings to standard bookings by notifying
reservation
system 306 (step All) and notifying the travelers associated with such
bookings of
their respective travel solutions/itinerary details (step Al2). Notification
may occur,
for example, using email, regular mail, text messages, or other manners that
will be
apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant
disclosure.
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[0075] Additional example implementation details regarding the
management of opaque bookings in the aforementioned example embodiment are
provided below.
Flight Selection Process
[0076] For each opaque booking, and with reference to routine 320 of Fig. 7,
flight selection generally involves the selection of a destination, departure
and return
dates, and flight numbers corresponding to specific flights. To select the
destination,
the departure airport, the possible destinations and the possible travel dates
of the
opaque booking may be transformed into possible O&D/date combinations (block
322). Then, for each O&D/date combination, associated cost and availability
may be
retrieved (block 324). In some embodiments, if a particular O&D/date
combination is
not available, a request/trigger for global re-optimization may be generated.
[0077] Associated cost may correspond to the sum of the airport taxes of the
O&D/date combination and the journey cost. In the example embodiment, the
journey cost may either be a default cost, based on a generic estimated
kilometrical
cost and the length of the journey, or be fine-tuned based upon one or more
rules,
similar to the manner in which other costs, e.g., fuel surcharges, may be
determined.
[0078] The availability may be retrieved based upon an opaque product
inventory maintenance batch operation. In particular, and with further
reference to
Fig. 5, each O&D and date combination may be updated on a regular basis to
ensure an optimal allocation of travel solutions to opaque bookings. The
update
process may be triggered based upon a regular batch (e.g., daily, every three
hours,
etc.), based upon opaque booking activity, and/or based upon interactive
notification
from the flight/date inventory. Once triggered, the details of the different
flight/dates
of a given O&D/date combination may be retrieved and the O&D/date may be
updated accordingly, with new maximum opaque capacity (block 266), minimum
expected load factor (block 268) and minimum bid price displacement cost
(block
282) determined. These details may be used to determine, among others, the
"most
interesting" destination within an opaque product at any given time.
[0079] Returning to Fig. 7, once the associated cost and availability are
determined, a destination with the lowest total cost may be selected, and the
opaque
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
23
booking may be assigned to the corresponding O&D/date combinations (for both
outbound and inbound) (block 326). The total cost of a destination may be
represented as the sum of the airport taxes, the journey cost of the outbound
and
inbound trips, linked by the length at destination chosen by the traveler.
[0080] To select the travel solution after an opaque booking is assigned to
an O&D/date combination, opaque capacity, expected load factor and/or bid
price
displacement costs of the different flight/dates may be used (block 328). For
example, in one embodiment, the travel solution with the highest opaque
capacity
may be chosen if possible. In case several travel solutions share the same
highest
opaque capacity, the travel solution with the lowest expected load factor may
be
chosen from those with the highest opaque capacity. In addition, in the event
there
are still several travel solutions remaining with the same highest opaque
capacity
and lowest expected load factor, the travel solution having the lowest bid
price
displacement cost may be selected.
Opaque Booking Global Optimization Process
[0081] A global optimization process may be used to optimize airline
revenue based upon current circumstances. As discussed above, when an opaque
booking is initially completed, a current travel solution may be selected for
the
opaque booking using the above flight selection process. However, due to the
standard booking activity on the different flights, as well as other opaque
booking
activity, it is desirable to reevaluate this selection over time to ensure
optimal
revenue for the airline globally.
[0082] It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, a global optimization
may be performed for all pending opaque bookings. In other embodiments,
however, a global optimization may be limited to only a subset of the pending
opaque bookings, e.g., for the opaque bookings associated with one or more
specific
O&D/date combinations. As such, "global" optimization within the context of
the
invention may refer to an optimization that assesses travel solutions for
multiple
opaque bookings to optimize revenue and/or availability among the multiple
opaque
bookings. In some embodiments, for example, an optimization process may be
triggered from a given O&D/date combination, with the details of the opaque
product
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
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24
booked by a traveler assigned on this O&D/date combination retrieved, such
that the
optimization process may reevaluate all the O&D/date combinations
corresponding
to the union of the opaque product booked by the traveler on the O&D/date
combination being processed.
[0083] In the illustrated embodiment, an automatic trigger may be used to
initiate the global optimization process, e.g., based upon some notification
level
being reached. In one instance, global optimization may be triggered during an
opaque inventory maintenance batch operation. For example, if for one of the
flight/date parts of an O&D/date combination, a flight/date is canceled, a
flight/date
expected load factor reaches a threshold and/or the flight/date opaque space
capacity is less than or equal to zero, a global optimization process may be
triggered
to reassess pending opaque bookings. In addition, if there is no opaque
capacity on
the different flight/dates of a given O&D/date combination, an opaque booking
optimization process may be triggered only for the given O&D/date
combination(s).
Furthermore, during a flight selection process performed during the
maintenance
batch, if the least expensive O&D/date combination(s) of a given opaque
product are
not available, an opaque booking optimization process may be triggered only
for the
given O&D/date combination(s).
[0084] In some embodiments, in the case that a flight part of a travel
solution
that is itself part of an O&D/date combination is not available any longer, a
"local"
optimization may be triggered, and the opaque bookings assigned to this travel
solution may be reassigned on other flight parts of the same O&D/date
combination.
In addition, in some embodiments, in the case that there is no more
availability on a
given O&D/date combination, a "global" optimization may be processed to
determine
an optimal assignment of the different opaque bookings, by comparing the cost
of
moving at least one traveler to a more expensive O&D/date combination with the
potential benefit of re-opening the given O&D/date combination within a
different
opaque product.
[0085] In another instance, global optimization may be triggered during an
opaque booking flow. For example, if the least expensive destination for a
newly
made opaque booking is not available, a notification may be sent to the
affected
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
O&D/date combinations in order to verify if the opaque bookings assigned to
those
combinations should be reassigned.
[0086] In general, a global optimization may, for a triggered O&D/date
combination, reassess the associated opaque bookings associated therewith to
determine a total journey cost of the different options available for each
opaque
booking. The reassessment may determine the cost of moving an opaque booking
to a more expensive destination, and to compare it with the benefit of
reopening the
O&D/date combination for another opaque product, in order to optimize revenue
amongst the different opaque bookings. The global optimization may also
determine
if an O&D/date combination should be reopened for an opaque product, and if
yes,
which opaque booking should be reassigned to which destination.
[0087] As an example, consider that a trigger is received for a given
O&D/date for Athens (ATH) as a destination. Consider also two opaque products
(0P1 and 0P2) exist, each with ATH as a possible destination, but with OP1
also
having Nice (NCE) and Istanbul (1ST) as other possible destinations, and 0P2
having Barcelona (BCN) and Istanbul (1ST) as other possible destinations (each
number after an airport code refers to a cost associated with the
destination):
[0088] OP1: ATH:5, NCE:10, IST:25
[0089] 0P2: ATH:5, BCN:20, IST:25
[0090] Upon reassessing OP1 and 0P2, and aggregating by opaque
product, it may be determined, for example, that the benefit for reopening ATH
for
0P2 is 20-5=15, while the cost of moving OP1 from ATH to NCE = 10-5=5.
Accordingly, a net benefit of 15-5=10 may be realized by moving some opaque
bookings from OP1/ATH(5) to OP1/NCE(10) to free space for 0P2/ATH(5) in order
to reduce the cost associated with the next opaque booking on 0P2.
[0091] Turning now to Fig. 8, in an example embodiment, whenever an
opaque booking optimization process is triggered for a given O&D/date
combination,
the assignment of each of the opaque bookings impacted by that combination may
be reevaluated in the manner illustrated in routine 340. For each of the
impacted
opaque bookings, all of the possible destinations for each opaque booking may
be
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
26
reevaluated, and the characteristics of each of the possible O&D/date
combinations
may be retained for a revenue maximization process (discussed below) (block
342).
Then, the cost of the potential least expensive destination of each opaque
booking
may be checked and compared to the cost of the considered O&D/date
combinations (block 344). In case the least expensive destinations are not
available
("no" path from block 346), the opaque booking optimization process may be
triggered for each of the corresponding O&D/date combinations (block 348),
e.g., by
executing routine 340 for each such O&D/date combination. Otherwise ("yes"
path
from block 346), the opaque bookings may proceed directly to the revenue
maximization process starting at block 350.
[0092] In particular, once the potential destination total costs have been
determined for each of the opaque bookings, these potential destination total
costs
may be aggregated per opaque product, a maximum opaque product (OPMax) may
be determined as the opaque product for which the minimum potential total cost
is
the highest, and a minimum opaque product (OPMin) may be determined as the
opaque product for which the minimum potential total cost is the lowest (block
350).
[0093] Thereafter, two conditions may be checked to verify if the opaque
bookings need to be reassigned. First, if the total cost of a destination is
lower than
the cost of the current destination of an opaque booking (block 352), the
opaque
booking may be reassigned by performing the aforementioned flight selection
process for that opaque booking (block 354). Second, if OPMax(MPTC - CTC) >
OPMin(MPTC - CTC), where MPTC = minimum potential total cost and CTC=
current total cost (block 356), the opaque booking having the minimum
potential total
cost of OPMin may be reassigned by performing the aforementioned flight
selection
process for that opaque booking (block 358).
[0094] The aforementioned conditions may be used to determine if the
airline would generate more revenue by accepting a new opaque booking on OPMax
than it would lose by reassigning an opaque booking of OPMin on its potential
destination.
[0095] Next, if either of the aforementioned conditions were met ("yes" path
of block 360), the OPMax and OPMin opaque bookings are filtered out (block
362),
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
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27
and the process is restarted by returning control to block 350, until the
conditions are
not met ("no" path of block 360). Once the conditions are not met, the minimum
cost
of reassigning an opaque booking to its potential destination is higher than
the
benefit of reopening the given O&D/date combination to the opaque product
having
the highest cost. As such, the assignment of the different opaque bookings may
be
optimized in order to maximize the revenue generated by the airline amongst
the
different opaque products.
Communication of the Finalized Travel Solution to Traveler
[0096] In the example embodiment, once the information date of an opaque
booking has been reached, the booking may be reevaluated to ensure it has been
assigned to the most interesting destination, using the aforementioned
optimization
process. Next, the traveler may be informed of the details of the journey
(i.e., the
itinerary details). A message may be sent to a reservation system to transform
the
opaque booking into a standard booking, and optionally maintaining an opaque
booking flag for reporting purposes. Once the standard booking is confirmed, a
notification may be sent to the traveler to inform the traveler of the
itinerary details.
Also, in some embodiments the details of the opaque booking may also be
retained
in the O&D/date combination data structures for reporting purposes, as well as
for
opaque product availability computations, but with the opaque booking no
longer
eligible for reassignment.
[0097] It will be appreciated that implementation of the aforementioned
opaque booking functionality within an existing travel data processing system
would
be within the abilities of one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit
of the instant
disclosure. In one example embodiment, for example, a reservation system may
be
modified to support a passenger name record (PNR) format that maintains the
relevant details of an opaque product or booking, e.g., list of possible
destinations,
possible travel dates, information date, but initially with no assigned
flights.
Thereafter, the inventory system may notify the reservation system to add the
assigned flights.
[0098] For an E-Commerce system, direct interaction with an inventory
system may be implemented to retrieve available opaque products, and a
modified
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
28
interaction with a pricing system may be implemented to only retrieve the part
of
taxes in the price that a traveler has paid (e.g., VAT, airport taxes), rather
than
performing the complete pricing process.
[0099] For an inventory system, in the flight/dates inventory, new information
and new processes may be implemented in some embodiments. First,
determination of opaque capacity may be supported, e. .g, using a dedicated
opaque
booking counter.
[00100] Second, unfinalized opaque bookings may be configured to not
decrement standard availability. Nonetheless, with opaque product availability
still
linked to standard booking inventory, unfinalized opaque bookings may be
converted
into standard bookings without overbooking the inventory.
[00101] Third, a finalized opaque booking (e.g., once converted into a
standard booking) may be flagged to impact only the remaining capacity, but
not the
seat index. Still, by reducing the capacity, the availability is impacted but
not the
RMS logic enforced by the inventory system (e.g., current bid price may not be
changed).
[00102] Other modifications will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the
art
having the benefit of the instant disclosure.
[00103] As such, it will be appreciated that embodiments consistent with the
invention may optimize revenue for a travel provider in connection with opaque
bookings, e.g., based upon criteria such as amounts of taxes to favor
destinations
with lower taxes in order to increase margins for a travel provider and/or
such as
expected load factor and displacement cost in order to select an itinerary for
a given
destination having the lowest cost from the perspective of the travel
provider.
Furthermore, the optimization may be performed globally among multiple opaque
bookings, rather than being limited to a single opaque booking. In addition,
the
selection of the itinerary may be performed at a time after completion of an
opaque
booking, and as such, the optimum itinerary may be determined based upon the
circumstances that exist when the itinerary details are communicated to the
traveler,
and closer in time to when the traveler is scheduled to depart.
CA 02917528 2016-01-14
29
[00104] It will be appreciated that some of the features of the example
embodiments of this invention may be used without the corresponding use of
other
features. In addition, various additional modifications may be made without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention
lies in
the claims hereinafter appended.
