WO2009033167A1

WO2009033167A1 - Alternative route monitoring

Info

Publication number: WO2009033167A1
Application number: PCT/US2008/075617
Authority: WO
Inventors: David A. Miller
Original assignee: Miller David A
Priority date: 2007-09-07
Filing date: 2008-09-08
Publication date: 2009-03-12

Abstract

A system and method of alternative route generation for a passenger including acquiring passenger travel leg data, determining a trip segment based at least in part on the travel leg data, generating alternate routes for at least a portion of the trip segment, and reporting the alternate routes to the passenger.

Description

ALTERNATIVE ROUTE MONITORING

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/970,666, filed on September 7, 2007, the teachings of which application are fully incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to alternative travel route monitoring, and to a system and method for tracking, displaying and selecting an alternate route.

BACKGROUND

A passenger may schedule a trip that may include multiple travel legs between a starting location and a final destination. Some itineraries may include multiple starting locations and final destinations, e.g., a tour that includes stops at multiple locations of interest. After a trip is scheduled, events may occur that necessitate a change in an itinerary. For example, an airline flight may be cancelled, a connecting flight may be missed, a train may be late, a bus may break down, the passenger may add an additional stop, etc. Such an event may affect a portion or all of the itinerary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter will become apparent as the following Detailed Description proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, where like numerals depict like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an overview of one exemplary alternative route monitoring system consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a component diagram of one exemplary alternative route monitoring system consistent with the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an alternative route monitoring system consistent with the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a screen shot of one exemplary screen presenting an example of a user input of a travel leg consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of one exemplary screen presenting an example of a user import of an itinerary consistent with the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is a screen shot of one exemplary screen presenting an example of user input of a starting/ending location consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a trip segment identification manager consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an evaluate 'end of trip-segment' on travel function consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an alternate route manager consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of one exemplary screen presenting an example of travel legs showing preferences and seating consistent with the present disclosure; FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an itinerary monitor consistent with the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of one exemplary screen presenting alternate routes for a travel segment consistent with the present disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is a graphical illustration of a trip including travel legs and travel segments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description provided herein is with reference to various exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are presented by way of illustration, not of limitation.

The present disclosure includes an exemplary method and system for tracking alternative travel routes that may ultimately replace a travel leg in a passenger's itinerary. For example, the passenger may have missed a connection, e.g., a connecting flight, train, boat and/or other transportation medium. A selected travel leg may have been canceled or delayed, or another situation may necessitate an alternative for continuing and/or completing a trip. The alternative travel routes may be derived from the travel schedules of available transportation suppliers, distributors of travel reservation and timetable data, or any other available sources that specify these travel schedules. Additionally, passenger-selected criteria may be applied to the identified travel routes so that the identified travel routes may be ranked.

As used herein, a "passenger" shall refer to an occupant of a transportation vehicle that has no direct or indirect control over a path of the transportation vehicle. As used herein, a "transportation vehicle" shall refer to a vehicle that may carry at least one passenger and that has a predefined departure location and a predefined arrival location, whereby a passenger has no control over the arrival location, departure location or path between the arrival and departure locations . As used herein, a "travel leg" shall refer to intended travel between a departure location and an arrival location. As used herein a "connection" shall refer to an act and a location of completing one travel leg and starting another travel leg. As used herein a "travel element" shall refer to an item that may be included in a travel leg. For example, a Travel Element may include the transportation vehicle, its identifier and/or characteristics of the transportation vehicle. For example, if the travel vehicle is an aircraft, a travel element may be type of engine, e.g., jet, turboprop or propeller, and/or size, e.g., seating capacity of the aircraft. A Travel

Element may also include a date of travel, a departure time and/or an arrival time. As used herein, a "trip segment" shall refer to a group of one or more Travel Legs between a passenger's starting location and the passenger's ending location, e.g., destination. A trip may include one or more Trip Segments. For example, a non-stop, one-way trip includes one trip segment and a round trip may include at least two trip segments.

FIG. 13 is a graphical illustration of an exemplary trip 1300 between Boston (BOS) and Los Angeles (LAX) and including a connection or stop at Chicago (ORD). The illustrated trip 1300 may include a first travel leg 1302 between BOS and ORD and a second travel leg 1304 between ORD and LAX. The trip 1300 may further include a third travel leg 1306 between LAX and BOS. The first travel leg 1302 and the second travel leg 1304 may comprise a first trip segment 1308. The third travel leg 1306 may comprise a second trip segment 1306. The second trip segment 1306 may then be nonstop between LAX and BOS.

In this example, BOS may be a departure location for the first travel leg 1302 and a starting location for the first trip segment 1308. ORD may be a connection between the first travel leg 1302 and the second travel leg 1304. LAX may be an arrival location for the second travel leg 1304 and a destination for the first trip segment 1308. Similarly, LAX may be a departure location for the third travel leg 1306 and a starting location for the second trip segment 1306. BOS may be an arrival location for the third travel leg 1306 and a destination for the second trip segment 1306. Accordingly, the illustrated trip 1300 includes round-trip travel from BOS to LAX and back to BOS.

FIG. 1 illustrates an alternative route monitoring system 110 that may connect to back-end systems via the internet 140. The alternative route monitoring system 110 may include and/or be implemented on a scalable set of processors, e.g., processors 112a, 112b, 112c. The alternative route monitoring system 110 may further include and/or be stored in a machine readable medium 115 for storing computer program instructions adapted to be executed by one or more of the processors for performing at least a portion of the functionality of the alternative route monitoring system. The alternative route monitoring system 110 may be configured to provide alternate route data to one or more passengers. The passengers' travel may be related or unrelated. As the number of passengers using the system increases, the alternative route monitoring system 110 may be expanded, i.e., scaled, e.g., by adding one or more processors.

A back-end system may provide transportation timetable and reservation data 160, hotel and vehicle reservation data 170, and other supporting data 150.

Transportation timetable and reservation data 160 may include data for aircraft, trains, buses, subways and/or ships. Other supporting data 150 may include third party data, e.g., Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data, weather data, road mapping and/or directional data. Passenger data may be imported by connecting the system 110 to travel agency or supplier data 180 via the internet 140. Results generated by the alternative route monitoring system 110 may be sent to a passenger, e.g., to a traveler's device 130a, b or c, by a messaging system 120. The results may be sent directly to the messaging system 120 and/or be provided to the messaging system 120 via the internet 140. Messaging systems 120 may include voice, text message, email, data feed, printed, web browser, and the like. The results may be received by a traveler's device 130a, 130b, 130c. A traveler's device 130a, b, c may include analog, digital, and cellular phones, PDA, internet/web appliances, personal computers, and/or other web-enabled devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of functional components corresponding to the alternative route monitoring system 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. An alternate route application 290 may provide an option for data entry to begin a monitoring process. A passenger may provide this data. For example, the passenger may provide travel leg information 291. The data provided may include itinerary information. In an embodiment, the data may be input manually. In another embodiment, the data may be imported 292 from a travel agency or supplier 180. In yet another embodiment, the data may be provided from a saved itinerary. Accordingly, the data may be provided by any source of itinerary data. A passenger may provide his/her starting location 294, ending location 295 (e.g., home, work, hotel, place of interest, some specific address, etc.). The passenger may provide a personal profile and/or preferences 296 (e.g., name, address, phone numbers, email address(es), personal supplier account(s), frequent traveler number(s), (un)preferred travel vehicle types, (least) favorite suppliers, (least) favorite transportation terminals, (least) favorite amenities, etc.).

A trip segment identification manager 210 may group one or more travel legs into trip segments in order to eliminate unnecessary and impractical alternate routes. For example, a passenger itinerary may include travel starting at Boston, MA, proceeding to Nashville, TN, to Atlanta, GA, and finally ending at Boston, MA. As may be appreciated, this listing of cities may not differentiate stop-over from connection. Stopover may be understood to mean a time between an arrival of one travel leg and a departure of a next travel leg that exceeds a predefined time. For example, it may not be obvious whether the passenger is stopping-over in Atlanta, GA (by connecting through Nashville TN) or stopping-over in Nashville, TN (returning to Boston MA by connecting through Atlanta GA). The trip segment identification manager 210 may attempt to identify these trip segments by using, e.g., starting and ending locations, if supplied, and/or information that may be found within an imported itinerary. For example, an imported itinerary may include a hotel and/or car reservation in a particular city, state/province, country. The trip segment identification manager 210 may attempt to identify trip segments based at least in part on industry standard metrics, e.g., minimum connection times, "stop-over" times, etc. A database 211 may be configured to maintain, i.e., store, passenger-provided information and the identified trip segment(s). The database 211 may maintain results generated by an alternate route manager 212.

The alternate route manager 212 may convert each trip segment into a list of alternate routes. This may be accomplished by identifying a true final destination for each trip segment. The list of alternate routes may be based at least in part on the final destination of each trip segment. In other words, it may not be necessary to determine alternate routes for every travel leg.

For example, a passenger may be traveling from Boston, MA (BOS) connecting through to Chicago, IL (ORD) and finally arriving in Los Angeles, CA (LAX). This trip segment includes two travel legs: BOS to ORD, and ORD to LAX, with BOS as the departure (starting) location and LAX as the destination (i.e., ending location). It may be unnecessary to find alternate routes for the first travel leg, BOS to ORD, because the passenger's true final destination is LAX and not ORD, i.e., a connection in Chicago may not be a requirement. For the BOS to ORD travel leg, BOS may be defined as the departure city (or location), ORD may be the arrival city (or location), whereas LAX may be its final destination city (or location). Accordingly, for each travel leg, the alternate route manager 212 may determine associated departure and final destination locations in order to generate a list of alternate routes. After the list of alternate routes has been generated, the alternate route manager

212 may determine travel availability for each route. One method of identifying availability may include examining seating availability on a specified transportation vehicle. A number of available seats may be displayed indicating availability and a warning may be displayed when a seating availability threshold is reached. For example, the warning may include indicating only N seats left and/or the number of available seats may be indicated in a font that differs from a normal seating availability number, e.g., bold. The list of alternate routes may be sorted according to the number of available seats.

In an embodiment, the alternate route manager 212 may rank each alternate route by a number of passenger-selected criteria satisfied by that route. For example, if all travel elements of an alternate route match a passenger's selected criteria, then this alternate route may be ranked at 100%. If less than all travel elements of the alternate route match the passenger's selected criteria, then the alternate route may be ranked at less than 100%. Using a percentage is merely one example of indicating a ranking. Any other appropriate rank indicator, known to those skilled in the art, may be used.

An itinerary monitor 213 may detect and/or monitor whether there are changes to the alternate routes associated with a passenger's itinerary. The itinerary monitor 213 may run independently on a server and may be initiated by an event trigger 215. The event trigger 215 may include a smart time-based queuing of passenger itineraries, automatically detecting changes in a passenger itinerary, periodically polling passenger itineraries, or any other event, known to those of ordinary skill in the art that may cause the itinerary monitor 213 to start processing each stored itinerary.

An alternate route display results function 214 may include formatting alternate route results for retrieval on one or more Traveler's devices 130'. For example, the alternate route results may be formatted for retrieval by voice, text message, email, data feed, and/or other notification/communication methods known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart 300 illustrating operation of one exemplary system consistent with the present disclosure. The flow chart 300 may correspond to the functional components illustrated in FIG. 2. The alternate route application 290 may be initiated and may acquire input data 310. Input data may include passenger provided information such as a travel leg, an itinerary, a starting location, a stopping location (final destination), passenger profile information and/or passenger preferences. Input data may further include itinerary data from a travel agent and/or from a previously saved itinerary. In an embodiment, the alternate route application 290 may decompose an itinerary into travel legs.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a screen 400 for entering travel leg data. The screen 400 may include a field for entering departure location 410. The departure location may be a starting location. The screen 400 may further include a field for entering arrival location 420. The arrival location may be a final destination. The screen 400 may include a field for entering a travel date 430. A popup calendar 435 may be provided to aid in travel date entry. The screen 400 may include a field for entering a travel carrier 440, e.g., airline, and a field for entering a travel carrier's designator 450, e.g., flight number. After the data has been entered into the displayed fields, the passenger may select the "Go" button to continue. The travel leg information may then be stored in the database 211.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a screen 500 for entering itinerary data from a travel agency or supplier 180. The screen may include a field 510 for entering the travel agency or supplier's designator, e.g., name. This field may include a pull-down menu of stored travel agencies or suppliers. The screen 500 may include a field for a confirmation number 520. The screen 500 may further include a field for a passenger identifier 530, e.g., last name. Similar to the screen 400 for entering travel leg data, a "Go" button 540 may be provided that may initiate saving the itinerary data to the database 211.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a screen 600 for entering starting and/or ending location. As shown, this screen may include name and address fields.

Returning to FIG. 3, after the input data has been acquired 310 and decomposed into travel legs, the trip segment identification manager 210 may group travel legs into trip segments. A travel leg entered directly, i.e., not within an itinerary, may be combined with the travel legs from the itinerary or itineraries. For example, if newly acquired travel leg data is part of an existing trip, i.e., stored in the database 211, the trip segment identification manager 210 may retrieve the existing trip information from the database 211 and incorporate the newly acquired travel leg data into the existing trip. The incorporation may be based at least in part on a departure time.

Once the travel legs have been defined, the travel legs may be grouped into trip segments. Grouping travel legs into trip segments may include determining a starting destination and final destination for each trip segment. This information may be provided by a passenger in the acquire input data 310 block above, e.g., through data entry screen 600. The starting and/or final destinations of a trip segment may be determined by the trip segment identification manager 210 based on a time between sequential travel legs, i.e., differentiating a stop-over from a connection. The starting and/or final destinations of a trip segment may be determined based at least in part on other data such as supporting data 150 and/or hotel and vehicle reservation systems 170. Trip segment and travel leg data may then be stored in the database 211.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block flow diagram 700 corresponding to an exemplary embodiment of a trip segment identification manager, e.g., trip segment identification manager 210. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, itinerary and/or travel leg data, starting and/or ending locations, user profile, and/or user preferences may be provided 702. For example, travel leg data may be provided by the alternate route application 290 from travel leg data and/or an itinerary input by a passenger. Whether an itinerary has been provided to the trip segment identification manager may be determined 704. The itinerary may have been provided by, e.g., a passenger and/or a travel agency. If an itinerary has been provided, the itinerary may be decomposed 706 into a travel leg list. Flow may then pass to step 708. If an itinerary has not been provided, whether a saved itinerary exists may be determined 708. If a saved itinerary exists, the saved itinerary may be retrieved 710 from a database, DB 712. A travel leg list, if any, may be merged 714 into the saved itinerary. Flow may then pass to step 716. If a saved itinerary does not exist, an evaluate end of trip segment on travel leg function may be performed 716. In this manner, travel legs in a provided itinerary and/or provided by the alternate route application 290, may be incorporated into a saved itinerary.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block flow diagram 800 corresponding to an exemplary embodiment of an evaluate end of trip segment on travel leg function, e.g., step 716. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment of an evaluate end of trip segment on travel leg function 800, a travel leg list, starting and/or ending locations and/or user preferences may be provided 802. A next travel leg may be retrieved 804. Whether a next travel leg was found, may then be determined 806. If a next travel leg was not found, whether starting and/or ending locations have been provided, may be determined 808. If locations are not found, the function may end 810. If locations are found, each travel leg closest to each ending location may be marked 812 'End of Trip Segment'. The function may then end 810.

If a next travel leg was found, whether starting and/or ending locations have been provided may be determined 814. If locations have been provided, a distance from an arrival location to each ending location may be calculated and stored 816. Flow may then pass to step 818. If locations have not been provided, whether the travel leg is a stop-over leg may be determined 818. If a travel leg is a stop-over leg, a previous travel leg may be retrieved 820 and the stop-over leg may be deleted 822. Whether a previous travel leg was found may then be determined 824. If a previous travel leg was not found, flow may pass to step 804. If a previous leg travel leg was found, the previous travel leg may be marked as 'End of Trip Segment' and flow may pass to step 804.

If a travel leg is not a stop-over leg, whether starting and/or ending locations have been provided may be determined 828. If locations have been provided, whether the travel leg is a last travel leg may be determined 830. If the travel leg is a last travel leg, it may be marked 826 as 'End of Trip Segment' and flow may pass to step 804. If the travel leg is not a last travel leg, flow may pass to step 804. If locations have not been provided, a previous travel leg may be retrieved 832. Whether a previous travel leg was found may then be determined 834. If a previous travel leg was not found, flow may pass to step 804. If a previous leg travel leg was found, a stop-over time with the previous travel leg may be calculated 836. Whether the stop-over time exceeds time limits may then be determined 838. If the stop-over time exceeds time limits, the previous travel leg may be marked 840 as 'End of Trip Segment'. Flow may then pass to step 830. If the stop-over time does not exceed time limits, flow may pass to step 804. In this manner, each travel leg in the travel leg list may be evaluated to determine whether the travel leg is the last leg in a trip segment. A trip segment may include one or more travel legs. If a travel leg is the only travel leg in a trip segment, that leg may be marked as 'End of Trip Segment. ' Similarly, if a travel leg precedes a stop-over leg, the trip leg may be marked as 'End of Trip Segment.' If an ending location has been provided, a travel leg with an arrival location closest to the ending location may be marked as 'End of Trip Segment. ' When all of the travel legs have been evaluated, and a last leg in each trip segment marked as 'End of Trip Segment', flow may pass to step 810, and back to the trip segment identification manager 700, at step 716. A next travel leg may be retrieved 718. Whether a travel leg was found, may be determined 720. If a travel leg was not found, whether a trip segment is active (open) may be determined 722. If a trip segment is active, the trip segment may be closed 724. The closed trip segment may then be saved 726 to the database and flow may end 728. If a trip segment is not active (i.e., closed), the trip segment may be saved 726 to the database and flow may end 728.

If a travel leg was found, whether a trip segment is active may be determined 730. If a trip segment is active, the travel leg may be added 732 to the active trip segment. If a trip segment is not active, an active trip segment may be created 734. Flow may then pass to step 732. Whether the travel leg corresponds to an 'End of Trip Segment' may then be determined 736. If the travel leg does not correspond to an 'End of Trip Segment', flow may pass to step 718. If the travel leg corresponds to an 'End of Trip Segment' , whether a trip segment is active may be determined 738. If the trip segment is not active, flow may pass to step 718. If the trip segment is active, the trip segment may be closed 740 and flow may pass to step 718. In this manner, based at least in part on travel legs that have been processed by the evaluate 'End of Trip Segment' on travel legs function, one or more trip segments may be generated. An active trip segment may be understood to mean a trip segment that is being generated, i.e., assembled from travel legs. When a travel leg that has been marked 'End of Trip Segment' is processed, the active trip segment may be closed. In other words, that trip segment may be complete.

As discussed above, travel legs may be determined from an itinerary and/or passenger input of one or more travel legs. One or more travel legs may then be grouped into one or more trip segments and the trip segments may be stored in the database. An 'End of Trip Segment' may be determined for each trip segment based on, e.g., a starting and/or ending location and/or a stop-over time.

The alternate route manager 212 may convert the trip segments into a listing of alternate routes. The alternate route manager 212 may initially determine a list of alternate routes for each trip segment and each travel leg within a trip segment. The alternate route manager 212 may store this list in the database 211. Alternate routes may be determined based at least in part on timetable, reservations and/or other travel vehicle schedule data. The alternate route manager 212 may query systems that may store this schedule data. The alternate route manager 212 may query these systems using, e.g., an original travel leg departure location, a trip segment destination location and/or a date of travel.

The alternate routes may include direct travel legs from the original departure location to the trip segment destination location. The alternate routes may include multiple travel legs for the trip segment with a first leg from the departure location, the last leg to the trip segment destination location and may include one or more intermediate travel legs and connections between the first leg and the last leg. The alternate route manager 212 may then group the travel legs according to departure and arrival locations. The alternate route manager 212 may then sort the travel legs within the groups based at least in part on departure time.

The alternate route manager 212 may apply a filter to the listing of alternate routes. The filter may be based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria. The filter may be configured to exclude alternate routes based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria. Passenger-selected criteria may include, e.g., passenger preferences, seating availability, and/or other supporting data. For example, a passenger may wish to avoid potential turbulence. An alternate route that includes a path through or near a storm may violate this passenger-selected criterion. Based at least in part on weather data, the alternate route manager 212 may exclude, i.e., delete, the route with a path through or near a predicted storm. In another example, an alternate route may include a connection at a transportation terminal designated least favorite in the passenger's preferences. The alternate route manager 212 may exclude the route that includes this terminal. Depending on the results of the filter, i.e., if too few alternate routes remain, the alternate route manager 212 may then retrieve additional alternate routes.

The alternate route manager 212 may further determine any departure instructions associated with a first travel leg in a trip segment and any arrival instructions associated with a last travel leg in trip segment. The alternate route manager 212 may further include an availability and/or ranking for each alternate route 360. Availability may be indicated by a number of seats available in a travel vehicle, for example. The ranking may be based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria, e.g., a passenger's preferences and/or other supporting data. As discussed above, an alternate route that meets more of a passenger's selected criteria may be ranked higher than a route that meets fewer of the passenger's selected criteria. The alternate route manager 212 may then store the alternate routes, arrival and departure instructions and/or any other data associated with an existing trip in the database 211.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block flow diagram 900 corresponding to an exemplary embodiment of an alternate route manager, e.g., alternate route manager 212. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment 900, trip segment data, starting and/or ending locations, and/or user preferences may be provided 902. A next trip segment may be retrieved 904. Whether a next trip segment was found, may be determined 906. If a next trip segment was not found, each entry within a result set may be ranked 908 according to passenger-selected criteria. Seating availability may then be determined 910. The rankings and seating availability may then be saved 912 to the database 712. Whether the alternate route manager 900 was invoked by an itinerary monitor may then be determined 914. If the alternate route manager 900 was not invoked by an itinerary monitor, flow may return 916 to an alternate route application, e.g., alternate route application 290. If the alternate route manager 900 was invoked by an itinerary monitor, new results may be compared 918 with previous saved results. Whether changes are found may then be determined 920. If no changes are found, flow may pass to end 924 and program flow may return 916 to an alternate route application. If changes are found, alternate route display results may be invoked 922 and flow may end 924. If a trip segment is found, a final destination location may be set 926 from an arrival location of last travel leg. A next travel leg may then be retrieved 928. Whether a next travel leg was found may then be determined 930. If a next travel leg was not found, flow may pass to step 904. If a next travel leg was found, a timetable may be queried 932 for a result set based on date, departure location, and final destination location. Travel legs may be grouped 934 within results set by departure and arrival locations. Travel legs may be sorted 936 within groups by departure time. The results may be saved 938. Flow may then pass to step 928.

In this manner, alternate routes for each trip segment may be determined, grouped and sorted for communication to a passenger. The alternate routes may be ranked according to passenger-selected criteria and seating availability may be determined. Further, the database of travel data may be updated if the alternate route manager 900 was invoked by an itinerary monitor.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example 1000 of a display of availability and/or ranking. The display 1000 may be configured to include a travel vehicle designator 1010. The display 1000 may be configured to include a bar graph 1020 indicating ranking. The display may be further configured to indicate seating availability 1030. The display may be configured to indicate other information 1040 according to passenger preferences. As shown, the information may be keyed to the travel vehicle designator 1010. In response to an event trigger 340, the itinerary monitor 213 may determine whether the event trigger necessitated a change to an alternate route associated with an itinerary. As discussed above, an event trigger 340 may be time -based or event based, e.g., a change to a passenger itinerary. For example, a cancelled flight may necessitate a change to an alternate route. The itinerary monitor 213 may determine whether the affected itinerary has already been completed or may be processed to determine alternate routes. Whether an itinerary may be processed may be determined based on an adjustable setting or the itinerary may be processed automatically. If the itinerary monitor 213 determines that an itinerary should be evaluated for changes, the itinerary monitor 213 may notify the alternate route manager 212. The alternate route manager 212 may adjust an alternate route associated with an itinerary, as necessary, in response to the event trigger 340. The alternate route manager 212 may further save the adjusted results to the database 211.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block flow diagram 1100 corresponding to an exemplary embodiment of an itinerary monitor, e.g., itinerary monitor 213. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment 1100, saved itinerary identifiers may be provided 1102.

Whether saved itineraries were provided, may be determined 1104. If saved itineraries were not provided, a saved itinerary list may be built 1106, from the database 712, based, for example, on a last checked time and/or an expiration date. A next stored itinerary may then be retrieved 1108. If saved itineraries were provided, flow may pass to step 1108.

Whether a next stored itinerary was found, may then be determined 1110. If a next stored itinerary was not found, flow may end 1112. If a next stored itinerary was found, last checked time may be stamped 1114 as current time and may be provided to the database 712. The alternate route manager may then be invoked 1116. Flow may then pass to step 1108.

In this manner, as a result of an event trigger, the itinerary monitor 1100 may update saved itineraries based on a time and expiration date. The itinerary monitor 1100 may then invoke an alternate route manager, e.g., alternate route manager 900, to update the listing of alternate routes that may be provided to a passenger. Alternate route results, i.e., listing of alternate routes, may then be formatted for communication and/or display and communicated and/or displayed 390. As discussed above, the results may be formatted for display on a traveler device 130, 130'. A display may be configured to provide the alternate route results graphically and logically to aid the passenger in choosing an appropriate alternate route from the result set of alternate routes. The display may be configured to allow a receiving passenger to navigate the results.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example 1200 of presenting the alternate routes for a particular starting location, e.g., Boston 1212 and a final destination, e.g., Chicago 1214, visually. For this example, air travel provides the transportation vehicle. Travel using any other transportation vehicle may be likewise displayed. Air travel is used for illustrative purposes.

The alternate route display 1200 may include a header 1210 associated with the travel segment and/or travel leg. The header 1210 may include a starting location 1212, a final destination 1214 and a travel date 1216. The starting location 1212 may be a trip segment starting location and/or a travel leg departure location. The final destination 1214, as discussed above, may be the trip segment final destination.

The alternate route display 1200 may include one or more user- selectable options. In an embodiment, a user may select a time range 1220 for the alternate route display. The time range 1220 may include a user- selectable start time and a user- selectable stop time. The alternate route display 1200 may further include an option for displaying alternate route data for nearby airports. The alternate route display 1200 may include an option for displaying only interline flights and/or flights on a selected airline. The user-selectable options may depend on the transportation vehicle used for the selected travel leg, e.g., aircraft, bus, ship, train, etc. Accordingly, the alternate route display 1200 may be customized based on the user-selectable options. For the example shown in FIG. 12, the time range is 6:30 am to 6:15 am. This time range may provide a bound for the data displayed in the alternate route display 1200.

One or more alternate routes may be displayed. The alternate routes may be grouped based on common connections, as described in more detail below. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, three groups of alternate routes 1230, 1240, 1250 are shown. Each group may include one or more travel legs. A first group 1230 may include a direct route, i.e., may include a single travel leg between the starting location 1212 and the final destination 1214. An original (or current) travel leg 1231 may be presented with the alternate routes to provide context (starting point) to aid interpretation of the information presented. A second group 1240 may include one or more travel legs. For the example illustrated in FIG. 12, the second group 1240 includes a connection in Saint Louis. Similarly, a third group 1250 may include a connection in Raleigh/Durham. Accordingly, alternate routes with common connections, may be displayed in grouped listings based on travel legs. For example, the second group 1240 includes a first travel leg 1241 between Boston and Saint Louis and a second travel leg 1242 between Saint Louis and the final destination, Chicago 1214, i.e., a connection is Saint Louis. In order to complete travel between Boston and Chicago via the second group 1240, a passenger may choose an alternate route from Boston to Saint Louis 1241 and an alternate route from Saint Louis to Chicago 1242. Based on timing information, i.e., arrival time, departure time and duration, a passenger may determine which combinations of alternate routes for the two legs may result in a valid travel option. For example, a combination that includes an alternate route for the first leg that arrives in Saint Louis after departure of an alternate route for the second leg would not be valid. A passenger may further ensure an adequate time for making a connection.

For each group 1230, 1240, 1250, and each travel leg associated with the group, one or more alternate routes may be displayed. In the example illustrated in FIG. 12, the first group 1230 includes ten alternate routes for the single travel leg between the starting location 1212 and the final destination 1214. Similarly, the second group 1240 includes two alternate routes for the first travel leg 1241 and three alternate routes for the second travel leg 1242. Any appropriate number of available alternate routes may be displayed. Each alternate route, e.g., alternate route 1232, may be displayed graphically to indicate relative departure and arrival times as well as duration. Graphical display of the relative departure and arrival times may aid in the determination of which alternate routes for the travel legs with a common connection may be combined. Each alternate route may be further indicated by an identifier, e.g., identifier 1234. The identifier may include an airline designator, e.g., AA and a flight number, e.g., 1817.

Each alternate route may include a popup, e.g., popup 1260. The popup 1260 may be displayed by moving a cursor 1244 over an alternate route 1246. The popup

1260 may provide a listing of details related to the selected alternate route. For example, alternate route 1246 is shown graphically, associated with the second group 1240. The second group 1240 includes two travel legs: a first travel leg 1241 departing Boston and arriving in Saint Louis and a second travel leg 1242, departing Saint Louis and arriving in Chicago, the final destination 1214. The second travel leg 1242 includes alternate route 1246.

The popup 1260 may display departure and arrival times 1261, and arrival and departure locations 1262, associated with the selected alternate route 1246. The popup 1260 may display an alternate route identifier 1263 that may include a carrier name, e.g., American, and a designator, e.g., 2232. The popup 1260 may display other information. For example, the popup 1260 may include alternate route duration. In an embodiment, the popup 1260 may display whether this alternate route requires a connection to achieve the final destination 1214. Embodiments of the alternative route monitoring system and method, can be implemented as a computer program product for use with a computer system. Such implementations include, without limitation, a series of computer instructions that embody all or part of the functionality previously described herein with respect to the system and method. The series of computer instructions may be stored in any machine- readable medium 115, such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical or other memory devices, and may be transmitted using any communications technology, such as optical, infrared, microwave, or other transmission technologies. It is expected that such a computer program product may be distributed as a removable machine-readable medium (e.g., a diskette, CD-ROM), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the network (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web).

Those skilled in the art should appreciate that such computer instructions can be written in a number of programming languages for use with many computer architectures or operating systems. For example, preferred embodiments may be implemented in a procedural programming language (e.g., "C") or an object oriented programming language (e.g., "C++" or Java). Alternative embodiments consistent with the present disclosure may be implemented as pre-programmed hardware elements, firmware or as a combination of hardware, software and firmware.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, there is thus provided a method of alternative route generation for a passenger, the method including: acquiring passenger travel leg data, determining a trip segment based at least in part on the travel leg data wherein the trip segment comprises at least one travel leg, generating alternate routes for at least a portion of the trip segment, and reporting the alternate routes to the passenger. According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an alternative route generating system including: a processor configured to acquire passenger travel leg data, determine a trip segment based at least in part on the travel leg data wherein the trip segment comprises at least one travel leg, generate alternate routes for at least a portion of the trip segment and transmit the alternate routes. The system further includes a database coupled to the processor wherein the database is configured to store the passenger travel leg data, the trip segment and the alternate routes. The system further includes a traveler's device coupled to the processor and configured to receive the alternate routes and to provide the alternate routes to the passenger. According to yet another aspect of the disclosure there is provided a machine- readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to perform a method of alternative route generation for a passenger. The method comprises acquiring passenger travel leg data, determining a trip segment based at least in part on the travel leg data wherein the trip segment comprises at least one travel leg, generating alternate routes for at least a portion of the trip segment, and reporting the alternate routes to the passenger.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Other modifications, variations, and alternatives are also possible. While principles consistent with the present disclosure have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the present disclosure. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure, which is not to be limited except by the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method comprising: acquiring passenger travel leg data; determining a trip segment based at least in part on said travel leg data wherein said trip segment comprises at least one travel leg; generating alternate routes for at least a portion of said trip segment; and reporting said alternate routes to said passenger.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring said passenger travel leg data comprises determining said passenger travel leg data from an itinerary.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising ranking said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising adjusting said alternate routes in response to an event trigger.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising associating a trip segment final destination with a travel leg in said trip segment.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said reporting said alternate routes comprises grouping said alternate routes based at least in part on a departure time associated with said at least a portion of said trip segment.

8. An alternative route generating system comprising: a processor configured to acquire passenger travel leg data, determine a trip segment based at least in part on said travel leg data wherein said trip segment comprises at least one travel leg, generate alternate routes for at least a portion of said trip segment and transmit said alternate routes; a database coupled to said processor wherein said database is configured to store said passenger travel leg data, said trip segment and said alternate routes; and a traveler's device coupled to said processor and configured to receive said alternate routes and to provide said alternate routes to said passenger.

9. The alternative route generating system of claim 8 wherein said processor is further configured to acquire said passenger travel leg data based at least in part on an itinerary.

10. The alternative route generating system of claim 8 wherein said processor is further configured to filter said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

11. The alternative route generating system of claim 8 wherein said processor is further configured to rank said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

12. The alternative route generating system of claim 8 wherein said processor is further configured to adjust said alternate routes in response to an event trigger.

13. The alternative route generating system of claim 8 wherein said processor is further configured to group said alternate routes based at least in part on a departure time associated with said at least a portion of said trip segment.

14. A machine-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to perform a method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method comprising: acquiring passenger travel leg data; determining a trip segment based at least in part on said travel leg data wherein said trip segment comprises at least one travel leg; generating alternate routes for at least a portion of said trip segment; and reporting said alternate routes to said passenger.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising determining said passenger travel leg data from an itinerary.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising filtering said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising ranking said alternate routes for said at least a portion of said trip segment based at least in part on passenger-selected criteria.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising adjusting said alternate routes in response to an event trigger.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising associating a trip segment final destination with a travel leg in said trip segment.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 14 whose contents cause a computer system to perform said method of alternative route generation for a passenger, said method further comprising grouping said alternate routes based at least in part on a departure time associated with said at least a portion of said trip segment.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying said alternate routes wherein each said alternate route is displayed with associated departure and arrival times to facilitate determination of a valid travel option wherein said valid travel option includes one or more alternate routes.

22. The method of claim 22 wherein said valid travel option comprises a connection.