| Systems, methods, and media for managing a travel itinerary -> Monitor Keywords |
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  Systems, methods, and media for managing a travel itineraryRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Reservation, Check-in, Or Booking Display For Reserved SpaceThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060155591. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF INVENTION [0001] The present invention is in the field of computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods and media for managing a travel itinerary, particularly for managing the travel itinerary based on the location of a user with a wireless device. BACKGROUND [0002] As air travel and other types of travel have become ubiquitous, the complexity of travel arrangements has dramatically increased. Travel schedules have become increasingly confusing because of complicated connections, hub-and-spoke travel systems, flight changes, and weather delays. Many uncertainties face a passenger desiring to make a flight from her local airport. Highway traffic may cause the passenger being late for her flight. Long lines at the check-in counter, baggage drop-off, or security checkpoint often result in a passenger missing her flight. If a passenger misses her flight, it can have repercussions on her entire travel schedule, as connections are missed and people planning to pick her up at her destination are left waiting. Many factors contribute to a passengers missing her flight and the consequences of missed flights in terms of lost time, lost money, lost revenue for the airline, decreased customer satisfaction, and increased stress can be severe. To assist passengers, some airlines and other providers provide electronic notifications to a passenger's wireless device when flights are changed are delayed. This does not, however, allow for a passenger's itinerary to be changed. [0003] Because so many factors can result in a passenger missing her flight, many passengers leave for the airport (or other travel hub) early so that she has additional time to accommodate delays. In circumstances where these delays do not happen, the passenger often arrives at her gate early. In many cases, the passenger often does not realize that seats on other flights may be available to her destination and accordingly does not seek out those flights and instead simply checks into her original flight. Many airlines are willing to accommodate passengers who desire to fly on an earlier flight, but the passenger typically needs to make a special request to do so. While a helpful representative may be able to suggest an earlier flight, this adds additional work on an already overburdened ground crew. This problem is exacerbated on busy travel days or at heavily-used airports. As this solution requires customer service representative time and is only somewhat effective, as many passengers do not even realize that such an option exists, this is an unsatisfactory solution. Because most passengers do not change their booking to an earlier available flight, passengers often waste time in the airports, seats on the aircraft go underutilized, and passengers become subject to any delays on later flights. [0004] A passenger who misses her flight must contact a customer service representative of the airline in order to book a new flight. This process can be very time consuming and frustrating, as customer service representatives are typically overburdened and may be inconveniently located. Also, in some cases, customer service representatives may automatically rebook a passenger on a later flight without notifying the passenger or others waiting to pick up the passenger. [0005] There is, therefore, a need for an efficient and effective mechanism for managing the travel itinerary of a user, particularly for passengers with scheduled service on a common carrier such as an airline. There is an even greater need for such a mechanism when a passenger is likely to be late or substantially earlier for her travel. SUMMARY [0006] The problems identified above are in large part addressed by systems, methods and media for managing a travel itinerary of a user. One embodiment generally includes receiving by a travel itinerary computer user location information from the user on the wireless device, where the user location provides an indication of the user's location, and estimating by the travel itinerary computer the arrival time of the user at the departure point for a scheduled first trip of the user, where the estimation is based on the user location information. The method also generally includes comparing by the travel itinerary computer the estimated arrival time of the user at the destination with a departure time for the scheduled first trip and, if the arrival time is substantially earlier than the departure time or equal to or later than the departure time, rescheduling by the travel itinerary computer the user for a different second trip. A further embodiment provides for receiving supplementary information by the travel itinerary computer basing the estimation of the user's arrival time on the user's location and the supplementary information. An additional embodiment provides for rescheduling services by the travel itinerary computer based on the second trip. [0007] Another embodiment provides a machine-accessible medium containing instructions effective, when executing in a data processing system, to cause the system to perform a series of operations for managing a travel itinerary of a user. The series of operations generally includes receiving by a travel itinerary computer user location information from the user on the wireless device, where the user location provides an indication of the user's location, and estimating by the travel itinerary computer the arrival time of the user at the departure point for a scheduled first trip of the user, where the estimation is based on the user location information. The series of operations also generally includes comparing by the travel itinerary computer the estimated arrival time of the user at the destination with a departure time for the scheduled first trip and, if the arrival time is substantially earlier than the departure time or equal to or later than the departure time, rescheduling by the travel itinerary computer the user for a different second trip. [0008] A further embodiment provides a system for managing a travel itinerary for a user on a wireless device connected to a wireless network. The itinerary management system may generally include a user interaction module for receiving user location information from the user and a travel time determiner for estimating the time for the user to travel to a departure point associated with a scheduled trip based on the user location information. The system may also generally include an itinerary manager for determining whether a user's itinerary should be changed based on the estimated time for the user to travel to the departure point and for changing the user's itinerary by rescheduling a new trip to replace the user's scheduled trip. The system may also include, in some embodiments, a supplementary information interface for receiving or generating supplementary information and a services interface for requesting changes in scheduled service based on changes in the user's itinerary. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0009] Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which, like references may indicate similar elements: [0010] FIG. 1 depicts an environment for a system for managing a travel itinerary of a user according to one embodiment; [0011] FIG. 2 depicts a travel itinerary computer of the itinerary management system of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment; [0012] FIG. 3 depicts an example of a flow chart for managing a travel itinerary of a user when a user is early for her trip according to one embodiment; [0013] FIG. 4 depicts an example of a flow chart for managing a travel itinerary of a user when a user is late for her trip according to one embodiment; and [0014] FIG. 5 depicts an example of a flow chart for managing a travel itinerary of a user when a user is late for her trip according to an alternative embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0015] The following is a detailed description of example embodiments of the invention depicted in the accompanying drawings. The example embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the invention. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The detailed descriptions below are designed to make such embodiments obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art. [0016] Systems, methods and media for managing a travel itinerary of a user are disclosed. More particularly, hardware and/or software for managing the user's travel itinerary based on the location of the user are disclosed. Embodiments may include receiving user location information and estimating the arrival time of the user at the departure point for a scheduled first trip of the user based on the user location information. Embodiments may also include comparing the estimated arrival time of the user at the destination with a departure time for the scheduled first trip and rescheduling the user for a different second trip based on the comparison of the user's estimated arrival time and the departure time for the scheduled trip. Further embodiments may include transmitting notification to the user that he has been rescheduled to a second trip. [0017] The disclosed embodiments provide a methodology and system whereby the itinerary of a user may be changed based on the user's location. By changing the itinerary of a user based on the user's current location and an estimate of how long it will take him to reach the starting point for his trip (such as to an airline gate), an efficient and effective method of accommodating early or late users is provided. For a user who is early for her flight, she may be automatically moved (or queried to see if she desires to move) to an earlier flight, resulting in the possibility of reducing her travel time to her ultimate destination and more efficiently filling a particular flight or other trip. For a user who will be late for her flight, she may be automatically moved (or queried to see if she desires to move) to a later flight that she can make in time, eliminating the need for those users to have to contact customer service representatives and wait in line again. For either of these changes, scheduled services such as rental cars or hotels may also be rescheduled, again eliminating the need for a user to do these tasks themselves. A user's location may be determined by a location determining system in some embodiments. [0018] While specific embodiments will be described below with reference to particular configurations of hardware and/or software, those of skill in the art will realize that embodiments of the present invention may advantageously be implemented with other substantially equivalent hardware and/or software systems. [0019] Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts an environment for a system for managing a travel itinerary of a user according to one embodiment. In the depicted embodiment, itinerary management system 100 includes one or more wireless devices 102 in communication with a wireless network 108. Each wireless device 102 may include a user interface 104 to allow information to be displayed to a user of the wireless device 102 and to receive input from the user, as well as a location determining device 106 to assist in determining the location of the wireless device 102 (and thus the user) at a given time. Wireless network 108 may be in communication with the travel itinerary computer 112 either directly or via another network such as network 110. The travel itinerary computer 112 provides, in the depicted embodiment, a mechanism for receiving information from a user on a wireless device 102, including an indication of the user's on a wireless device's location, and determining whether the user's itinerary should be changed based on the estimated time it will take the user to reach the beginning point of her travel. The travel itinerary computer 112 of the depicted embodiment includes an itinerary manager 114, a travel time determiner 116, a supplementary information interface 118, and a services interface 120. The itinerary manager 114 may determine whether the itinerary of the user should be changed based on information received from the travel time determiner 116, which may estimate the amount of time the user will need to reach the location necessary to make her flight or other travel. The travel time determiner 116 may also receive information from the supplementary information interface 118 to assist in estimating travel times. The services interface 120 may be used to facilitate rescheduling or arranging services for the user if the user's itinerary is changed. Continue reading... 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