Patent Application
20070073562
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to travel planning systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and computer program products capable of providing travel planning information using information obtained from other travelers.
Before the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, travel planning and booking travel accommodations was a difficult and time-consuming task, generally requiring the assistance of a travel agent. The Internet has made travel planning significantly easier. Travel planning websites have enabled travelers to research, plan, and book travel without the assistance of a travel agent. In particular, booking individual travel accommodations, such as an airline flight from city A to city B or a hotel room in city B, is readily performed using a travel planning website. Travel accommodations such as airline tickets, hotel reservations, rental car reservations, and the like may be termed bookable travel components. Booking individual travel accommodations enables a traveler to secure exactly the accommodations that fit the traveler's needs. However, this may be somewhat time-consuming because each individual travel accommodation must be separately searched, confirmed to be available, and booked.
Booking travel packages, such as might include an airline flight, a hotel room, and rental car all purchased together, is also readily performed using a travel planning website. Booking such travel packages is typically faster and easier than booking individual travel accommodations, as the traveler can search, confirm availability, and book the package together.
Even with the ability to book travel packages, however, there may be some drawbacks to using travel planning websites. The travel packages offered by travel planning websites may be limited, such that the traveler may have difficulty finding a suitable travel package. Additionally, the travel packages offered by travel planning websites may not include information regarding attractions, activities, and points of interest for which the travel planning website does not sell reservations. Such attractions, activities, and points of interest may be termed non-bookable travel components. These components may be non-bookable because there is no admission charge to participate or visit, because admission tickets may only be purchased at the entry point of the attraction, or because the travel planning website does not have an agreement with the owner/operator of the attraction enabling the website to sell reservations. Examples of such non-bookable components may include beaches, parks, historical sites, walking tours, and hiking trails.
There are many other sources of information available on the Internet for such non-bookable travel components. The owner/operator of the attraction may have a website providing information such as hours of operation and entry fee, if any. However, a traveler may need to do a large amount of research just to identify potential non-bookable travel components, and then spend a great deal of time searching for and reviewing the related websites. Even after locating a website, the information available on a website provided by the owner/operator would likely not include unbiased opinions regarding the quality of the activity. Even if the traveler identifies desired non-bookable travel components, the traveler would then have to manually compile information, such as entry fee and hours of operation, to create a travel itinerary and then return to a travel planning website to book the bookable components, such as the airline flight and hotel room.
Another source for travel related information on the Internet is online trip journals. Online trip journals are websites that enable travelers to plan, discuss, and share travel information. The trip journal websites may be created by an individual traveler for only that traveler's personal travel information, or may be created by a third party to enable many different travelers to create and share trip journals. Trip journals may be relatively freeform such that the traveler enters travel information in any desired format, or may be relatively structured such that the traveler is provided with defined spaces and formats to enter itineraries, descriptions, reviews,-ratings, suggestions, tips, photographs, and the like. An itinerary may be-a record of a past or future trip, typically providing the day-by-day details. An itinerary may be simply a list of the geographic location of the traveler each day of the trip. Alternatively, an itinerary may be a detailed list of all activities, points of interest, lodging, and transportation for a trip. Trip journal websites, particularly those that include trip journals from many different travelers, may provide a great deal of centralized information on a large number of travel components, both bookable and non-bookable. However, after identifying desirable components, the traveler must still manually compile the information to create a travel itinerary and then return to a travel planning website to book the bookable components. Additionally, some of the information contained in such trip journals, such as entry fees and hours of operation, may be inaccurate, either because the information was entered into the trip journal incorrectly or because the information is out of date.
As such, there is a need for a system, method, and computer program product capable of providing travel planning information using information obtained from many different sources and enabling a traveler or a traveler's agent to quickly and easily create and book a travel itinerary using the provided travel information.
A system, method, and computer program product are therefore provided that access and display travel information in response to a request from a user. The travel information may be obtained from many different sources, such as trip journal websites, and may comprise complete or partial travel itineraries, as well as textual, audio, or video descriptions, reviews, comments, ratings, suggestions, tips, photographs, website links, and other useful information related to geographic destinations, activities, points of interest, transportation methods and providers, and the like. In response to a user request, travel information corresponding to and satisfying the user request is accessed and displayed for the user. After reviewing the travel information, the user may select bookable components (such as an airline flight, a hotel, and a rental car) and non-bookable components (such as a museum, a walking tour, and a city park) that the user desires to incorporate into an itinerary. Additionally or alternatively, the user may select an entire itinerary or a portion of an itinerary from the travel information, or the user may select all of the travel components corresponding to one or more individual days within an itinerary. The user will typically select an itinerary or a component by dragging and dropping a virtual object corresponding to the desired itinerary or component into a virtual shopping cart, although the user may make a selection using any suitable selection mechanism. The user will then typically schedule each selected travel component into a desired day and/or time, such that the selected and scheduled components are used to create the user itinerary. After the user itinerary is created, the price and availability of each component in the user itinerary may be determined and displayed. The system, method, and computer program product of the invention may suggest an optimized schedule for the selected components, based on a number of factors, such as availability, price, and logistics of travel, however the user may reschedule one or more components if desired. When the user is satisfied with the user itinerary, the system, method, and computer program product of the invention may book the bookable components by transmitting information to a global distribution system (GDS) or a computerized reservation system (CRS). After the user itinerary is completed, the system, method, and computer program product of the invention may store the user itinerary for use as travel information for a future user request.
In this regard, a system for providing travel information using information obtained from other travelers comprises a client device and a server. The client device is capable of receiving a request from a user. The server is capable of accessing travel information in response to the request from the user. The travel information may comprise at least a portion of a predefined travel itinerary. The predefined travel itinerary may correspond to a previously planned itinerary, or some portion thereof, of a traveler different from the user. The predefined travel itinerary may comprise a plurality of bookable and non-bookable travel components. The server may be further capable of transmitting the travel information to be displayed at the client device. Thereafter, the server may be further capable of creating a user itinerary comprising at least one travel component in response to a selection by the user of at least a portion of the displayed travel information.
In one embodiment, the travel information further comprises previously experienced travel component information, the previously experienced travel component information corresponding to a previously experienced travel component of a traveler different from the user. The previously experienced travel component may be designated as a bookable or non-bookable travel component. The previously experienced travel component information may comprise a name of the previously experienced travel component and at least one of a location of the previously experienced travel component, a description of the previously experienced travel component, a review of the previously experienced travel component, a suggestion or tip corresponding to the previously experienced travel component, a website link corresponding to the previously experienced travel component, a product or service menu corresponding to the previously experienced travel component, a rating of the previously experienced travel component, and a photograph of the previously experienced travel component.
The client device may be capable of displaying the travel information by displaying an icon or any suitable visual indicator on a map, with the location of the icon on the map corresponding to a geographic location of at least one of a bookable travel component, a non-bookable travel component, and a previously experienced travel component. The icon may have a visual aspect corresponding to a category of the travel component.
In one embodiment, the request from the user comprises at least one of a key word query, a selection from a drop down list, a selection of a geographic area on a map, and a drag-and-drop selection and placement on a map of an icon corresponding to a travel component category. The selection by the user may comprise a drag-and-drop selection and placement of at least one of the predefined travel itinerary, a portion of the predefined travel itinerary, all travel components corresponding to a day of travel in the predefined travel itinerary, a bookable travel component, a non-bookable travel component, an icon, a previously experienced travel component name, a previously experienced travel component photograph, a website link, and a product or service menu.
The server may be further capable of determining a price and availability of each travel component in the user itinerary and also capable of determining a total price of the user itinerary. Additionally, the server may be further capable of rescheduling at least one travel component in the user itinerary, such that the user itinerary is optimized based on at least one of number of days of travel, a number of travel components selected, a length of time required for each travel component, a rating of each selected travel component, an availability of each selected travel component, a total price of the user itinerary, a total price of the user itinerary compared to a user budget, a travel time required between each travel component, a geographic location of each travel component, a desired amount of free time, and a predefined user preference. Further, the server may be capable of moving a selected travel component from one day of travel to a different day of travel or from one period of time to a different period of time in response to a drag-and-drop selection and placement by the user.
In one embodiment, the server is further capable of sending the user itinerary to a global distribution system or a computerized reservation system such that the global distribution system or the computerized reservation system creates a reservation record. The reservation record may comprise a reservation for each bookable travel component and a remark for each non-bookable travel component.
The server may be further capable of storing the user itinerary, such that the stored user itinerary is a predefined travel itinerary that the server may use to access travel information in response to a subsequent user request. The server may be further capable of receiving user feedback corresponding to at least one travel component in the user itinerary, the user feedback comprising at least one of a description of the travel component, a review of the travel component, a suggestion or tip corresponding to the travel component, a rating of the travel component, a website corresponding to the travel component, a product or service menu corresponding to the travel component, and a photograph of the travel component. The server may be further capable of storing the received user feedback, such that the stored user feedback is previously experienced travel component information that the server may use to access travel information in response to a subsequent user request.
In addition to the system for providing travel planning information using information obtained from other travelers as described above, other aspects of the invention are directed to corresponding methods and computer program products for providing travel planning information using information obtained from or related to other travelers.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Embodiments of the invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Server 10 may communicate over network 23 with many different sources of travel information, such as servers 24 which host online trip journals, to obtain travel information created by many different travelers. Although not illustrated, server 10 may communicate with other available sources of travel information, such as weblogs, travel information websites, and personal websites. Travel information may be also obtained from any device capable of providing travel information and communicating over a wired or wireless network. Travel information may be obtained using peer-to-peer data sharing techniques. The obtained travel information may include complete travel itineraries, either from completed trips or from planned but not yet completed trips. The obtained travel information may also include information about discrete travel components separate from a complete travel itinerary. The processing element 12 of the server will typically parse the obtained travel information to identify bookable and non-bookable components within the information. The processing element 12 will also typically geo-code the information to indicate a correspondence between the information and one or more defined geographic areas. The processing element 12 will also typically categorize the information. The information may be categorized through the use of tagging, keywords, taxonomies, ontologies, or any method typically associated with the categorization of information. The information may be categorized in many different ways. For example, a travel component may be categorized as transportation, lodging, or attraction. Additionally, sub-categories may be used. For example, within the transportation category, some sub-categories may include airline, bus, and train. Information may also be categorized by the type of trip or the experience associated with the itinerary travel component. For example, an itinerary or travel component may be related to an outdoor adventure, fun in the sun, wine tasting, or gambling trip. Information may also be categorized by the typical traveler to whom the itinerary or travel component might appeal. Such a categorization may include demographic information such as income, age, gender, marital status, interests, hobbies, etc. Information may also be categorized by the other travel locations or activities to which the itinerary or travel component might relate (i.e., other destinations or activities that a person traveling to this location might like to do and that is in the general proximity). The processing element will then typically store the parsed, geo-coded, and categorized travel information in a database in storage element 14.
When a user desires to create a plan and book a trip, the user may enter a request (discussed in more detail below) via client 16 using user interface 22. Processing element 18 may transmit the request to the server 10 over network 23. In response to the user request, the processing element 12 of server 10 may access travel information corresponding to and satisfying the user request. The travel information would typically be accessed from storage element 14. The travel information is then typically transmitted by the server 10 to the client device 16, where the information is displayed for the user on the display element 20.
After reviewing the travel information, the user may select, such as via user interface 22, some portion of the displayed travel information, such as bookable components and non-bookable components or a complete itinerary, that the user desires to incorporate into an itinerary for the user's trip. The processing element 12 of server 10 will typically determine the price and availability of each component. Price and availability information will typically be obtained from a global distribution system (GDS) 26 or from data stored within the storage element 14. The various GDSs, such as Sabre, Amadeus, Galileo, and WorldSpan, act as middlemen to sell bookable travel components, such as airline tickets, through various customer channels, such as travel agencies and the travel planning websites. Additionally or alternatively, price and availability information may be obtained from a computerized reservation system (CRS) 28, such as the reservation system for an airline, car rental agency, or hotel chain. Price and availability information may also be obtained from the computer systems of individual travel component suppliers or vendors or any suitable provider of travel component pricing, availability, and reservations. Although price and availability information (and reservations for bookable travel components, as discussed below) may be obtained from many different sources, the use of GDSs and CRSs will be primarily discussed herein. The price and availability information will typically be transmitted from the server to the client device to be displayed for the user.
The processing element 12 of server 10 may suggest an optimized schedule for the selected components, based on a number of factors as described in more detail below. The optimized schedule would typically be displayed at the client device. When the user is satisfied with the user itinerary, the processing element 12 will then typically book the bookable items by transmitting information to a GDS 26 and/or to a CRS 28. The GDS 26 or the CRS 28 will typically create a reservation record, with each bookable component being a separate line item in the reservation record, and with non-bookable items included as remarks in the reservation record. After the user itinerary is completed, the processing element 12 will typically store the user itinerary in the storage element 14 for use as travel information for a future user request.
While
In an alternative embodiment, the request may be entered using a key word query, such that the user enters one or more words that are descriptive of the user's desired travel. For example, the user may enter the term “winery tour,” “Grand Canyon,” or “Ireland.” As another alternative, the request may be entered using a selection of a geographic area on a map. Two or more successive maps may be displayed, with each successive map enabling the user to select a more specific geographic area. For example, the user may be serially presented with a first map, such as a Mercator or other projection, from which the user may select a continent, a second map from which the user may select a country within the selected continent, a third map from which the user may select a state or region within the selected country, and a fourth map from which the user may select a city within the selected state or region (and the selected city or region would then typically be displayed on a fifth map). Each area of each map may include a clickable link to a successive map of the clicked area. Alternatively, a freeform selection tool may be provided such that the user may use a pointing device, such as a mouse, to draw a line forming a closed shape around the geographic area desired to select. The freeform selection tool may be used multiple times with successively more specific maps as described above.
The request may also be entered using a selection and placement (i.e., drag-and-drop) onto a map of an icon corresponding to a travel component category. The user will typically drag and drop the desired icon onto one of the more specific maps selected using one of the above described methods, such as the fifth map of the selected city (rather than, for example, the second map of the selected country which may provide too much information to be useful). The user will typically be presented with several different icons from which to select, with each icon representing a category of desired travel information. For example, the selectable icons may correspond to categories that include, but are not limited to, airplane travel, train travel, cruise ship travel, ferry travel, boat travel, bus travel, limousine travel, taxi travel, lodging accommodations, rental cars, restaurants, event tickets, exhibits, tours, entertainment activities, and sightseeing activities. Each selectable icon will typically have some visual aspect, such as shape, color, or text, which corresponds to the respective travel category.
Accessing the travel information typically comprises searching the travel information stored in the storage element 14 to retrieve travel information that matches the user's request. Travel information may be considered to match the user's request if, for example, the travel information has been assigned a geo-code that matches the geographic area selected by the user. A single item of travel information may have multiple geo-codes of varying specificity. For example, travel information regarding a particular winery tour may have several geo-codes, such as “Yountville,” “Napa Valley,” “Northern California,” “California,” “West Coast of United States,” and “United States.”
The travel information that has been accessed from the server may then be transmitted to a client device 16 such that the information can be displayed on a display element 20. See block 32. The travel information may be displayed in many different formats. Regardless of the display format, however, the displayed information will typically be selectable by the user to enable the user to drag and drop one or more travel components into a virtual shopping cart to create a user travel itinerary, as discussed in more detail below, although the user may make a selection using any suitable selecting mechanism. As discussed above, the travel information may comprise complete travel itineraries created by other travelers and/or information about discrete travel components, typically obtained from travel journal entries. A list of journal entries and/or predefined travel itineraries may be displayed, such as using a tree structure that enables the user to “drill down” into each itinerary or journal entry to view all of the individual travel components within each itinerary or journal. A display window may also be provided in which details of a selected component within a journal entry or itinerary may be displayed. Photos from a selected component within a journal entry or itinerary may be displayed. Alternatively, if no travel component is selected then photos from one or more of the highest rated journal entries or itineraries may be displayed. Additionally, an icon may be displayed on a map showing the location of selected component within a journal entry or itinerary. Several icons may be displayed on the map if the user has selected an entire journal entry or itinerary containing several travel components. If no individual travel components and no entire journal entries or itineraries have been selected, icons may be displayed on the map corresponding to the locations of the travel components with the highest rated journal entries or itineraries. The icons displayed on the map may be any suitable visual indicator, including but not limited to drawings, photographs, symbols, letters, and numbers.
After reviewing the displayed travel information, the user may select some portion of the displayed travel information, such as bookable components, non-bookable components, a complete itinerary, or a portion of an itinerary that the user desires to incorporate into an itinerary for the user's trip. The user typically will drag and drop the desired travel component into a virtual shopping cart. The user may select an entire predefined travel itinerary, or a portion thereof, from the tree structure. The user may select all of the travel components corresponding to a day of travel in a predefined travel itinerary, typically by selecting the day of travel (e.g., “Day 1”). The user may select a bookable travel component or a non-bookable travel component from within a journal entry displayed in the tree structure, typically by selecting the name of the travel component (e.g., “Alcatraz Tour”). The user may select an icon on the map corresponding to a desired travel component. The user may select a photograph, a website link, and/or a product or service menu corresponding to a desired travel component. Generally, any item can be dragged to the shopping cart as long as the item is selectable (i.e., clickable) and can be displayed, in some form, on a user interface. Display items are not limited to text listings, maps, or images.
After all the desired travel components are selected and placed in the virtual shopping cart, each travel component would then typically be selected by the user to be scheduled into at least one day of travel. As the user selects each desired travel component, the user may drag and drop each travel component into a specified day of travel and a specified time within that day. The user's selection (i.e., travel components and associated day/time) is typically transmitted from the client device to the server, such that the processing element 12 may create a user travel itinerary in response to the user's selections. See block 34 of
The processing element 12 will then typically determine the price and availability of each travel component in the user itinerary, including both the bookable and non-bookable components. See block 36 of
The processing element 12 may then suggest the reschedule of at least one travel component to optimize the schedule. See block 40. The schedule may be optimized based on a number of factors such as the number of days of travel, the number of travel components selected, the length of time required for each travel component, the rating of each selected travel component, the availability of each selected travel component, the total price of the user itinerary, the total price of the user itinerary compared to a user budget, the travel time required between each travel component, the geographic location of each travel component, and the desired amount of free time. For example, the processing element would determine if each travel component is scheduled only on a day and time at which that component is available (e.g., based on days/hours of operation). The processing element 12 may determine that travel components located in close geographic proximity are scheduled on the same day to minimize travel time. The schedule may also be optimized based on predefined user preferences. For example, the user may indicate a desire to include as many of the selected travel components in the final itinerary as possible. As such, the processing element 12 may determine if more travel components could be scheduled if one or more travel components were rescheduled. The optimized schedule would typically be displayed at the client device.
After reviewing the optimized schedule, the user may desire to change the schedule. The user will then typically select one or more travel components and indicate the desired alternative day and/or time of travel for the selected component(s), thus causing the processing element 12 to move the selected component(s). See block 42. A selected component may be moved from one day of travel to a different day or from one time to a different time on the same day of travel. A selected component may be removed from the schedule to provide free time for the user to rest. If a selected component is moved to a different day, the processing element would typically provide some indication to the user as to whether the component is available on the newly selected day and/or time.
When the user is satisfied with the user itinerary (both the selected travel components and the scheduled days and times for each selected travel component), the user may indicate a desire to secure reservations/tickets for (i.e., to “book”) the bookable items. The user would typically have to arrange for payment, such as by providing a credit card number and expiration date. The processing element 12 will then typically book the bookable items by transmitting the user itinerary to a GDS and/or to a CRS. See block 44. The GDS or CRS will typically create a reservation record, with each bookable component being a separate line item in the reservation record, and with non-bookable items included as remarks in the reservation record. Where the reservation record is created by a GDS or an airline CRS, the reservation record is typically termed a passenger name record (PNR). After the user itinerary is completed, the processing element 12 will typically parse, geo-code, categorize, and store the user itinerary in the storage element 14 for use as a predefined travel itinerary for a future user request. See block 46.
The user itinerary may also continue to be accessible by the user, such as via a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) on the Internet, to be used as an online travel journal. After the user completes the planned trip, the user may enter feedback corresponding to one or more travel components of the user's trip. See block 48. This feedback may comprise textual, audio, or video descriptions, reviews, suggestions, tips, photographs, website links, product or service menus (e.g., restaurant menu), and/or ratings of travel components. The processing element 12 will typically parse, geo-code, categorize, and store this user feedback in the storage element 14 for use as previously experienced travel component information for a future user request. See block 50. In one embodiment, the user feedback may be stored in the reservation record created by the GDS or CRS.
Once the user has accessed an embodiment of the invention, the user may enter a request for travel information using many different-methods and/or formats as discussed above. In one embodiment, the user may enter a request using one or more drop down lists as illustrated in
After the user has made a selection from each one of the drop down lists on
Referring now to
The user may not desire to see travel information for the entire geographic area displayed on map 64. As such, the user may restrict the requested information by selecting a portion of the area displayed on the map. Referring now to
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After the user has placed all of the desired travel components into a day of travel, or after the user has placed a particular day's desired travel components into that day of travel, the user may then schedule the travel components into more specific time slots by using the calendar window 92. The user may select a day of travel (Day 2 is selected in this illustration) to see a detailed day planner schedule for that selected day within the calendar window. Each travel component that has previously been placed into the selected day in the scheduler window 90 may be scheduled by the user for a specific time. For example,
The user may reschedule travel components within the calendar window by dragging and dropping a travel component from one time slot to another time slot. The user may also provide time in the user itinerary for free time, meals, and/or travel by dragging and dropping a placeholder icon 98 into a time slot in the calendar window. For example,
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In an alternative embodiment, the user may select the “Optimize Itinerary” button 102 after placing the desired travel components into the shopping cart 80 but prior to scheduling any of the travel components using the scheduler window 90. In such an embodiment, the processing element 12 may create an optimized user itinerary by scheduling each travel component into a day and time based on the optimization factors and any predefined user preferences. The user would typically be able to modify the suggested optimized schedule by dragging and dropping travel components from one day and/or time to another day and/or time.
Once the user is satisfied with the created user itinerary, the user would typically secure reservations for the bookable travel components by selecting the “Book Travel” button 104. The user would typically have to provide payment, such as by providing a credit card number and expiration date. The server 10 will typically transmit information to a GDS 26 and/or a CRS 28 to cause the GDS or CRS to create a reservation record (often termed a passenger name record (PNR)), with each bookable component being a separate line item in the reservation record, and with non-bookable items included as remarks in the reservation record. The GDS or CRS will typically return a confirmation number that may be displayed to the user.
As discussed above, the user itinerary will typically be stored by the server 10 for use as travel information for a future user request. After the user completes the planned trip, the user may enter feedback, such as descriptions, photographs, and/or ratings, corresponding to one or more travel components of the user's trip. In one embodiment, the user feedback may be stored in the reservation record created by the GDS or CRS.
Referring now to
Many types of travel icons could be available for the user to drag and drop, including but not limited to: Air, Rail, Cruise, Car, Hotel, Points-Of-Interest (e.g., monuments, museums, and the like), Gas Stations, Shopping Malls, and Restaurants. The user may also be able to drag and drop “Desired Start Point” and “Desired End Point” icons to indicate the user's departure location and destination. Such departure information may be necessary to provide accurate and complete travel mode (e.g., air, train, car, bus, limousine, ferry, cruise ship, etc.) information. The user may also be able to drag and drop icons corresponding with types of travel experiences that may be available, including but not limited to: Sun & Beach, Great Outdoors, Food & Wine, Luxury, Vegas & Casinos, and International travel.
The travel icons may be arranged on an icon palette 110. Various icon palettes may be displayed at different points in time depending on the selections made by the user. There may be, for example, a base or generic palette displayed when the user begins to enter a request, such as palette 110 of
When the user has finished dragging icons onto the map, the user may select the “Send” button 61. Selecting the Send button will typically submit the user request to provide information corresponding to the selected icons. In one embodiment, the user may be presented with various options to enable a more specific user request. For example, if the user has dragged and dropped a hotel icon onto the map, a list of hotel properties at that location may be displayed such that the user may obtain information regarding a specific property. Similarly, if the user has dragged and dropped an air icon onto the map, current minimum and median ticket prices may be displayed, as well as current flight schedules.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention (not illustrated), the user may drag and drop a selection icon onto any one of several different icons or photographs, with each icon or photograph corresponding to a travel category (e.g., air, train, hotel, etc.) or a travel experience (e.g., Sun & Beach, Great Outdoors, Food & Wine, Luxury, Vegas & Casinos, International travel, etc.). The icons or photographs may be displayed, for example, in a grid. The user would be able to drag and drop a selection icon onto the desired travel category or travel experience. The grid on which the icons or photographs may be displayed, and the map onto which icons may be dropped, may both be termed selection surfaces.
According to one aspect of the invention, all or a portion of the system of the invention generally operate under control of a computer program product. The computer program product for performing the methods of embodiments of the invention includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as the non-volatile storage medium, and computer-readable program code portions, such as a series of computer instructions, embodied in the computer-readable storage medium.
In this regard,
Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowchart support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block or step of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks or steps in the flowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
