Who invented travelocity

Abstract: The present invention provides methods for efficiently handling product availability queries. The present invention provides a local availability cache that is prepopulated with product availability listings from various product sources. Customer product availability queries are processed using the prepopulated availability cache, as opposed to independently querying each product source. The present invention also uses methods to manage the cache, such as by limiting the length of use data records stored for each start of use day to a maximum length of use and updating of data in the query using a function that updates data for start dates of use that occur sooner in time than for start dates of use that occur later in time.

The present invention also uses functions to determine availability for length of use requests that exceed the maximum length of use stored in the cache by piecing together availability information for smaller lengths of use. Type: Grant. Filed: January 8, Date of Patent: June 7, Assignee: Travelocity. Information aggregation and synthesization system. Abstract: An information aggregation and synthesization system and process. The present invention provides aggregation and packaging of structured or unstructured information from disparate sources such as those available on a network such as the Internet.

The network interface device communicates with local datastores or network accessible datastores via an addressing scheme such as Uniform Resource Locator addresses URLs utilized by the Internet. Data passing between the network interface device and the datastores is accessed, polled, and retrieved through an intermediary gateway system.

Such aggregated information is then synthesized, customized, personalized and localized to meet the information resource requests specified by the user via the network interface device. Filed: January 13, Date of Patent: February 15, Goal oriented travel planning system. Abstract: A travel system for processing travel requests based on a user's travel destination goal such as a meeting place and time.

The travel system selects a destination terminal, if one is not provided, and estimates a travel time between the destination terminal and the destination goal. An itinerary is then built interactively with the user selecting air, bus or train transportation, ground transportation, and, optionally, hotels, restaurants, and activities. Filed: July 13, Date of Patent: January 25, Inventors: Terrell B. Jones, Joseph R. Offutt, Jr. Systems, methods and computer program products for retrieving and parsing data at runtime.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method, system and computer product for retrieving and parsing dynamic data at runtime by use of an interpreted language script that utilize Java and XML technologies. The interpreted scripting language uses a set of proxies, introspection and configuration to access and retrieve data elements that are in existence within underlying applications but not immediately available to the interpreter.

Filed: September 26, Date of Patent: December 28, Inventors: Ann Ebie, Anthony Swan. Methods and apparatus for determining non-obvious savings in the purchase of goods and services. Abstract: Systems consistent with the present invention implement provide information regarding savings associated travel alternatives.

Such systems receive requests from users reflecting travel itineraries, respectively. Each itinerary is analyzed to determine a set of alternative itineraries comparable to the travel itinerary specified in the request based on selected rules associated with travel. Then a value or cost of the input travel itinerary is determined and a value for each of the alternative itineraries is also calculated.

The systems then generate a report reflecting the input travel itinerary specified in the request, each of the alternative itineraries, the value for each travel itinerary, and a difference between the value for the travel itinerary specified in the request and each of the alternative itineraries.

Filed: March 25, Date of Patent: June 22, Inventors: Joseph Robert Offutt, Jr. System, method and computer program product for searching and retrieving ranked points of interest within a polygonal area of interest.

The AOI has a Polygon shape and includes a plurality of points. Then, information related to the identified POIs is requested, and presented in the order of the rankings associated with the respective POIs. Filed: September 27, Date of Patent: May 11, Inventors: Lance P. Systems, methods, and computer program products for determining rankings of product providers displayed via a product source system. Abstract: The present invention generates a ranked display listing of product providers such as hotels in response to a user query wherein the rank is generated based upon a performance factor determined by the system.

The invention generates the performance factor based on the popularlity of a given product provider as indicated by the number of transactions occurring between users and the product provider. The performance factor may also be based on the relative economic performance of the various product providers such that the system may display product providers in an order that is based on on a combination of the relative popularity and the relative economic performance of the product providers as measured over a selected period.

Filed: September 21, Date of Patent: August 25, Publication number: The site soon added more features, including hotel reservations, car rentals, and vacation packages. It was able to provide street maps for specific U. The Travelocity site was refined to make it easier to use, and by the end of it offered travel information for more than destinations internationally and had more than , registered members. During , Travelocity was selected to be the travel content provider for Time Warner's experimental online service, Road Runner.

Travelocity grew steadily during its first two years in business. Together with Expedia, an online travel site launched by Microsoft Corp. While purchases were made online, tickets were delivered either to a local travel agency or through Travelocity's own travel agency, the Travelocity Service Center. Sabre and Travelocity built 12, customized Web sites for travel agents to help them handle online bookings. This helped position Travelocity as an ally, rather than a competitor, to travel agents.

Travelocity was a key component in Sabre's strategy to capture the biggest possible share of overall travel bookings, both on and off the Web.

In October , Travelocity announced it would merge with Preview Travel, another leading online travel service. The new combined company was called Travelocity.

The merger made Travelocity. It also had the effect of making Travelocity. Following the merger, which was completed in March , Travelocity was separated from its parent company, Sabre.

Sabre retained a 70 percent ownership interest in Travelocity, while Preview shareholders owned the remaining 30 percent. Sabre also continued to be Travelocity's principal technology partner, handling its online transactions. In the future Sabre would also provide technology for other online travel services, including Priceline.

As a result of the merger Travelocity was the third most-visited electronic commerce site in the world following Amazon. The new Travelocity had about 17 million registered members and 8 million monthly visitors. Prior to their merger, both Travelocity and Preview Travel were pursuing a strategy of building market share.

Competing travel site Expedia went public in November and, according to Media Metrix, had slightly more traffic than Travelocity during the holiday season. Around this time, Travelocity and Preview Travel entered into an agreement with Priceline. Together, the three companies agreed to refer customers to each other's sites and collect referral fees when purchases were made.

The arrangement enabled Travelocity and Preview Travel to expand its audience and serve customers who were looking for the cheapest fares. Expedia countered by announcing it would develop its own name-you-own-price plan for airline tickets. The ad campaign positioned Travelocity as the place where people could take control of their travel arrangements. The radio spots noted that Travelocity's online site listed 45, hotels, airlines, and 50 car rental companies.

Meanwhile, Travelocity had combined online traffic of more than eight million visitors in February , according to Media Metrix, making it the top online travel site in terms of traffic. Expedia had 5. By mid, Travelocity completed its integration with Preview Travel and introduced a redesigned Web site. New features included a group shopping tool that made travel planning for groups easier.

Also added to the site were customer reviews and a message board. The home page was redesigned, and wireless travel services were offered. At the end of June , Travelocity had In the second half of , Travelocity and American Airlines Publishing launched Travelocity Magazine, a bimonthly periodical with a controlled circulation of , The new magazine was part of Travelocity's strategy to extend its brand, and it enhanced the company's position as a provider of tools for travelers who wanted to take control of their travel planning.

The company sold its ten millionth airline ticket in October The company first began serving international customers in September , when it gained the infrastructure to support global pricing and taxation. At first international customers were served by Travelocity's main online site in the United States, with tickets delivered through Sabre's international network of more than 10, travel agents.

The company ventured into the United Kingdom market in mid and established a customer service center in Cardiff, Wales. It then partnered with a U.