Air ticket freight rate searching method and device, electronic equipment and program product

Abstract

The invention discloses an air ticket freight rate searching method and device, electronic equipment and a program product, and relates to the technical field of air transportation information.The searching method comprises the steps that a freight rate searching request initiated by a user is received, and under the condition that the freight rate searching request contains a payment mode, the payment mode is sent to the user; obtaining target freight rate records corresponding to the payment modes from a preset grouping cache to obtain a target freight rate record set, and obtaining freight rate records corresponding to all payment modes from the preset grouping cache to obtain a target freight rate record set under the condition that the freight rate search request does not contain the payment modes, and checking the target freight rate record set based on the freight rate condition to obtain effective data, determining the total freight rate of all preset flight tickets based on the effective data, and displaying the total freight rate of each preset flight ticket. The technical problem that air ticket freight rate searching cannot be efficiently carried out in the prior art is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of air transport information technology, and more specifically, to a method, apparatus, electronic device, and program product for searching airfares. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, when users need to search for airfares, in order to reduce ticketing costs, they need to search on various airline platforms and then manually summarize and compare the results. Furthermore, the airfares found in these searches do not include ticketing fees, resulting in incomplete fare information for users during the search process. This leads to additional payment fees when actually purchasing the ticket, increasing the user's overall cost and reducing the user experience, especially when users need to compare the costs of different payment methods.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method to search for airfares to enrich search results and provide convenience for users.

[0004] There is currently no effective solution to the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention provides a method, apparatus, electronic device, and program product for searching airfares, to at least solve the technical problem of inefficient airfare searching in related technologies.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for searching airfares is provided, applied to a fare search system, comprising: receiving a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request includes at least: fare conditions; if the fare search request includes a payment method, retrieving target fare records corresponding to the payment method from a preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set; if the fare search request does not include a payment method, retrieving fare records corresponding to all payment methods from the preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set; validating the target fare record set based on the fare conditions to obtain valid data; and determining the total fare of all preset flight tickets based on the valid data, and displaying the total fare of each preset flight ticket, wherein the preset flight ticket refers to a flight ticket that meets the fare conditions, and the total fare refers to the fare including payment fees.

[0007] Furthermore, the fare search system is connected to a data repository, which collects fare data published by various airline platforms.

[0008] Furthermore, before receiving a fare search request initiated by a user, the process includes: obtaining all fare data from the data publishing repository; parsing all fare data to obtain multiple fare records; and constructing a preset group cache with each payment method as the primary key and the fare record corresponding to each payment method as the primary key value. The payment methods include at least one of the following: cash, check, credit card, voucher, or other payment methods.

[0009] Further, the steps of parsing all fare data to obtain multiple fare records include: determining a fare record template, wherein the fare record template includes at least: a payment method field, a ticket sales location field, a passenger identity information field, a ticket sales time field, and a geographic information field; parsing the fare data to determine the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information contained in the fare data; and filling the fare record template based on the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information to generate multiple fare records, wherein the field values ​​corresponding to each field in each fare record are not completely identical.

[0010] Furthermore, the fare conditions include at least: purchase location, passenger identity, purchase time, origin, and destination. The step of verifying the target fare record set based on these fare conditions to obtain valid data includes: verifying the ticket sales location information in each target fare record within the target fare record set to determine a first fare record set consistent with the purchase location; verifying the passenger identity information in each first fare record within the first fare record set to determine a second fare record set consistent with the passenger identity; verifying the ticket sales time information in each second fare record within the second fare record set to determine a third fare record set sold at the purchase time; verifying the geographical information in each third fare record within the third fare record set to determine a fourth fare record set consistent with the origin and destination; and verifying the fourth fare record set to obtain valid data.

[0011] Furthermore, the geographic information includes: the place of payment. The step of verifying the fourth fare record set to obtain valid data includes: determining the place of issuance of the payment method when the fare search request includes the payment method; and filtering the fourth fare records from the fourth fare record set that indicate the place of payment consistent with the place of issuance to obtain valid data.

[0012] Furthermore, the step of determining the total fare for all preset flight tickets based on valid data includes: determining the preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record contained in the valid data; and determining the total fare for the preset flight tickets based on the ticket price contained in the valid fare record and the payment fee.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present invention, an airfare search device is also provided, applied to a fare search system, comprising: a receiving unit, configured to receive a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request includes at least: fare conditions; a first obtaining unit, configured to obtain target fare records corresponding to payment methods from a preset group cache when the fare search request includes payment methods, thereby obtaining a target fare record set; a second obtaining unit, configured to obtain fare records corresponding to all payment methods from a preset group cache when the fare search request does not include payment methods, thereby obtaining a target fare record set; a verification unit, configured to verify the target fare record set based on the fare conditions to obtain valid data; and a determining unit, configured to determine the total fare of all preset flight tickets based on the valid data, and display the total fare of each preset flight ticket, wherein the preset flight ticket refers to a flight ticket that meets the fare conditions, and the total fare refers to the fare including payment handling fees.

[0014] Furthermore, the fare search system is connected to a data repository, which collects fare data published by various airline platforms.

[0015] Furthermore, the search device also includes: a first acquisition module, used to acquire all fare data from a data publishing database before receiving a fare search request initiated by a user; a first parsing module, used to parse all fare data to obtain multiple fare records; and a first construction module, used to construct a preset group cache with each payment method as the primary key and the fare record corresponding to each payment method as the primary key value, wherein the payment methods include at least one of the following: cash, check, credit card, voucher, or other payment methods.

[0016] Furthermore, the first parsing module includes: a first determining submodule, used to determine the fare record template, wherein the fare record template includes at least: a payment method field, a ticket sales location field, a passenger identity information field, a ticket sales time field, and a geographic information field; a first parsing submodule, used to parse the fare data to determine the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information contained in the fare data; and a first filling submodule, used to fill the fare record template based on the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information to generate multiple fare records, wherein the field values ​​corresponding to each field in each fare record are not completely identical.

[0017] Furthermore, the fare conditions include at least: purchase location, passenger identity, purchase time, origin, and destination. The verification unit includes: a first verification module, used to verify the ticket sales location information in each target fare record contained in the target fare record set, and determine the first fare record set consistent with the purchase location; a second verification module, used to verify the passenger identity information in each first fare record contained in the first fare record set, and determine the second fare record set consistent with the passenger identity; a third verification module, used to verify the ticket sales time information in each second fare record contained in the second fare record set, and determine the third fare record set sold at the purchase time; a fourth verification module, used to verify the geographical information in each third fare record contained in the third fare record set, and determine the fourth fare record set consistent with the origin and destination; and a fifth verification module, used to verify the fourth fare record set to obtain valid data.

[0018] Furthermore, the geographic information includes: the place of payment; the fifth verification module includes: a second determination submodule, used to determine the place of issuance of the payment method when the fare search request includes the payment method; and a first filtering submodule, used to filter the fourth fare records from the fourth fare record set that indicate the place of payment consistent with the place of issuance, to obtain valid data.

[0019] Furthermore, the determining unit includes: a first determining module, used to determine the preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record contained in the valid data; and a second determining module, used to determine the total fare of the preset flight ticket based on the ticket price contained in the valid fare record and the payment handling fee.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is also provided, including a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the airfare search method described above.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, an electronic device is also provided, including one or more processors and a memory, the memory being used to store one or more programs, wherein when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to implement any of the above-described methods for searching airfares.

[0022] In this invention, a fare search request initiated by a user is received. If the fare search request includes a payment method, the target fare record corresponding to the payment method is retrieved from a preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set. If the fare search request does not include a payment method, fare records corresponding to all payment methods are retrieved from the preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set. The target fare record set is validated based on fare conditions to obtain valid data. Based on the valid data, the total fare of all preset flight tickets is determined, and the total fare of each preset flight ticket is displayed. This solves the technical problem of inefficient fare search in related technologies.

[0023] In this invention, upon receiving a user search request containing fare criteria, the fare search system accurately retrieves the corresponding target fare record or fare records for all payment methods from a preset group cache, based on whether the request includes payment methods, forming a target fare record set. Then, the target fare record set is validated in real-time based on the fare criteria to ensure the validity and accuracy of the information. Finally, based on valid data, the total fare for all preset flight tickets meeting the fare criteria is determined and displayed, along with any payment processing fees that may be included in the total fare. This provides users with more comprehensive and transparent fare information, meeting their travel needs while also providing airlines and sales platforms with opportunities to increase revenue. This achieves the goal of quickly responding to user fare search requests, thereby improving search efficiency and providing total fare information including payment processing fees. This solves the current technical problems of opaque payment processing fee information and incomplete search results. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and form part of this invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and are used to explain the invention, but do not constitute an undue limitation of the invention. In the drawings:

[0025] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of an optional airfare search method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an optional fare search system search process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an optional group cache key-value structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an optional payment fee fare search structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram illustrating an optional user ticketing fee fare search according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of an optional airfare search device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 This is a hardware structure block diagram of an electronic device (or mobile device) for a method of searching airfares according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0032] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present invention, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., used in this invention are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of the invention described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0034] It should be noted that all related information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, and displayed data) collected and involved in this invention are information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties. Furthermore, the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, disclosure, and application of this data comply with the relevant laws, regulations, and standards of the relevant regions, necessary confidentiality measures have been taken, and it does not violate public order and good morals. Corresponding operation entry points are provided for users to choose to authorize or refuse. For example, this system has an interface with relevant users or organizations. Before obtaining relevant information, a request to obtain the information needs to be sent to the aforementioned user or organization through the interface, and the relevant information is obtained only after receiving consent from the aforementioned user or organization.

[0035] In this invention, because airline platforms and online ticket sales platforms can define payment fees for various payment methods, before the introduction of a payment fee search function, users needed to check with each platform to see if their tickets and payment methods required additional fees. With the proposed fare search system, users can directly search within a single platform to obtain payment results including those with payment fees, thus enriching the search results and providing greater convenience for users.

[0036] In this invention, airline users and sales agents utilize a fare search system to display all available flight results, fare information, and applicable rules based on passenger requests for origin, destination, travel date, cabin class, and other information. Furthermore, the fare search system's search results also include payment processing fees to enrich and facilitate ticket changes. Here, payment processing fees refer to the additional fees charged by airlines or third-party platforms on top of the base fare when purchasing tickets; these are fees charged by some airlines for transactions using credit / debit cards or other payment methods. These fees can significantly increase the final payment amount.

[0037] In this invention, the fare search system returns the total price, including payment fees, after a user searches for airline tickets, providing great convenience to the user.

[0038] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to various embodiments.

[0039] Example 1

[0040] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an embodiment of a method for searching airfares is provided. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart in the accompanying drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions. Furthermore, although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be executed in a different order than that shown here.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of an optional airfare search method according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0042] Step S101: Receive a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request includes at least: fare conditions.

[0043] In this embodiment of the invention, an International Shopping (ISHOP) fare search system can be used to perform the airfare search method. When a user searches for fares, the fare search system obtains ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company, an aviation industry data management and service provider responsible for collecting, managing, and publishing airline fares, rules, and related information) payment fee data, and calculates the total fare including payment fees.

[0044] In this embodiment of the invention, when a user searches for airline tickets through the fare search system, the system's front end can receive the user's input (i.e., a fare search request). This input includes departure point, destination, departure date, return date (if any), passenger type (adult, child, infant), flight preferences (direct flight, connecting flight), and other special needs (such as meals, pet transportation). Here, "fare conditions" refer to the basic parameters constituting the airline ticket price search, including but not limited to the information mentioned above. These conditions are used to filter flight information in the database that meets the criteria, ensuring the relevance and timeliness of the search results.

[0045] Step S102: If the fare search request includes a payment method, retrieve the target fare record corresponding to the payment method from the preset group cache to obtain the target fare record set.

[0046] In this embodiment of the invention, after a user selects a specific payment method (e.g., credit card), the fare search system immediately accesses its preset group cache. This "preset group cache" is pre-established and categorizes ATPCO's payment fee data according to different payment methods (e.g., CASH, CHECK, CARD, VOUCHER, OTHER). When the system receives a signal indicating a credit card as the payment method, it can search the credit card group (CARD) and extract all fare records within that group that are associated with the search criteria, i.e., records that consider credit card ticketing fees. These extracted records constitute the "target fare record set."

[0047] Step S103: If the fare search request does not include payment methods, retrieve the fare records corresponding to all payment methods from the preset group cache to obtain the target fare record set.

[0048] In this embodiment of the invention, if the user does not specify a payment method during the search process, the fare search system will perform a more comprehensive query, no longer limited to a certain group of payment methods, but traversing all preset group caches (such as CASH, CHECK, CARD, VOUCHER, OTHER) to extract all fare records, ensuring that even when the payment method is unknown, fare information covering various payment methods can be obtained, forming a comprehensive "target fare record set".

[0049] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an optional fare search system search process according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the fare search system includes two scenarios:

[0050] 1) The user selects a payment method, such as a credit card. ISHOP will then return whether this method is supported. If supported, it will return the amount, which is the additional Ticketing Fee to be paid.

[0051] 2) If the user is unsure of the payment method, ISHOP will return all supported payment methods and their amounts, i.e., the Ticketing Fee amount for each payment method.

[0052] Step S104: Verify the target fare record set based on the fare conditions to obtain valid data.

[0053] In this embodiment of the invention, if a target fare record set is obtained, these records can be further verified to ensure they truly meet the user's fare criteria. This process includes, but is not limited to, verifying the ticketing location, passenger identity, ticketing time, and geographical information. For example, the system will check whether a specific route is applicable to the selected payment method, and whether there are specific ticketing fee reduction policies applicable to this passenger group or situations where tickets are purchased in a specific region. This series of verification operations further filters the data in the target fare record set, leaving only truly valid data that not only meets the user's search criteria but also accurately reflects the potential payment fees.

[0054] Step S105: Based on valid data, determine the total fare for all preset flight tickets and display the total fare for each preset flight ticket. Here, a preset flight ticket refers to a flight ticket that meets the fare conditions, and the total fare refers to the fare including payment handling fees.

[0055] In this embodiment of the invention, after verification and obtaining valid data, this information can be integrated to calculate the actual cost of each flight ticket, i.e., the "total fare". The total fare is calculated based on the base fare stated in the valid data plus any possible ticketing fees. This calculation is performed automatically on the server side without human intervention, ensuring the objectivity and real-time nature of the results. Then, the system presents the calculated total fare information to the user, clearly indicating the total price including ticketing fees for each flight.

[0056] In summary, upon receiving a user search request containing fare criteria, the fare search system accurately retrieves the corresponding target fare record or fare records for all payment methods from a pre-set group cache, based on whether the request includes payment methods, forming a target fare record set. Then, the target fare record set is validated in real-time based on the fare criteria to ensure the validity and accuracy of the information. Finally, based on valid data, the system determines and displays the total fare for all pre-set flight tickets that meet the fare criteria, including any payment processing fees that may be incurred within the total fare. This provides users with more comprehensive and transparent fare information, meeting their travel needs while also providing airlines and sales platforms with opportunities to increase revenue. This achieves the goal of quickly responding to user fare search requests, thus improving search efficiency and providing total fare information including payment processing fees. Ultimately, it solves the current technical problems of opaque payment processing fee information and incomplete search results.

[0057] In the airfare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application, the fare search system is connected to a data publishing database, which is used to collect fare data published by various airline platforms.

[0058] In this embodiment of the invention, to ensure that the ISHOP system can reflect the latest fare information from various airlines in real time and accurately, a close connection is established between the system and the Data Release Coordinator (ATPCO). The Data Release Coordinator plays a pivotal role in information aggregation and transmission, responsible for collecting fare data from various airline platforms, including but not limited to base fares, discount information, taxes, and crucial ticketing fees.

[0059] In this embodiment of the invention, the data publishing library connects to the information systems of major airlines via an API (Application Programming Interface) to automatically capture and store the latest fare data published on these airline platforms. Regarding payment processing fees, the data publishing library pays particular attention to the airlines' fee regulations for different payment methods (credit cards, cash, checks, vouchers, and others). This information is stored in a structured manner for easy subsequent analysis and retrieval.

[0060] In this embodiment, the fare search system, through its connection with a data repository, can quickly obtain the latest fare information and payment fee policies of major airlines, providing users with a one-stop, comprehensive fare query experience. Furthermore, by directly obtaining first-hand data from the data repository, potential errors in data transmission during intermediate stages are reduced, improving the accuracy of search results. Users no longer need to separately query the payment fees of each airline; the ISHOP system directly displays the total fare, including the ticketing fee, in the search results, greatly improving search efficiency and user experience.

[0061] To improve the accuracy of building a preset group cache, in the airfare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application, before receiving the fare search request initiated by the user, all fare data is obtained from the data publishing library; all fare data is parsed to obtain multiple fare records; a preset group cache is built with each payment method as the primary key and the fare record corresponding to each payment method as the primary key value, wherein the payment methods include at least one of the following: cash, check, credit card, voucher, and other payment methods.

[0062] In this embodiment of the invention, ATPCO's definition of payment fees is mainly concentrated in the payment fee table. However, this table has many fields, and if each field is validated individually, the data volume would be large. Therefore, this raw data can be uniformly grouped and cached. The grouped cache is a key-value result. The keys are CASH, CHECK, CARD, VOUCHER, OTHER, etc., and the value is the raw payment fee data.

[0063] Specifically, the ISHOP system first establishes a connection with a data repository to retrieve all fare data. This data repository, as the central hub for airfare data, stores and updates information such as fares, rules, and ticketing fees published by various airlines, ensuring the timeliness and comprehensiveness of the information. The ISHOP system downloads all fare data, including base fares and ticketing fees, from the data repository through pre-defined API calls. This process is typically performed automatically on a regular basis, but can also be triggered in real-time as needed to ensure the system's internal data remains up-to-date.

[0064] After acquiring all fare data, the ISHOP system needs to perform in-depth analysis to separate each specific fare record. This involves formatting the data and extracting field information to ensure that each fare record can be correctly identified and utilized. For example, the ISHOP system uses a data parser to parse the fare data according to a predefined format. The parser identifies and extracts key fields from each record, such as flight information, ticket price, applicable rules, and Ticketing Fee, to generate standardized fare records that can be further processed.

[0065] Then, within the ISHOP system, a dedicated cache database can be created to store fare records grouped by payment method. For example, all ticketing fees related to credit card payments would be grouped into the "Credit Card" group, all ticketing fees related to cash payments would be grouped into the "Cash" group, and so on. The fare records for each payment method group would be stored in list format for easy access and retrieval later.

[0066] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an optional group cache key-value structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the Key can be divided into CASH, CHECK, CARD, VOUCHER, and OTHER. The value corresponding to each Key is the original payment fee data, such as ticketing fee data 1, ..., ticketing fee data n.

[0067] In this embodiment, by acquiring and parsing data and building a preset group cache, the efficiency and accuracy of the ISHOP system in processing payment fees are improved. This achieves efficient integration of fare information, allowing users to not only obtain real-time basic fare information when searching for flight tickets, but also to clearly see all payment fees related to ticket purchases, thus making more informed and economical choices. Furthermore, airlines and online sales platforms also benefit, gaining greater flexibility in managing their ticketing fee policies, enhancing market competitiveness, and improving customer satisfaction.

[0068] To improve the accuracy of parsing fare data, the airfare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application determines a fare record template, which includes at least: a payment method field, a ticket sales location field, a passenger identity information field, a ticket sales time field, and a geographic information field; the fare data is parsed to determine the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information contained in the fare data; the fare record template is filled based on the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information to generate multiple fare records, wherein the field values ​​corresponding to each field in each fare record are not completely identical.

[0069] In this embodiment of the invention, when processing the payment fare search function, the ISHOP system can first define a fare record template, which will serve as the architecture for storing and displaying fare information. The template includes at least the following key fields: payment method field, ticket sales location field, passenger identity information field, ticket sales time field, and geographic information field. For example, the payment method field may be an enumeration type, including options such as "cash," "check," "credit card," "voucher," and "other"; while the ticket sales location field may be a geographic coordinate or area code. Each field is a key dimension for the system to understand fare data and is crucial for subsequent accurate searching and display.

[0070] Then, the ISHOP system uses a data parsing algorithm that can identify the specific format of fare data in the data release database, breaking down each record into the field values ​​defined in the template. For example, regarding payment methods, the algorithm extracts the payment method specified by the airline at the time of ticket purchase and maps it to the payment method field of the template. The ISHOP system then maps the parsed field values ​​one by one to the corresponding fields in the fare record template, completing the template population and ultimately generating structured fare records. These records will be stored in a pre-defined grouped cache for subsequent real-time verification and querying. Because the information in each record may vary depending on factors such as airline, route, and time, the values ​​of each field in the generated fare records will also differ.

[0071] In this embodiment, by parsing and standardizing fare data to generate records, the fare information released by airlines can be processed more efficiently, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the data. This not only greatly enriches the display of search results, providing users with total fare information including the ticketing fee, but also optimizes the backend data management process, enabling the ISHOP system to maintain stable operation and provide a fast-responding user experience when faced with massive amounts of fare data.

[0072] Optionally, the fare conditions include at least: purchase location, passenger identity, purchase time, origin, and destination. To improve the accuracy of verifying the target fare record set, in the airfare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application, the ticket sales location information in each target fare record contained in the target fare record set is verified to determine a first fare record set consistent with the purchase location; the passenger identity information in each first fare record contained in the first fare record set is verified to determine a second fare record set consistent with the passenger identity; the ticket sales time information in each second fare record contained in the second fare record set is verified to determine a third fare record set sold at the purchase time; the geographical information in each third fare record contained in the third fare record set is verified to determine a fourth fare record set consistent with the origin and destination; the fourth fare record set is verified to obtain valid data.

[0073] In this embodiment of the invention, after grouping and caching the ATPCO source data, the data also needs to be verified. The information that needs to be verified is as follows:

[0074] Verification Information 1: Ticketing Location Information. This includes the region where the ticket is sold and the IATA (International Air Transport Association) number of the ticketing agency.

[0075] Verification Information 2: Passenger identity information, which includes the passenger's identity, age, and occupation.

[0076] Verification Information 3: Ticketing Time Information. This includes the ticketing time, which is the time when the user performs the search. ISHOP needs to verify the ticketing time.

[0077] Verification Information 4: Geographic Information, which includes the user's origin and destination, as well as the place of issuance of credit cards, checks, etc.

[0078] Specifically, the ISHOP system first checks the sales location information of each target fare record in the target fare record set to ensure that these records are applicable to the user's location or the location where the user wishes to purchase tickets, thereby determining a first set of fare records consistent with the purchase location. For example, by comparing the purchase location information entered by the user with the sales location field in the target fare records, the system filters out fare records that meet the criteria. For instance, if the user is in Beijing, the system will only retain fare records that indicate they can be sold in Beijing, discarding irrelevant records from other regions.

[0079] Then, the ISHOP system continues to verify the first set of fare records, checking the passenger identity information in each first fare record to ensure that this information matches the user's personal attributes, thereby determining a second set of fare records that matches the passenger identity. For example, the system compares the identity information provided by the user (such as adult, child, student, etc.) with the passenger identity field in each first fare record to filter out fare records that are suitable for the current user's identity.

[0080] Next, a time verification is performed on the second set of fare records to check whether the ticket sales time marked in each second fare record covers the current user's purchase time, thereby determining a third set of fare records sold at the purchase time. For example, by comparing the user's purchase time with the ticket sales time range recorded in each second fare record, fare records valid within the user's purchase time window are selected.

[0081] Next, the ISHOP system, based on the third set of fare records, examines the geographical information in each third fare record, including the origin and destination, to ensure that this information matches the user's travel route, forming a fourth set of fare records that matches the origin and destination. For example, the origin and destination entered by the user are compared with the geographical information fields in each third fare record to ensure that all filtered fare records cover the user's travel route.

[0082] After completing the above multi-dimensional verification, the ISHOP system can conduct a final comprehensive evaluation of the fourth fare record set to determine the final valid data set. For example, additional checks on the completeness and compliance of the records can be performed to ensure that all selected data is accurate, reliable, and legal.

[0083] In this embodiment, based on the user's specific geographic location, identity attributes, purchase time, and travel route, the fare records in the preset group cache are finely filtered and verified to determine the valid fare data that best matches the user's current purchase conditions. This not only improves the accuracy and usability of search results but also enhances the real-time responsiveness of the ISHOP system, ensuring that users can obtain the most relevant and reliable airfare information, including payment fees, anytime, anywhere, thereby improving the convenience of airfare purchase and user satisfaction.

[0084] Optionally, the geographic information includes: the place of payment. In order to improve the accuracy of verifying the fourth fare record set, in the airfare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application, when the fare search request includes a payment method, the place of issuance of the payment method is determined; and the fourth fare record indicating the payment place that is consistent with the place of issuance is selected from the fourth fare record set to obtain valid data.

[0085] In this embodiment of the invention, when the ISHOP system receives a fare search request containing payment methods, it can first determine the issuing location of the payment method based on the user's selected payment method. For example, if the user chooses to pay with a credit card, the system will identify the issuing region of the credit card. Exemplarily, the ISHOP system utilizes a payment method identification module, which can accurately determine the issuing location of the payment instrument based on payment method information, such as the first few digits of the credit card number (usually representing the issuing bank and issuing region).

[0086] Then, based on the issuing location information of the payment method, the ISHOP system further filters fourth-fare records from the fourth fare record set that indicate a payment location consistent with that issuing location. These records are ultimately determined as valid data and used to display specific payment fees and other relevant information to the user. For example, each record in the fourth fare record set can be compared geographically to ensure that its payment location indication (i.e., the geographical scope to which the payment fee specified in the fare record applies) is consistent with the issuing location of the payment method. For instance, if a user uses a credit card issued in region A, the system will only retain fare records that indicate a specific ticketing fee is charged for credit cards issued in region A.

[0087] In this embodiment, by accurately identifying the place of issuance of the payment method and further filtering fare records consistent with the payment location indication based on this information, the ISHOP system can ensure that the fares and payment fees displayed to users are the most accurate and directly relevant. This not only avoids user confusion when faced with irrelevant or inaccurate fee information but also ensures that the charging policies of airlines and payment platforms are correctly implemented, enhancing the transparency and fairness of the entire transaction process.

[0088] To improve the accuracy of determining the total fare for all preset flight tickets, the ticket fare search method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application determines the preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record contained in the valid data; and determines the total fare for the preset flight ticket based on the ticket price contained in the valid fare record and the payment handling fee.

[0089] In this embodiment of the invention, after completing a series of filtering and verification processes, the ISHOP system further parses the valid data obtained from the fourth fare record set to determine the specific preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record. For example, by identifying flight information in the valid fare record, including flight number, departure and arrival times, airline, etc., the ISHOP system ensures that it can accurately associate fare records with specific flight tickets. After determining the preset flight ticket indicated by the valid fare record, the ISHOP system calculates the total fare of the preset flight ticket based on the ticket price information and corresponding ticketing fee contained in each valid fare record, i.e., the total ticket cost that the user actually needs to pay.

[0090] In this embodiment, not only can users be shown accurate Ticketing Fee information based on their payment method and place of issue, but these fees can also be added to the base ticket price to calculate the total fare for a preset flight. This makes the ticket search and purchase process more intuitive and simple, allowing users to see the actual payment amount including all fees at a glance. This reduces the hassle of comparing prices across different platforms and understanding hidden fees, enhancing trust and reliance on the ISHOP system.

[0091] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an optional payment fee fare search structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the system can first perform data grouping and caching based on the original data of atpco payment fees. After receiving a user's search request, it can book a flight, obtain the flight fare, and verify the cached data according to the data grouping to obtain the total price including payment fees. The system then returns the flight results (including the total price of payment fees) to the user (i.e., the user search return).

[0092] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an optional user ticketing fee fare search according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 5As shown, when a user searches for fares and enters "Beijing-Los Angeles," the system will return payment fees for all available airlines. For example, for Beijing-Los Angeles, Air China charges a 10 NUC (Numeric Unit of Currency) ticketing fee when paying by credit card; for Beijing-Los Angeles, Hong Kong Airlines waives the ticketing fee when paying in cash.

[0093] The following describes in detail another optional implementation method.

[0094] The fare search system consists of two modules:

[0095] The first module is for grouping and caching the raw data.

[0096] For example, for a one-way ticket from region A to region B, Air China defines a credit card fee of 100 in ticketing fee data 1 and a check fee of 200 in ticketing fee data 2; meanwhile, Air China and Hong Kong Airlines define a credit card fee of 300 in ticketing fee data 3 and a cash fee of 400 in ticketing fee data 4. Therefore, the credit card group has ticketing fee data 1 and 3, the check group has ticketing fee data 2, and the cash group has ticketing fee data 4.

[0097] The second module is for validating the original data.

[0098] When a user searches for regions from region A to region B:

[0099] Scenario 1) When a user confirms payment by credit card, the system retrieves the data from the credit card group, verifies the data, and finally returns the verified data to the user.

[0100] Scenario 2) The user has not determined the payment method. The system obtains data from each group, verifies the data, and finally returns all possible payment fees.

[0101] In this embodiment of the invention, upon receiving a user search request containing fare conditions, the fare search system accurately retrieves the corresponding target fare record or fare records for all payment methods from a preset group cache, based on whether the request includes payment methods, forming a target fare record set. Then, the target fare record set is validated in real time based on the fare conditions to ensure the validity and accuracy of the information. Finally, based on valid data, the total fare for all preset flight tickets that meet the fare conditions is determined and displayed, along with any payment processing fees that may be incurred within the total fare. This provides users with more comprehensive and transparent fare information, meeting their travel needs while also providing airlines and sales platforms with opportunities to increase revenue. This achieves the goal of quickly responding to user fare search requests, thereby improving search efficiency and providing total fare information including payment processing fees. This solves the current technical problems of opaque payment processing fee information and incomplete search results.

[0102] The following is a detailed description with reference to another embodiment.

[0103] Example 2

[0104] The airfare search device provided in this embodiment includes multiple implementation units, each of which corresponds to a specific implementation step in Embodiment 1 above.

[0105] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of an optional airfare search device according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as... Figure 6 As shown, the search device may include: a receiving unit 60, a first acquisition unit 61, a second acquisition unit 62, a verification unit 63, and a determination unit 64.

[0106] The receiving unit 60 is used to receive a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request includes at least: fare conditions;

[0107] The first acquisition unit 61 is used to obtain the target fare record corresponding to the payment method from the preset group cache when the fare search request includes a payment method, and obtain the target fare record set.

[0108] The second acquisition unit 62 is used to obtain all the fare records corresponding to the payment methods from the preset group cache when the fare search request does not contain the payment method, and obtain the target fare record set.

[0109] Verification unit 63 is used to verify the target fare record set based on fare conditions to obtain valid data;

[0110] The determination unit 64 is used to determine the total fare of all preset flight tickets based on valid data, and to display the total fare of each preset flight ticket. The preset flight ticket refers to the flight ticket that meets the fare conditions, and the total fare refers to the fare including payment handling fees.

[0111] When the aforementioned search device receives a user search request containing fare criteria, the fare search system accurately retrieves the corresponding target fare record or fare records for all payment methods from a preset group cache, based on whether the request includes payment methods, forming a target fare record set. Then, the target fare record set is validated in real time based on the fare criteria to ensure the validity and accuracy of the information. Finally, based on valid data, the total fare for all preset flight tickets that meet the fare criteria is determined and displayed, along with any payment processing fees that may be incurred within the total fare. This provides users with more comprehensive and transparent fare information, meeting their travel needs while also providing airlines and sales platforms with opportunities to increase revenue. This achieves the goal of quickly responding to user fare search requests, thereby improving search efficiency and providing total fare information including payment processing fees. This solves the current technical problems of opaque payment processing fee information and incomplete search results.

[0112] Optionally, the fare search system is connected to a data repository, which collects fare data published by various airline platforms.

[0113] Optionally, the search device further includes: a first acquisition module, configured to acquire all fare data from a data publishing database before receiving a fare search request initiated by a user; a first parsing module, configured to parse all fare data to obtain multiple fare records; and a first construction module, configured to construct a preset group cache with each payment method as the primary key and the fare record corresponding to each payment method as the primary key value, wherein the payment methods include at least one of the following: cash, check, credit card, voucher, or other payment methods.

[0114] Optionally, the first parsing module includes: a first determining submodule, used to determine the fare record template, wherein the fare record template includes at least: a payment method field, a ticket sales location field, a passenger identity information field, a ticket sales time field, and a geographic information field; a first parsing submodule, used to parse the fare data to determine the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information contained in the fare data; and a first filling submodule, used to fill the fare record template based on the payment method, ticket sales location information, passenger identity information, ticket sales time information, and geographic information to generate multiple fare records, wherein the field values ​​corresponding to each field in each fare record are not completely identical.

[0115] Optionally, the fare conditions include at least: purchase location, passenger identity, purchase time, origin, and destination. The verification unit includes: a first verification module, used to verify the ticket sales location information in each target fare record contained in the target fare record set, and determine the first fare record set consistent with the purchase location; a second verification module, used to verify the passenger identity information in each first fare record contained in the first fare record set, and determine the second fare record set consistent with the passenger identity; a third verification module, used to verify the ticket sales time information in each second fare record contained in the second fare record set, and determine the third fare record set sold at the purchase time; a fourth verification module, used to verify the geographical information in each third fare record contained in the third fare record set, and determine the fourth fare record set consistent with the origin and destination; and a fifth verification module, used to verify the fourth fare record set to obtain valid data.

[0116] Optionally, the geographic information includes: the place of payment; the fifth verification module includes: a second determination submodule, used to determine the place of issuance of the payment method when the fare search request includes the payment method; and a first filtering submodule, used to filter the fourth fare records from the fourth fare record set that indicate the place of payment consistent with the place of issuance, to obtain valid data.

[0117] Optionally, the determining unit includes: a first determining module, used to determine the preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record contained in the valid data; and a second determining module, used to determine the total fare of the preset flight ticket based on the ticket price contained in the valid fare record and the payment handling fee.

[0118] The search device described above may also include a processor and a memory. The receiving unit 60, the first acquisition unit 61, the second acquisition unit 62, the verification unit 63, the determination unit 64, etc., are all stored in the memory as program units, and the processor executes the program units stored in the memory to realize the corresponding functions.

[0119] The aforementioned processor contains a kernel, which retrieves the corresponding program units from memory. One or more kernels can be configured; by adjusting kernel parameters, the total fare for all preset flight tickets is determined based on valid data, and the total fare for each preset flight ticket is displayed.

[0120] The aforementioned memory may include non-permanent memory in computer-readable media, such as random access memory (RAM) and / or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM) or flash RAM, and the memory includes at least one memory chip.

[0121] This invention also provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a data processing device, is suitable for executing an initialization program having the following method steps: receiving a data verification request sent by a target terminal, wherein the data verification request includes at least: receiving a fare search request initiated by a user; if the fare search request includes a payment method, retrieving the target fare record corresponding to the payment method from a preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set; if the fare search request does not include a payment method, retrieving the fare records corresponding to all payment methods from the preset group cache to obtain a target fare record set; verifying the target fare record set based on fare conditions to obtain valid data; and based on the valid data, determining the total fare of all preset flight tickets and displaying the total fare of each preset flight ticket.

[0122] According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is also provided, including a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the airfare search method described above.

[0123] According to another aspect of the present invention, an electronic device is also provided, including one or more processors and a memory, the memory being used to store one or more programs, wherein when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to implement the above-described method for searching airfares.

[0124] Figure 7 This is a hardware structure block diagram of an electronic device (or mobile device) for a method of searching airfares according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 As shown, an electronic device may include one or more processors (e.g., Figure 7 The processors 702a, 702b, ..., 702n, etc., may include, but are not limited to, processing devices such as microprocessors (MCUs) or programmable logic devices (FPGAs), and a memory 704 for storing data. In addition, it may include: a display, an input / output interface (I / O interface), a universal serial bus (USB) port (which may be included as one of the ports of the I / O interface), a network interface, a keyboard, a power supply, and / or a camera. Those skilled in the art will understand that... Figure 7 The structure shown is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the structure of the electronic device described above. For example, the electronic device may also include components that are more... Figure 7 The more or fewer components shown, or having the same Figure 7 The different configurations shown.

[0125] The sequence numbers of the above embodiments of the present invention are for descriptive purposes only and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0126] The embodiments or examples disclosed herein are not exhaustive, but merely illustrative of some embodiments or examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure. Unless otherwise specified, each step in a particular embodiment or example can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a particular embodiment or example can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a particular embodiment or example can be arbitrarily interchanged. Furthermore, optional methods or examples in a particular embodiment or example can be arbitrarily combined; moreover, embodiments or examples can be arbitrarily combined. For example, some or all steps of different embodiments or examples can be arbitrarily combined, and a particular embodiment or example can be arbitrarily combined with optional methods or examples of other embodiments or examples.

[0127] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0128] In the several embodiments provided by this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed technical content can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units can be a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection can be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection of units or modules can be electrical or other forms.

[0129] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0130] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0131] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), portable hard drives, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0132] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An airfare search method, characterized by, The application is applied to a fare search system, comprising: receiving a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request at least includes a fare condition; in the case that the fare search request contains a payment method, obtaining target fare records corresponding to the payment method from a preset grouping cache to obtain a target fare record set; in the case that the fare search request does not contain a payment method, obtaining fare records corresponding to all payment methods from the preset grouping cache to obtain a target fare record set; based on the fare condition, checking the target fare record set to obtain valid data; based on the valid data, determining the total fare of all preset flight tickets, and displaying the total fare of each preset flight ticket, wherein the preset flight ticket refers to a flight ticket meeting the fare condition, and the total fare refers to a fare containing a payment fee.

2. The search method of claim 1, wherein, The fare search system is connected with a data publishing library, and the data publishing library is used to collect fare data published by platforms of various airlines.

3. The search method of claim 2, wherein, Before receiving the fare search request initiated by the user, further comprising: obtaining all the fare data from the data publishing library; parsing all the fare data to obtain a plurality of fare records; constructing the preset grouping cache by taking each payment method as a primary key and taking the fare record corresponding to each payment method as a primary key value, wherein the payment method includes at least one of the following: cash, check, credit card, coupon, and other payment methods.

4. The search method of claim 3, wherein, The step of parsing all the fare data to obtain a plurality of fare records comprises: determining a fare record template, wherein the fare record template at least includes a payment method field, a ticketing place field, a passenger identity field, a ticketing time field, and a geographic information field; parsing the fare data to determine the payment method, ticketing place information, passenger identity information, ticketing time information, and geographic information contained in the fare data; filling the fare record template based on the payment method, the ticketing place information, the passenger identity information, the ticketing time information, and the geographic information to generate a plurality of fare records, wherein the field values of each field on each fare record are not completely the same.

5. The search method of claim 1, wherein, The fare condition at least includes a purchase place, a passenger identity, a purchase time, a starting place, and a destination, and the step of checking the target fare record set based on the fare condition to obtain valid data comprises: checking the ticketing place information in each target fare record contained in the target fare record set to determine a first fare record set consistent with the purchase place; checking the passenger identity information in each first fare record contained in the first fare record set to determine a second fare record set consistent with the passenger identity; checking the ticketing time information in each second fare record contained in the second fare record set to determine a third fare record set sold at the purchase time; checking geographical information in each third fare record included in the third fare record set, to determine a fourth fare record set consistent with the origin and the destination; checking the fourth fare record set to obtain the valid data.

6. The search method of claim 5, wherein, The geographical information includes a payment location, and the step of checking the fourth fare record set to obtain the valid data includes: In a case where the fare search request includes the payment method, determining an issuing location of the payment method; filtering, from the fourth fare record set, a fourth fare record indicated by the payment location consistent with the issuing location to obtain the valid data.

7. The search method of claim 1, wherein, The step of determining the total fare of all preset flight tickets based on the valid data includes: determining the preset flight ticket indicated by each valid fare record included in the valid data; determining the total fare of the preset flight ticket based on a ticket price and a payment fee included in the valid fare record.

8. An apparatus for searching for an airfare, characterized by comprising: Applied to a fare search system, comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive a fare search request initiated by a user, wherein the fare search request at least includes a fare condition; a first obtaining unit configured to, in a case where the fare search request includes a payment method, obtain target fare records corresponding to the payment method from a preset grouping cache to obtain a target fare record set; a second obtaining unit configured to, in a case where the fare search request does not include a payment method, obtain fare records corresponding to all payment methods from the preset grouping cache to obtain a target fare record set; a checking unit configured to check the target fare record set based on the fare condition to obtain valid data; a determining unit configured to determine a total fare of all preset flight tickets based on the valid data, and display the total fare of each preset flight ticket, wherein a preset flight ticket refers to a flight ticket meeting the fare condition, and the total fare refers to a fare including a payment fee.

9. A computer program product, characterised in that, A non-volatile computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the method for searching a ticket fare according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. An electronic device, comprising: One or more processors and a memory for storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method for searching a ticket fare according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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