Automated Trip Planner for Group Travel Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
The distributed nature of today's workforce complicates travel arrangement coordination, leading to redundant costs and inefficiencies, as individuals often handle their own travel plans independently, lacking centralized coordination and resulting in unnecessary expenses and confusion when changes occur.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for automatically identifying and adjusting travel plans for groups, utilizing a software agent or designated entity to notify and adjust travel arrangements based on member profiles, preferences, and availability, thereby coordinating travel services such as airfare, accommodations, and transportation to reduce redundancy and optimize resource sharing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If workers independently handle their own travel arrangements, then individual autonomy and flexibility are improved, but redundant costs and coordination inefficiency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an automated trip planner system that acts as an intermediary between workers and travel service providers. This software agent coordinates travel arrangements for groups, enabling resource sharing (hotels, cars, flights) while maintaining individual booking autonomy. The system resolves the contradiction by providing centralized coordination capabilities without requiring workers to manually coordinate with each other, thus reducing redundant costs while preserving individual flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The trip planner enables workers to self-manage their travel arrangements through automated processes. The system automatically identifies group members, proposes shared travel options, and coordinates bookings based on individual preferences and constraints. This self-service mechanism reduces the need for manual coordination effort while achieving cost savings through resource sharing, resolving the contradiction between individual autonomy and cost efficiency.
2Loss of energy
If centralized coordination of travel arrangements is implemented, then redundant costs are reduced and resource sharing is improved, but system complexity and coordination overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The automated trip planner serves as an intelligent intermediary that handles the complexity of centralized coordination. The software agent automatically collects traveler information, identifies sharing opportunities, negotiates with service providers, and manages bookings. This intermediary approach reduces redundant expenses through coordinated resource sharing while encapsulating system complexity within the automated agent, preventing complexity from propagating to individual workers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual coordination mechanisms (phone calls, emails, spreadsheets) with an automated software-based system. The trip planner uses electronic communication protocols to interact with service providers and automated algorithms to optimize travel arrangements. This substitution eliminates the need for complex human coordination processes while achieving centralized coordination benefits, reducing both redundant expenses and perceived system complexity for users.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual coordination processes are used to manage travel changes, then flexibility in handling unexpected changes is improved, but time consumption and confusion increase
Solution Approach 1:
The trip planner implements self-service capabilities that automatically detect and respond to travel changes. When schedule changes occur (meetings rescheduled, events canceled), the system automatically identifies affected travelers, proposes alternative arrangements, and coordinates modifications with service providers. This automated response mechanism provides flexibility in handling changes while eliminating the time-consuming manual coordination process, as the system independently manages the entire change management workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops that continuously monitor travel arrangements and automatically trigger adjustment processes when changes are detected. The trip planner receives feedback from calendar systems, event management tools, and service providers about schedule changes, then automatically processes these changes by re-coordinating travel arrangements. This feedback-driven approach maintains flexibility in adapting to changes while reducing time consumption through automated detection and response mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system to offer a service to a user based on a profile of the user, in response to an identification of an event. In one embodiment, the service includes offering a travel itinerary. In one embodiment, the profile of the user is based on previously obtained data. In one embodiment, the offering is performed automatically in response to the identification of the event and user. In one embodiment, the offering of the itinerary to the user based on the profile of the user comprises accessing data from at least one of a preference database and a contextual content database. The offering of the itinerary may comprise offering at least one of travel times for the user traveling to a selected area, ground transportation for the user arriving at a selected area, and costs for multiple modes of transportation. In one embodiment, the offering of the service is based in part on one of a type of service, a location, and a partner.