Price Route Optimizer

Route Options Explored

Flight Routes

1. Direct — A → B (baseline)
2. 1-stop — A → C → B (often cheaper)
3. Self-transfer — A → C (separate ticket C → B)
4. Multi-city — A → B → C → A (open-jaw)

Airport Alternatives

• Primary: Usually largest, most expensive
• Secondary: Budget airlines, often cheaper
• Nearby cities: Fly to different city + ground transport

Accommodation Strategies

• Central: Walkable, transit-connected, expensive
• Transit hubs: Near MRT/BTS stations, mid-price
• Outskirts: Cheap, requires transport
• Hostels/Budget: Shared facilities, lowest cost

Optimization Strategies

Output: Price-Optimized Options

Top 5 Total Cost Combinations

Each option shows:

• ✈️ Flight route: Origin → Destination (stops)
• 💰 Flight price: Per person, total
• 🏨 Stay area: Neighborhood, price/night
• 💰 Stay total: For entire trip
• 🚗 Ground transport: Airport to city, city to hotel
• 💰 Ground cost: Trains, buses, taxis
• 🧾 Total cost: Everything included
• 📊 Savings vs direct: How much you save
• ⏱️ Time cost: Extra hours vs direct

Smart Suggestions

• "Fly to DMK instead of BKK" — Save $40, add 30 min bus
• "Stay near BTS On Nut" — 50% cheaper, 20 min to center
• "1-stop in KUL" — Save $80, add 3 hours
• "Self-transfer" — Risky but can save 30%+

How It Works

FOR each candidate date range:
    1. READ all airport options (primary + alternatives)
    2. FETCH flight prices for each route
    3. FETCH hotel prices for each neighborhood
    4. FETCH ground transport for each airport
    5. COMBINE all options → Calculate total cost
    6. COMPUTE cost vs duration trade-off
    7. RANK → Best value options

OUTPUT: Top 5 date/route/neighborhood combinations

Integration

Called by SmartTripClaw for each candidate window:

# For each calendar window found
for window in calendar_windows:
    # Find best route/neighborhood for these dates
    best_option = PriceRouteOptimizer.optimize(
        dates=window,
        origin="SIN",
        destination="BKK"
    )
    window['route'] = best_option

Data Sources

• Flights: Amadeus, Skyscanner, Google Flights
• Ground transport: Rome2Rio, 12Go, local transit APIs
• Hotels: Booking.com, Agoda (by neighborhood)
• Route data: FlightConnections, Rome2Rio

See Also

• references/alternative_airports.md — Secondary airports by region
• references/ground_transport.md — Airport transfer costs/times
• references/neighborhood_prices.md — Hotel price maps by city