An information systems consultant who lives in Dallas must spend the majority of the month of March onsite with a client in San Diego. Her travel schedule for the month is as follows:
Leave Dallas
Leave San Diego
Monday, March 2
Friday, March 6
Monday, March 9
Thursday, March 12
Tuesday, March 17
Friday, March 20
Monday, March 23
Wednesday, March 25
The usual round-trip ticket price between Dallas and San Diego is $750. However, the airline offers a 25% discount if the dates on a round-trip ticket cover less than 7 nights and include a weekend. A 35% discount is offered for round-trip tickets covering 10 or more nights, and a 45% discount is available for round-trip tickets covering 20 or more nights. The consultant can purchase 4 round-trip tickets in any manner that allows her to leave Dallas and San Diego on the days indicated.
a. Draw a network flow model for this problem.
b. Implement the problem in a spreadsheet and solve it.
c. What is the optimal solution? How much does this save for 4 full-cost round-trip tickets?