Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
Regarding airfares, they aren't always as straightforward as you might think.

For example, which do you think is cheaper: LA to Montana, or LA to New York?

The obvious answer is LA to Montana, since it's far less distance, but that's wrong! Typically you can fly LA-NY far cheaper than LA-Montana. Why? Because pricing is often based upon how common the route is, in addition to distance. If the airline flies there a lot, it will be cheaper than expected. If the airline doesn't go there very often (and if it's not a typical stop on the way to other frequent destination), you pay a premium for that.

This might be why lewfather gets better rates from Detroit than John Stamos does from OKC.


Trying to explain this to people is like trying to explain quantum physics. This is why if you live in some backwater part of the country (or if you are flying to some backwater place) you should always either 1) travel to a larger airport to catch your flight if its feasible or 2) look for a connecting flight through a major airport --especially places like Detroit, Atlanta and other International airports. So many people from my area travel to Providence RI to fly from TF Green airport instead of Logan in Boston because they say its, quicker, it's not as busy as Logan, the traffic isn't as bad, yada, yada, yada, and pay triple the price on the flight.

You can usually tell where the cheapest rates are by where the connecting flights occur --if an airport connects in Kentucky you know the flight is probably far more expensive than if it connects in say Detroit, even if Detroit is out of the way of your destination. I flew to Spartanburg SC a few times and once I was connected in Kentucky and once in Detroit, guess which flight was far cheaper? Same thing going to Vegas, a connecting flight in LA (yes flying Boston to LA to Vegas) is cheaper than a flight from Boston to Vegas connecting in Denver.