One thing that is really confusing is how airlines price their flights!
I have been checking prices for a couple of months now for my football trips this fall. The Illinois State game in Normal is the ticket that I bought yesterday. Originally I had wanted to fly directly from Fargo to Chicago and drive the 2 hours to get to Normal. Both American and United had the exact same round trip fare of $503.00 for that plan, and the prices have remained pretty constant over the past couple of months. Then yesterday I looked at flying into Peoria, IL with a plane change in Chicago. (Peoria is about 30 miles west of Normal) The price on United was $314.80!
What is wierd is that I will be flying the same flights between Fargo and Chicago that the $503 fare was quoted for. So United will be flying me on two additional flights and getting me about 100 miles closer to my destination at the same time they will be saving me $188!
If anyone else is thinking about going on this trip, there were many empty seats on all four of the flights.