Where they add the connecting flight by "zone". Like non gateway West Coast cities are zone A or whatever $50 more than the gateway city, Midwest cities are zone B or whatever $100 more, East coast cities are zone C or whatever $150 more. Rules depend on the ticket. A travel agents constructs the itinerary. But the advantage is they charge by zone for the domestic connecting flights which is often much cheaper if you live in an off the main path city that usually has expensive domestic flights. MNL is one of those places where you "may" (or may not) still get a better deal calling a travel agent than you will on-line. Especially with connections included to nongateway cities. It's worth a phone call to find out.