A few years ago I traveled a lot for business and was entitled to fly FC on 2500+ mile routes. Since many of my flights were across the country (US) this meant most tickets were FC. We had a company travel agent that I dealt with directly and she routinely got me first class flights for 20-50% over the coach fare.

Now when I search for myself I find that FC is usually double or more what coach is.

Is there a good way to look for discounted FC tickets? I'm not talking about award tickets or upgrades. That is another possible option. I would just like to try to find first class tickets for purchase that are less than what I am finding.

Any suggestions? Would I be better off talking to a real travel agent?