That doesn't sound right.

My understanding of the HIP rule (and it is well over 20 years since I did Fares and Ticketing, back when there were FCU's rather than NUC's) was that if there were two sectors - for example AAA-BBB-CCC, you had to look at all three fares - AAA-BBB, AAA-CCC and BBB-CCC and charge the highest of the three.

When they changed from FCU to NUC for fare calculation purposes, they also brought into play the point of sale principle - SITI (Sold Inside Ticketed Inside country of origin), SOTI (I'll leave everyone else to work out what that means, should be obvious though, Guy Betsy won't need to be told), SITO and SOTO.

I can understand how a BKK-LAX ticket might cost more if sold outside Thailand, but cannot really remember why it would be priced the same as a LAX-BKK, unless it was ticketted in the US (therefore a type of SOTO) - my recollection of fare calculation is that the fare would be calculated BKK-LAX in NUC's and converted to THB (first stage). The fare would then be converted to the currency of the country of ticketting (second stage). The THB amount would then be converted to the currency of the country of ticketting, using the BSR at the date of sale. The higher of the two would then be charged.

Or have I killed too many brain cells in premium cabins and airline lounges around the world?

I still can't see though how the HIP rule would come into play on a straightforward point-to-point itinerary, unless things have changed drastically since I had to do a detailed fare calculation.

Dave