I am new to mileage running and have been playing around with ITA to learn how you all get these incredible fares. I have a pretty flexible schedule so I have been mostly screwing around with dates and long haul flights.

I noticed when I was looking up DEN-JNB roundtrip, 1 night stay, that the calender of fares listed a $1,317 flight. When I clicked on it, the first leg priced out around $3200. I clicked it and the return leg came up $1,418. I chose that and the summary page showed that the total ticket cost would be that $1,418. Granted, still a little high for a MR, but I am just playing around for now.

Is it common for the first leg to be so out of sync with the whole ticket, and if I were to book it would I pay the $1,418 or would I be paying the $3200? Also, the $1,317 never appeared in the list of fares. I know it's only $100, but trying to pinch wherever I can.