It's legitimate, just a DL Bulk T fare. I know an agent who sells through a consolidator, compares the price to a published fare, and adds a markup of either a few hundred or something that is between published and consolidator fare. It's still cheaper for the average traveler, and it makes her money. If our clients don't mention an airline loyalty program, I always ask for a preferred carrier or FF #. And most people here fly DL because it's a hub, they have a SM#, but few of them actually had status. Chances are the published fare was considerably higher for DL vs a code share or the bulk fare. I priced an itinerary last week that was $1000 cheaper for an AM coded DL flight, and for some reason, published air was a few dollars cheaper than bulk. No clue why. They were just a family on a budget, so the AM code share saved them $1000. It's possible your agent was trying to keep costs down (but I don't know if they tried to add a markup or not). Being someone wh has status, I would have at least quoted you both figures and asked what you preferred, since you might have opted to pay a bit more for full MQMs/MQDs.