I learned a few years ago something that surprised me greatly and has saved me a ton of money. I'm sure you more experienced FTers know it, but for the benefit of anyone new or someone like me who just didn't realize you could do this, you can really save money and add flexibility.

Here's what it is. When an airline advertises a super-cheap Saturday-night-stay-required fare. They usually have similar cheap fares to many cities. Almost always, they will sell you a ticket from AAA-BBB-CCC-AAA for the same discounted rate! That is, your total fare would be half of the three round-trip fares!

You can actually build this itinerary yourself online and see. The only thing to be sure of is that the "V" class (or whatever) is available on all the legs you are taking.

I recently booked a SEA-NYC-WAS-SEA trip for $475 using this method. And you don't have to stay over a Saturday night in EACH city---only once after you leave! I used this method two years ago to fly SEA-WAS-NAS-SEA (Saturday stay) for $700 instead of SEA-WAS-SEA (no Saturday stay) for $1800. It was actually Hunnybear's and my first date, scuba diving in the Bahamas. So I think you can see why I have fond memories of this method.