Originally Posted by
Sykes
While true, that's only tangentially relevant to why an itinerary like OP's used to work but no longer does anymore. United used to allow you to combine cheap domestic fares end-on-end with most of their discount international fares, so raehl311 would have previously been able to buy an ORD->CDG->MCO open jaw fare and tack on a later MCO->ORD domestic leg on the same ticket. That is no longer the case as United has added significant restrictions to combinability.
So back then you could have CDGMCO (half RT intl fare) and a later MCOORD (OW domestic fare) on a single ticket in sequential coupons? When compared to the current method of separate tickets, were the only advantages of this the connection protection + a single change fee, or did it also result in an (additional) discount on the final domestic leg (ie lower total price vs separate tickets for the same itinerary) or any other advantages?