Originally Posted by rufflesinc

Sigh, that is blanatly not true. As OP explained quite clearly in the OP, an early arrival airside is what allowed for the possibility of making the earlier flight.

Many times, like OP, people add cushion to airport arrival times and end up early enough to make an earlier flight. That has nothing to do with the value of the flight. In fact, on the starting day of long weekends, you usually see evening flights being more expensive than the morning or early afternoon flights.