Originally Posted by BumpMe!
Don't you find booking CO through IAH manually can significantly increase the fare? The only way I have been able to successfully route FLA to DCA via IAH and maintain a reasonable fare is to purchase NWA paper on, obviously, CO metal?!?!?
Is there a tactic I'm missing?
That is the right tactic - but to get 100% EQM, you need to book Q or higher on NWA. Here is how things break down as a comparison if you go for the lowest fare on NWA instead:
EQM mileage approx. from my memory
100% EQM on CO
----------------------
FLL - EWR 1,073
EWR - DCA 500
DCA - EWR 500
EWR - FLL 1,073
----------------------
total EQM 3,146
50% EQM on NW
------------------
FLL - IAH 500
IAH - BWI 625
DCA - DTW 250
DTW - FLL 520
--------------------
total EQM 1,895
(going back via IAH adds about 340 EQM, but alot of extra risk as DCA-IAH upgrades are very hard and there is a tight connect back to FLL)
* The lowest CO fare via EWR is about 215 r/t w tax
* The lowest CO fare via IAH is about 310 r/t w tax (Q/I/L classes)
* The lowest CO fare via IAH is 502 r/t w tax (U/V class)
* The lowest NW fare (50% EQM) has been as low as 137 r/t w tax, but is now about 250 on the CO flights.
* The lowest NW fare via IAH to BWI (Q or higher) is 315 r/t w tax. Returning from DCA/IAD increase the fare to 443 r/t w tax