Hee hee - so glad I live in Austin!

It's all about supply and demand - if the airline can get $200 more for flights out of IAH because those routes are more popular, that's what they're going to charge.

I used to live in TUL and found the same thing. I got a TUL-SJC fare for $300 (changing planes in DFW), but the DFW-SJC fare was $900.

Maybe this has changed, because other airlines now use DFW as a hub, but in the past, my travel agent explained that one of the reasons that happens is because the DFW-SJC leg was a non-stop, and AA doesn't have a lot of competition on non-stop flights out of DFW. Most other airlines have to have a change of planes to get from DFW to wherever.

On the other hand, TUL to the destination is going to involve a change of planes almost anywhere you go, on any airline you fly on. So AA has to have a competitive fare.

I'm not saying that's definitely why, and I know there are getting to be more and more flights out of Austin, but that's just an example of supply and demand driving prices.