east-yorkshireman has it spot on.

FE works the same way for both longhaul and shorthaul, but the point is that on shorthaul trips you no longer have minimum stay requirements and can do combination fares- i.e. I can do LHR-CDG in Y and then back CDG-LHR in N on the same ticket.

But this model hasn't been rolled out to longhaul (yet ) and you still have to fly in the same class both ways. Hence the 'discrepency' on FE- but it isn't really as if you click all the way through the fare will always come out the same.

[This message has been edited by dnw (edited Dec 08, 2003).]