Wanted to give an update as I'm about to book:
Currently settled on round trip no-nonsense flight round trip between PIT-BKK for four weeks. Got all the approvals and was ready to book this morning. I got the AMEX card people were talking about and I was trying to book a flight through that portal and right when I clicked confirm purchase it took me to a new screen saying the flight price had changed and it was 50% more. So obviously I was unhappy and I tried elsewhere. Seems like flight prices just suddenly exploded...I've tried nearly everywhere - may try to wait till they go down but noticed that ANA is still selling a reasonable flight for about half the price that united offers (codeshare agreement). My only fear is I've found their website a nightmare to use and their sending up dozens of warnings about the codshare. Has anyone booked directly through them / how did you manage all this?

Also does anyone know what the implication of a multi-airline flight on expedia is? Does this screw up checked baggage? Is it not a single PNR? They had good prices on some JAL or ANA flights, but they basically pulled the same .... the amex portal did and added several thousand dollars to price at the last possible step.