Thanks ijgordon. I've been browsing the oneworld PDF as it's easier to read than the AA pdf. I wanted to visit friends in MSP from the West coast. Normally that would be two segments each way, however I found a flight from LAX-MSP (AA1744) that has the same flight # all the way through. The return (AA1655) is MSP-SFO. Seeing as I spend a lot of my time in in SMF it doesn't matter where on the West coast the return is - I can just by "cheap" SMF-LAX and SFO-SMF flights.

I'll also have a look at your "transcon" suggestions. They might be usefull.

Glenn