A couple of years back I was flying from the UK into Las Vegas. After I had bought the ticket my plans changed and I was uncertain for a while whether I would need to go straight to San Francisco after landing in Las Vegas. By the time things got settled I couldn't find a cheap Las Vegas to San Francisco ticket. So swallowing hard, I was about to book the American West flight when I thought - heck if I've got to pay this much then I'll see how much first class is and maybe pay a few dollars more for the comfort. Well it turned out that first class at that particular moment in time on that particular day was $5 per ticket LESS than the only available (expensive) coach fare. Guess which I bought!