the trick seems to be to ask under what conditions the fare is available and then to stick to those conditions. A reservations agent will always ask for specific dates of travel and ticket price will almost always come out higher because of this. If you ask the agent to tell you the lowest fare on the farelist on their computer, telling them that you don't have dates set yet - they can then tell you under what conditions these fares are applicable (advance purchase/sat. stay, etc.). This only works if your dates and/or times are flexible.