Why is IND->DC so expensive?
 

I'm trying to plan out a two city trip to see some family in March. Getting from DC to Chicago is very cheap (<$100), and getting from Chicago to Indy is also very cheap (<$100), but getting a ticket home from Indy to DC nonstop is like $400.

I tried a few different days around March to see if maybe I had just hit a major event, but no, pretty much any day in mid-march is $400.

The weird thing is, if I want to go out of my way and connect, it's only $100.

Why is non-stop service from Indy to DC so expensive? I ask only because I can see myself making several trips out there in the next few years. It would be nice to fly direct for a decent price. Are these prices reletively normal? Why would they be so different than DC->Chicago prices? I know prices fluctuate but the large gap between Chicago and Indy has me puzzled.

Thank UA and NW for their nonsense rate structures on 1-way fares. I picked some dates at random and -- if it helps you at all to know this -- you can find a nonstop round trip for like $100 less than the one way n/s, and throw away the 2nd leg. I take no responsibility for any jack booted airline tactics ruining your day if this plan is discovered....

On the other hand if you book it all as a circle trip or whatever the proper term is (multi city itinerary in Kayak/ITA) -- they may price each leg as 1/2 of the round trip fare and save you money that way, give it a try.

/pbz

I've run across the same fare problems when I try to do MR's on United.
The suggestion of trying to book two one way trips often helps. Sometimes, just waiting a few days or a week and trying again gives a whole new fare scheme. I'm sure the bean counters at the revenue management office think up new tricks daily. Also the IND-IAD flights on UA are all RJ's so less available lower fare buckets.

You could try IND-BWI instead, which has the Southwest effect to help reduce prices. That, or do as was suggested above and see if it can be booked as a circle trip. You might need a competent travel agent to do that, but in this case maybe it's worth the extra cost of getting one.

Doesn't help too much - BWI-IND was via MDW for the longest time, with a cost structure that always was a few $ more than MDW (to account for the greater distance, avoid hidden city ticketing, I'd guess). When nonstop BWI-IND service started, the prices never fell to match similar nonstop route prices (e.g. CMH, SDF, BNA). WN to DCA and IAD (via MDW) is common-rated to BWI, so not much help. Thus, the effect in this instance is minimal and WAS-IND is generally still overpriced most of the time.

one of the strange things about the 15,000 mile for frequent flyer stuff is that it's made some short trips better values using frequent flyer miles than some long trips.

so when a flight costs $400, it can make more sense to use the 15,000 miles for a ticket to dc. (which american and united allows) than to sav use 25,000 miles for a trip to l.a. that would cost $250.