A
@mrprogguy said:Let me 'splain something to you all about this, because I'm in the business.
Going to Denver: a lot of airlines will fly you through a hub, even when they don't need to. I've been booked from LaGuardia to Memphis to Orlando, and that includes two time-zone changes. (That's -1 LGA->MEM, +1 MEM->MCO.) Airlines just like hubs! (It helps fill the planes.) That being said, there's no reason I can think of that Spokane to SEA/TAC would require a side trip to Denver. I suppose it's possible, but it's more likely to be an error in the returned availability list(s). On the other hand, a lot of those United flights look like code-shares to me, so anything is possible.
It's not that United (since we seem to be picking on them) will refuse to fly direct from Spokane to Seattle, they will (see flights UAL 5730 through 5733). As someone else pointed out, on later pages in Travelocity, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Travelocity will happily turn up odd routings, and if the better routings are all booked up, well then the odd routings are useful all of a sudden, if you simply must travel that day!
@mrprogguy said:
Next, it isn't a given that the really expensive fares represent anything other than coach. There are usually at least 12 different classes of service in coach alone, and several of them are downright expensive. Usually they're seats reserved for last-minute customers. United 6693, for example, is run by SkyWest, a regional carrier, and wouldn't have First Class cabins anyway because the plane is a crop duster.
Looks like UAL 6693 is a CRJ (specific model not identified). Most CRJs operated by SkyWest have 2 or 3 rows of first/business class. Well, the one I took last Sunday did. I'll let you know if the one I take home tomorrow does too ;-)