I am a very infrequent flier.  In fact it has been a few years since I last boarded a plane.  Yet, today, I found myself looking to book a flight to Chicago in a couple of months.  I was quickly struck by the complete absence of logic in air fares.  I suppose I should have expected this because in the past I have saved money by taking a flight from Dayton, Ohio with a connection in Cincinnati because it was cheaper than just boarding in Cincinnati and I never quite understood that.

So, today I found that I could fly from Cincinnati to Chicago for $361 or from Dayton to Chicago for $355, not much difference in cost and the distance is about three hundred miles either way.  But here is where it gets weird.  I could save over fifty dollars if I took a flight that had a connection……in Atlanta!  So, I can travel approximately five hundred miles from Dayton to Atlanta and then seven hundred miles from Atlanta to Chicago and it is cheaper?  I am trying to figure  out how the airline makes money by charging less for me to fly four times the miles.

I wonder if I could reduce the cost even further by flying from Dayton to Los Angeles and then to Chicago or maybe to Honolulu first?  Perhaps if I go to Chicago by way of Sydney, Australia they will have to pay me!