> I figured out long ago that one carrier always has the best rates for my city, middlemen rarely/never cost less Is this WN out of Burbank or something? Your

> I figured out long ago that one carrier always has the best rates for my city, middlemen rarely/never cost less Is this WN out of Burbank or something? Your experience (to the first point) is not typical. To the second point, even restricting to one carrier, using a different ticketing carrier can indeed be advantageous, especially if you're using credit card-derived points. Now, if you're at an airport only served by a single (U)LCC I can see both points but that seems rare.