When I check for flights on ITA and Yahoo, I come up with an itinerary and cost I like, but the actual airline websites don't show the same segments nor price.

We're considering going from CMH to TPA, 4/24 leaving at 7:20 AM returning on 4/27 at 12:45 PM with only one stop each way. I can find the same flights and prices on the "off" sites for under 200.00, but the airline sites (Northwest and Continental) aren't showing that price and the 12:45 flight has two stops instead of one.

I'm guessing that if we decide to go on with this trip I'll need to call the airlines to find out why they can't offer the same thing I'm finding elsewhere?

The issue centers around ITA spitting out a ticket entirely on NW metal, but issued by CO. Looking at the fare rules, I'm doubting the fare you are seeing is even bookable.

All Travel is on:

CO FLIGHTS 1-889
CO FLIGHTS 1000-1299
CO FLIGHTS 1400-1899
CO FLIGHTS 2000-3169
CO FLIGHTS 3200-3499
CO FLIGHTS 4900-4949
CO FLIGHTS 5500-5999
CO FLIGHTS 9105-9119
CO FLIGHTS 9120-9310
CO FLIGHTS 9356-9400
CO FLIGHTS 9491-9584
The flights you were looking at are 6619, 6983, 7573, and 7574.

Those flights are operated by Northwest or its regional partners. The only place I see the <$200 fare is from itasoftware.com, which is not a booking site. Continental.com won't show itineraries that are all on codeshares with a Continental leg at all.

You may call CO to see if they can sell your that ticket. Otherwise, cheapest I can find is on Orbtiz, which appears to be able to book it for $206.90 all-in, with NW numbers for the outbound, DL numbers for the inbound.

Thank you both for your quick responses. Since it isn't an important trip I think I'll just step back and wait to see what comes up in the next couple weeks, if anything.

If those are the two flights you absolutely must have I would take Rkkwan's advice and call continental now and see if they will book the ticket for you. Personally, I don't think they will, but it doesn't hurt to try.