Why do airfares for the better time slots always......?

Convenience.

Its more desirable to get on a plane at a good time slot, arrive at a good hour at your destination and not have to stop and change planes. Also sometimes you're on a schedule for your trip so time matters.

If you're flexible about the departure and arrival times and changing planes doesn't bother you; you'll get rewarded with a smaller price tag.

Who has the money to pay the higher rates? Business travelers who are going on the company buck, or people who have saved and planned for a long time for the big vacation. These people can and will travel when they want to. The airline can charge premium rates and still fill the plane, so why should they offer the product for less? The discount seats are to entice travelers who are sensitive to cost to board flights at less-busy times. The budget traveler gets a decent rate, the airline gets more revenue, everyone is happy. As for the stopover flights, nobody really wants to stop over en route, but the airline can use stopover traffic to fill otherwise empty seats on flights serving less-popular destinations.

Airlines like to make the extra buck. They make you pay more for the better choice flights. why? because even thought it's that much more, if you need a specific time you have to take it. Also, they airlines charge you a price for a ticket depending on how many seats are on the plane and how many are actually left. So your friend could buy a non stop from cali to nyc for 500 and you could go on right after and pay 600 for the same flight. They then turn around and either drop the price drastically if it's not selling fast enough or completely discontinue the flight all together. As far as one to multi stops comared to nonstop, its not always cheaper. I have seen plenty cheaper non stop then multiple longer layover flights. Those depend on the airline and crafts taking you from point to point. I recommend using sidestep.com to find flights etc. It searches almost all website that sell tickets and travel.

The more people who want a prime time to fly, the more the airline can charge because people are willing to pay for the convenience.

Stop over flights are dropping some off and picking some new ones up the airlines cost of doing business is much less.

It is called:

a- MARKET = offer and demand

b- CONVENIENCE = efficient route distribution

Please check:

Tips:

a- use flexible dates

b- use alternative airports

http://www.hotwire.com/

http://www.cheapoair.com/

http://www.kayak.com/

http://www.orbitz.com/

http://www.priceline.com/

http://www.expedia.com/default.asp

http://www.farecompare.com/

http://www.farecast.com/

http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

http://www.cheapair.com/