Why do they do this?

Last Saturday, I was sitting in a coffee house updating a few of our web pages (new specials). At the next table is a middle-aged couple - each with a laptop open. They are searching for flights to & from Tampa. About every two minutes, one of them announces to the other that they have hit on something. Honestly, I wasn't meaning to eavesdrop but, being in the travel business, I couldn't help picking up some of their chatter.

Among the things they "found" was a double connection - first O'Hare, then Dallas. Another "find" was cooler: Just one connection on the way down (Atlanta) but the return was from Tampa to Phoenix (honest!) and a flight home from there. Then there was the one that was Minneapolis - Newark (I wouldn't wish that one an enemy!) - Tampa. They weren't done yet! They found two non-stops: The only problem was that their return was from Orlando so they talked about renting their car in one city and returning it in the other. Undaunted, they trudged on finding single connections each way... but the return entailed a four hour lay-over getting them home at 11:30 that night.

But they were saving a ton of money, right? The only audible references to fares seemed to indicate that they were looking $290 to $390. Starting to develop saddle sores, I packed up and left. They had been at this for over an hour when I exited - they might still be there! Although I couldn't hear the dates that they were looking at, it was a pre-holiday trip. On Monday I had one of our agents take a look at Minneapolis - Tampa round trips on Northwest non-stops only. We came up with fares - you guessed it - around $280 and on one set of dates we found availability at $240.

So the question is: Why do they do this?
There is an answer... tune in tomorrow and I'll solve the mystery!

Dick