It's not just United. Other major carriers do the same. It's obviously a ploy to gouge consumers.

I've had better fortune working with Expedia. They occasionally cost me an extra nickel or two, but they do advocate for transparency and I have yet to have an Expedia-based travel itinerary go sour.

As an aside, I think we were better off when the Airline Industry was more highly regulated in the manner of a public/private partnership. I am by no means a 'socialist' but free market capitalism has proven itself to be a complete failure, except for the wealthy few.

Ditto the telephone industry.