This usually comes down to last minute fare buckets being gone.
When you search day of or next day, all the cheap and mid level fares are already sold, especially on business heavy routes like MCO to MIA. What’s left is full fare Y or J pricing, which is aimed at corporate travelers who don’t care about price and just need a seat now.
That’s why you normally see $100 to $300 last minute, until suddenly you don’t. Once inventory tips over a certain point, it jumps straight to insane numbers like this.
It feels ridiculous for a one hour flight, but it’s basically AA saying “if you really need this seat today, this is the price.” If you checked nearby airports or even the same route a day later, it’d probably drop back to normal.
Still brutal to see though.
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