Discount air travel

I wanted to get from San Jose to Kansas City, so I booked a flight on a discount travel web site. It was on some airline I’d never heard of. After I boarded the plane, I noticed that my boarding pass said the destination was New Orleans. I got off the plane and inquired with the gate agent. I was told that I had two connecting flights, from New Orleans to Edwards, CA, and from there to KC, on yet another airline I’d never heard of. It was going to take nearly 24 hours including two layovers.