Yes, they had red-eyes then. I took a few flights between ATL and DEN and I had forgotten about the time difference and how it makes the flight out west seem so short; but then again, the flight back seems really long.
Anyway, no idea on the costs but I bet if he booked a month or two in advance he could get it really cheap.
I'll think about it for a bit and see if I can up with any ideas. I used to run a background-check business. Oh, how much I wish I had access to that db now! I could have gotten telephone billing recs, aliases, ssn, neighbors, licenses. You name it. If anyone wants to spend the 30 bucks you can do one online and get the same stuff. A basic skip trace on him could easily tell if he was there, but only if he was there for a while. That's the bad part.
Honestly, I think the money thing is not too vital to establishing his means to travel. It didn't cost too much and there are so many ways to get cash (like the examples you mentioned).
how did he get from the airport to the Ramsey house? impossible by cab. and rental car companies keep records.