<p>For a one-way ticket, there is no penalty for getting off the plane after the first leg. But make sure you don’t check any luggage…it will go to the end of the trip.</p>
<p>However, if you buy a round-trip ticket and get off before completing the trip out, the airline will cancel all legs of your return trip.</p>
<p>You should call Southwest. They are very nice and friendly.
If the flight is designed to just pick up passengers - not drop any off then they might not let you off the plane.</p>
<p>It has two seperate flight numbers and says change planes - so I think that I would have to get off the plane. Yes I remember about not checking luggage. Hy husband and I are just going for a long weekend for my son’s family weekend at Northwestern so two carryons should do it. Thanks for the input - not sure I’m going to do it yet, but at least I have the option. Thanks all.</p>
<p>If you do this for the flight going to your destination your flight home may be cancelled. There have been previous threads about this and general consensus was okay for flight going home but not for flight going to your destination if you were planning a round trip.</p>
<p>If you are going to do this on your outbound, I’d strongly suggest that you book a different airline home. Two one way tickets on the same airline can be linked by the airline and the other ticket cancelled… Can and has been done by at least American, Southwest, United, and US Air according to a travel site I frequent.</p>
<p>Why would Southwest cancel this ticket and how would they know that the passenger got off the plane?
Southwest only issues one way tickets. This sounds shady to me.</p>
<p>They would know passenger got off the plane as they check when you depart at the end of the first flight and check back at start of second leg. They could cancel the second ticket. I wouldn’t take the chance but that is up to the OP.</p>
<p>They’ll easily know that the passenger got off the plane, JAMof4, because they won’t have a record of her boarding the second leg of it, and the flight attendant counts will reflect that. </p>
<p>If you want to try to do something like book one leg under the name Mary A. Smith and then second leg on a different day with a different card under the name Mary Smith, that might make you “safer,” but just because Southwest technically only books one-way doesn’t mean that they don’t link purchases together. </p>
<p>I agree it’s stupid - not defending it - but would rather the OP be aware that she runs a risk, even with Southwest.</p>
<p>Some might ask why does the airline care about getting off a stop early. </p>
<p>It is a legitimate security concern. Let’s say you were flying on a flight which went from San Francisco to Atlanta with a stopover in Denver. </p>
<p>If you get off the plane in Denver without notifying the airline, they don’t know why you got off - and what you left behind on the plane. When they count the number of passengers, they will be one short - so they will know someone is missing even if you don’t have to have a separate boarding pass for the second leg. They now have a decision to make either to get everyone off the plane and search it or take their chances and continue the flight. I have been on a flight when they made the former choice and the resulting 2 hour delay was not appreciated by anyone.</p>
<p>I appreciate everyone’s input. This is not a stop-over, this is where you must exit the plane and get on another plane which would then have it’s own boarding pass. Basically once I am done with the first leg of the trip, it’s done. I need a seperate boarding pass to get on the second leg of the trip because it is a totally different airplane - not just a stopover - you have to change planes. So they would have a record that I got off the first flight, but there should be no security concern becuase I did not get on the second flight. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of people everyday that miss theirs flights and I do not believe that is a security concern. I can see it being a concern on a strict stop over where you do not change planes, but not in this instance.</p>
<p>I just do not understand why the airline basically makes people think like this because they charge more for the same exact flight. The people continuing onto St. Loius should be the ones paying a bit more.</p>
<p>And I don’t think Southwest would cancel the next ticket.</p>
<p>First ticket would consist of One way from Phila to St. Loius and getting off at Chicago when the change planes.</p>
<p>Second ticket would consist of One way from Chicago to Philadelphia.</p>
<p>There would be no reason for Southwest to cancel the second flight.</p>
<p>I still haven’t decided yet - waiting for airfares to come down a bit. I did think about Baltimore, but that is pretty far from mid-jersey area.</p>
<p>And those of us who are frequent travelers are telling you that it doesn’t matter whether you think it’s a security concern or not, the fact remains is that airlines can and do cancel return flights (or in your case, the second one-way) if they believe a “ditch” has occurred. What you do with that information is up to you, of course. I’ve already suggested a strategy to get around it (booking on a separate day with a separate credit card and a slightly different name) so the two trips aren’t linked.</p>
<p>I get it Pizzagirl - I didn’t know Pizzagirl meant Frequent Flyer. And guess what it does matter what I think, I’m the one making the the decision.</p>
<p>Are you checking baggage? Assuming you are just carrying on luggage based on the posts. I still wouldn’t do this. They can cancel your flight home.</p>
<p>As another Frequent Flyer - to the tune of several million miles in the last 20 years, I can tell you that the old Hidden City trick - which is what you are trying to pull - has been known by the airlines for at least a decade. Their computer systems are pretty darn sophisticated - and so the odds are you will get caught. </p>
<p>Pizzagirl has offered one way to get around it - although with the new requirements around names and IDs matching, it may present other problems. </p>
<p>I offered you another way - take two different airlines</p>
<p>You asked what the penalty would be if you get caught - they will cancel your ticket and keep your money, leaving you with a real challenge to get home without paying out still additional money.</p>
<p>Yes the decision is yours - hopefully the advice you have been offered will be useful in making that decision.</p>
