> If this were being seriously abused a lot of the time, or there were automated systems which booked trips like this for you, I could see the airlines doing so

> If this were being seriously abused a lot of the time, or there were automated systems which booked trips like this for you, I could see the airlines doing something about it, but if it's just a few people going out of their way to get a slightly better price, it's probably just considered to be part of the whole ticket pricing game. This is pretty much how it's gone so far - sites that have offered anything even resembling an automated service to do bookings like this (and similar other tricks) have been aggressively fought by the airlines legally.[0] There are also a very small handful of stories per year about some frequent flier getting caught abusing these sorts of fares habitually and getting a trip canceled and/or banned from the airline. As far as I know my airline flags all sorts of trips like this - but doesn't do anything about it unless it becomes obviously gamed. For example I fly between two cities frequently for week long+ periods, but may need to go home for a weekend during a 2 week stay now and then. I know my airline flags that, but haven't had a problem since it only happens a few times a year out of dozens of total trips. [0] http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/31/investing/aktarer-zaman-how-i-beat-united-airlines/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/31/investing/aktarer-zaman-how-...