Not so. The specific tactic the NYC recommends is questionable, but it is possible to surrender your boarding pass for the onward flight. (Say you no longer wan

Not so. The specific tactic the NYC recommends is questionable, but it is possible to surrender your boarding pass for the onward flight. (Say you no longer want to fly: there's nothing they can do to stop you). Note this is also possible if you check luggage: the airline is not obligated to let you get the luggage off the onward flight, but there's no airline that wants to carry baggage for a passenger who's not on the flight anymore (for security reasons). If you're planning such a stunt (with baggage), try to have around 3 hours hop-time; else you WILL be delaying the onward flight with your luggage. Layovers > 4 hours are considered as off-the-airport stopovers (domestically, US). That means the fare you'll get for SFO->DFW->BOS = SFO->DFW + DFW->BOS (made up routing). Exceptions: DEN for UA, ORD for AA, SEA and ORD for AS etc ("transit hubs", that is); where stopovers are free.