Hi all, sorry if this has already been covered but I need help understanding something - I am flight shopping for a friend who wants to go IAH-BDA in December. Why would it be over $100 cheaper to go AUS-IAH-EWR-BDA than just IAH-EWR-BDA? Can my friend just buy the AUS-BDA ticket and just not board in AUS (we are in Houston), or is there some sort of penalty for that?

TIA