So what if you purchase a ticket and don't fly anywhere at all? I'm not talking about cancelling the ticket, just checking in online at T-24 and for whatever reason just never showing up. Are you still violating the contract of carriage?

The fact is, the legal issues here are not nearly as cut and dried as many seem to think. The airline can't hold you prisoner in your connecting airport regardless of what the fine print on the ticket says. At least here in the good ol' USA, when the aircraft door opens and the seatbelt sign turns off, you have the God-given right to stand up and walk right out the door. They can't force you to show up at the gate for the connecting flight any more that they can on your originating flight.

I personally have no problem with someone using hidden city ticketing to their advantage. It's simply being a smart consumer and beating the airlines at their own game. On the flip side, I also have no problem with an airline refusing to continue to do business with someone who they have established is using hidden city ticketing. That's just smart business.

But saying that either side is acting unethically or amorally is just silly. People on both sides of this debate need to get off their moral high horse and back down to earth.