Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,405
What you are trying to do makes logical sense to the layman. But, not in the world of airline pricing.
1 - Pricing moves up an down daily, so the flight you bought yesterday is not the same as you can buy today.
2 - Sometimes it is cheaper to fly a longer distance than a shorter one.
3 - Fly from city A to B and then onto C is sometimes cheaper than just flying from A to B. So, when you drop part of a flight, the REMAINING portion by itself can easily be more expensive than the original longer multiple city flight.
As said, if you miss the first leg, they cancel everything. Missing the last leg is no problem, other than checked bags.