I hope this is the right forum for this question. If not, I apologize up front.

I know most airlines have some sort of policy about buying a roundtrip ticket with a stopover and then not continuing with the flight. For example, if you buy a ticket from DTW-DEN-SEA-DEN-DTW to get a lower fare and then decided you want to stay in Denver, I've heard you can't use the DEN-DTW portion of the ticket without paying some sort of fee since you didn't continue to your final destination. I have a question as to whether or not there are any repercussions from the airlines if I don't use the *last* segment of a trip that I'm planning. The following is the situation I'm running across:

I'm planning a trip 7/19-7/21 from Detroit to Miami. I have priced out a ticket from DTW(Detroit) and from FNT(Flint) since I'm about the same driving distance from both airports.

1) FNT-DTW-MIA-DTW-FNT = $204.50
2) DTW-MIA-DTW = $336.50
3) FNT-DTW-MIA-DTW = $269.00

For all the above itineraries, the DTW-MIA-DTW flights are the SAME flight numbers. The only difference is how I get to DTW. Given that there is a $132.00 difference between the lowest and highest fare, option #1 seems to be the best choice. The only drawback is on the DTW-FNT segment. There is a 2 hour layover at DTW which I don't really want to do since I only live about 45 minutes from either airport. In my opinion, I should be able to purchase the first itinerary and then just "trash" the final DTW-FNT segment and catch a ride home from DTW. In effect, I would be flying the itinerary of option #3 but paying the cost of option #1. To me, this is like buying a roundtrip ticket for the lower fare and not using the return portion and shouldn't cause any problems.

Has any one else done this before? Am I correct in my thinking or am I off base? In this economy, I'm all for "creative flying" if it's going to save me over $100.00. Any feedback is appreciated.

CDF