Originally Posted by JohnnyFlies
Perhaps there are "actual" direct flights still out there and I have just missed them. All the ones I have had are of the marketing scam variety. Just last week I had to really rush to make the connection of my "direct" flight (which of course shorted me the connecting mileage I would have otherwise gotten), so that might be why I'm a little peeved about the practice.
I know somebody who few MLI-DTW-ELM "direct" and used the same Saab 340 for both legs. I don't know, however, if she was forced to deplane during the stopover. My guess is that she probably didn't get to stay on board. I helped her book the reservation, though, and she only had one seat assignment the whole way (there was no way to select separate seats for the two legs).