Called the "point-of-origin" rule, clearly explained on the NWA website... it's a no-no. The only time I've heard this working is if the airline originated the process. There was someone saying that the FNT-DTW leg of their FNT-DTW-??? flight was cancelled, so they drove down (with NW's blessing) and caught the DTW-??? flight... and still got credit for the FNT-DTW flight. Don't know how they dealt with ending up in FNT later, and their car being in DTW.

Steve B.