Originally Posted by rbessler

Technically, this is against the rules. I believe the term is "throw away ticketing"... there are tons of situations where doing this would be significantly cheaper than the direct flight, and as a result, airlines nominally ban doing this. That being said, as a practical matter, you're alright doing it once or twice, but I would not consider doing it more than that, or making a habit of it, or youre likely to find your AAdvantage account under heavy scrutiny.