Fly from midpoint
 

Is it possible to check-in and board from the stopover point of a 2 (or more) segment flight? What if it is an international flight (online checkins not allowed since you must present your passport)? This is assuming that I have no luggage to check.

The (ua) LAX->SFO->PEK flight is less expensive than the SFO->PEK flight, but I would like to simply check-in and board from SFO.

Thanks.

no it is not

Skipping a segment will cause all further segments to be canceled.

If the difference is more than $88, you could buy an additional SFO-LAX-SFO RT and dump the LAX-SFO segment. Only you can say if the inconvenience is worth the savings.

Correct. You are not penalized, but your ticket will be cancelled. The only segment that should ever be skipped is the last one on an itinerary.

As this is a general ticketing question, and not specific to either a Mileage Run or miles, I'll move it to TravelBuzz.

Dave, a.k.a. dmfriedman
Moderator, Mileage Run

Skipping the last segment is the kind of segment skipping likely to give the least trouble. Skipping other segments, without the airline/travel agent doing it formally, is setting yourself up for trouble (like having to buy a walk-up fare).

However obtuse it might seem, there is some method to the madness in this pricing scenario. The airlines are very much on the lookout for people trying to circumvent their rules, and will cancel your whole ticket in a flash.