You are correct, any remaining portions of the reservation would be cancelled, but that does not apply to you in this situation. You also will not be able to check bags as they would continue on to the final stop without you. Beyond that, there is no penalty.

Purposely missing a connecting flight, a tactic often called "hidden-city ticketing," carries significant risks in 2026. The most immediate consequence is that the airline will almost certainly cancel all remaining segments of your itinerary, including your return flight, without a refund. Furthermore, if you have checked luggage, it will be sent to the final destination on your ticket, not the layover city where you disembark, making this strategy only viable for those with carry-on bags. Beyond the immediate trip, airlines have become increasingly aggressive in monitoring this behavior using advanced AI algorithms. If caught, you may face a "bill" for the fare difference between the cheap connecting flight and the more expensive direct flight you actually took. Frequent offenders risk having their frequent flyer accounts suspended, losing all accumulated miles, or being permanently banned from the airline. While it may save money in the short term, the breach of the "Contract of Carriage" gives airlines broad power to penalize you for circumventing their hub-and-spoke pricing models.