Can I miss a connecting flight on purpose?

Question

I have a one way ticket from BKK-TXL with stopover in CGN. I would rather get off in CGN and start my land travel in Cologne going to Amsterdam and other parts of Europe, instead of landing in Berlin. So I would like to miss my CGN-TXL leg on purpose. Is this okay?

Addendum: I will have no check-in baggage and do not have a return flight. The CGN-TXL is my last leg. Looking at the answers below, seems it is okay for me to purposefully miss the CGN-TXL leg. So thank you everyone.

Related, and might answer your question: How to retrieve checked-through luggage if I don't board a connecting flight? — Michael Seifert, Apr 22 '17 at 21:11
Note: COL is a small airport in Scotland. The code for airport in Cologne (it seems that you mean this airport) is CGN. — Neusser, Apr 23 '17 at 07:04
@Gagravarr How is this a duplicate of that question? That question is almost entirely focused on luggage and this question doesn't mention it at all. — David Richerby, Apr 23 '17 at 10:12
@Neusser And this is why I wish people would just use the name of the airport. Many people won't know where BKK is, most people won't know where TXL is and, apparently, even the asker doesn't know where COL is. — David Richerby, Apr 23 '17 at 10:14
@DavidRicherby: I didn't say it was a duplicate; I just said it was related and might have useful information. Someone else flagged it as a duplicate. — Michael Seifert, Apr 23 '17 at 14:12

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 22 '17 at 23:08

There are two things that will happen if you miss a connecting flight.

One is that your baggage will be unloaded from the flight when the close the gate and not when it lands. You will not be able to pick it up at the carousel and you will have to tell them you missed the flight when you go pick it up. It might end up at security or lost luggage, depending on what the airport policy is.
Second is that all you following flights will be cancelled. This includes any return tickets you have for this journey. The assumption is that since you did not make it, you do not need to return.

Can I miss a connecting flight on purpose?

1 Answers1