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This is a little tricky but for those that can follow along, I'd welcome any feedback.

My wife, my son and myself have a roundtrip flight from Arkansas, connecting in Atlanta and arriving in Ft Walton, Florida. That part of the trip will be completed.

Due to an unexpected request from my son's doctor, we are to have an MRI scan done in Los Angeles a few days after we are expected to return from Ft Walton. Rather than go home to Arkansas, stay for a day, only to return to the hassle of what is our airport system, we'd like to just continue on from Atlanta to LAX.

To streamline our travel and luggage complexity, we would like to leave Ft. Walton, arrive in Atlanta, letting our checked bags continue on to Arkansas where family would retrieve them, taking our carry-ons for our shorter LA trip and board a completely new multi-city trip from Atlanta to LAX and then LAX to Arkansas.

The questions are: 1.) will our checked luggage continue on to Arkansas in the event we "miss" our flight from Atlanta to Arkansas. 2.) will we get flagged for boarding an entirely new flight to LA while the last leg of an old trip is still in progress.

Any answers would be appreciated.

Zac Stuckey
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1.) will our checked luggage continue on to Arkansas in the event we "miss" our flight from Atlanta to Arkansas

The airline will not let this happen, its a security risk and once they determine you are not on the aircraft they will remove the bags from the flight.

2.) will we get flagged for boarding an entirely new flight to LA while the last leg of an old trip is still in progress.

What you are trying to accomplish is basically "hidden city ticketing", where you elect to not complete the full journey.

Airlines can and do penalise passengers for these actions, as they can cost the airline money through lost ticket revenue (typically, "hidden city ticketing" is done because the intermediate stop is cheaper when taken as part of an ongoing journey rather than the ultimate destination - there are many reasons why this is the case).

Your best bet in this case is to amend your ticket with the airline - call them up and have you re-ticketed to Atlanta rather than Arkansas. This may cost you some money, but it resolves any hassle you may encounter otherwise.

In all such cases, my advice is simply talk to the airline. You have a valid reason to amend the ticket, and if you present a medical note from the doctor then your costs may even be waived by the airline.