I just booked ticket on travelocity.com for back home trip.

It is the cheapest international flight I ever seen. It $456 including everything from Chicago to Beijing, 2 stops, detroit and tokoyo. BTW the airline is Northwest.

Here is my question.

Since my nearest airport is Detroit, but the price from detroit to beijing is $1000+.

Can I skip the first segment of the flight and get on plane directly in Detroit.

Otherwise I have to drive 4 hours to Chicago and then take the flight back to Detroit and wait for 3 hours for connection. This is really stupid.

Have anyone had any experience before?