My friend is facing an interesting situation, and since I didn't have a clear answer, I figured I'd post here.

Friend is on a saver Award ticket with SFO-LHR outbound with a return AMS-ORD-SFO all on UA metal. She originally wanted to end the itinerary in ORD, but had to continue back to SFO per MP's request. However, she has a reservation at Alinea in Chicago for that night, and is planning on simply not flying the ORD-SFO leg, and has already bought a domestic ticket on another carrier for her ORD-SFO return. So, several questions:

1) Will she be penalized at all for simply not flying the ORD-SFO leg? If so, what is the penalty?

2) If she checks a bag in AMS, I assume it will be checked through all the way to SFO. When she clears customs in ORD, does she have the option of not putting the bag on the carousel? (I haven't gone through customs in ORD in 5 years, so I can't remember anything about the setup). If the bag does have to go back on the carousel, and she skips the final leg, where does the bag end up?

Thanks.