Originally Posted by
Ocn Vw 1K
iibink, welcome to FlyerTalk! ... The bottom line, so long as this is your last segment of the round trip, you have no checked baggage on it, and do it rarely, you should be OK.
there will likely be a LOT of replies about questionable ethics, the terms of the airline's Contract of Carriage (COC), the potential consequences such as the airline coming after you for the difference in fare or suspending/cancelling your mileage account, etc ... but as
Ocn Vw 1K states, the risk is exceptionally low
the only other caveat is that the airline's obligation is to get you to your
ticketed destination ... if your CLT-ORD flight cancels or diverts, they will only reaccommodate you to MKE as expeditiously as possible under their IROPS (Irregular Operations) recovery process, which may or may not involve going thru ORD