To answer your questions, the BUD-AMS was a revenue ticket. AMS-CDG was part of the AMS-CDG-ORD all on one ticket. BUT, after you very kindly reminded me that I wouldn't be protected, I scrapped the entire plan all together. I ended up paying the fee to redeposit fee to FB for my miles. I should have just cancelled the itinerary when KLM cancelled AMS-ORD but wasn't thinking about the repercussions of a misconnect. In the end, I used Lifemiles to book BUD-BRU-ORD, cancelled BUD-AMS (for free because I bought a refundable ticket) and cancelled the AMS-CDG-ORD. I had to pay a small fee but the peace of mind was totally worth it for me. Thank you again for your helping and for talking some sense into me.