What is the inconvenience that UA has caused, other than the delay, for which it is directly responsible and for which it is providing comparable value? The flight was canceled, so they have offered to get your friend to SEA, pay for an RON, and get him on to BLI in the A.M. If he wanted to end his original itinerary at BLI and the "delayed" itinerary ends at BLI, why would UA be liable for a ground transportation (pick-up) that was not part of the itinerary that it was actually responsible for?