Originally Posted by
PVDtoDEL
The routing is legal - it is a policy decision by UA to not allow OAL intl pax to use its service.
By the new DOT protections, UA cannot cancel OP's ticket. It's probably a harder avenue to persue, but OP might be able to get QF J out of it.
which is, of course, what would happen at the UA SYD flight connections desk. If, that is, the OP kept the itinerary as ticketed and ignored the nervous nellies. Exactly what happens at LAX when improperly ticketed on QF to JFK and you end up flying AA.