Originally Posted by
Kacee
Perhaps not in theory, but there is close to zero chance UA will buy a non-elite pax a ticket on another airline for a weather delay.
I do it all the time. Not sure where your data is coming from, but mine comes from decades of experience, a thousand opportunities/day. You are most likely the most unlucky traveler in the history of travel if these are your percentages and you fly a statistcally relevant sample size of flights.
Sneding someone offline=sending away the value of that flight segment, not the same as "buying a ticket" on another carrier for irrops. Paying for a hotel=taking real cash out of UA's account to pay a hotel, in addition to ill will generated hby not getting person to where they want to be in a timely manner. It's a no brainer for me. Whether of not AC will give me the inventory is a completely different question.
Edit: if you have checked luggage and you will be crossing a border, it is significantly more difficult to route you offline.