Originally Posted by
chinatraderjmr
When UA had actual ticket offices staffed by real people, I always bought tickets in other carriers. Never had a problem. If they could do it thorn, they can do it now. Only reason I can think of that they won't is either word from the top or just laziness
OK, seriously, this "the network" stuff that Jeff talks about? It's real. If you go back in time, before all the consolidation, it just wasn't always practical to route you entirely on United. Or any other single carrier. Things are different today. United flies most everywhere, and where they don't, someone in *A likely does. The exceptions are so rare (places UA or *A can't get you) that they likely amount to rounding errors in significance.
So I don't think it's laziness, nor United trying to make life difficult for you. Rather, it's United doing its best to keep you captive, because they can. United has the route structure, and the frequency.