jsloan

Yes, OP said they were Aeroplan tickets. However, UA has responsibility on the day of travel as the late-delivering carrier; it was the delay on the BUR-SFO flight that set everything else into motion.

Also, UA would have been responsible for meals and hotel for the passengers under the Star Alliance IRROPS policy, also listed in the guide linked in my earlier post. This is not true in general, but it is true because they were premium cabin (or *G) passengers on an intercontinental flight.

That reminds me: OP, due to that *A policy, I'm pretty sure UA was responsible for the ride to LAX. If they took paid transportation, they should write in for reimbursement under the Star Alliance Irregular Operations Handling policy for uncontrollable delays for premium customers on intercontinental journeys, page 152-153 of the 2017-18 Star Alliance Employee Reference Guide.