I searched for this and couldn't find any answers- my apologies if this information is already somewhere. I'm looking for information on when United would book you on another airline when delayed overnight. I've never been able to do get them to do this for me, and I don't know what the scenario has to be for it to be considered.

More of my flights are departing DTW these days than ORD, so I'm unfortunately misconnecting quite a bit. The last two times I misconnected (DTW-IAH-SAN & DTW-ORD-MSN) I was rebooked for the next morning. I inquired about them rebooking me on the DL direct flight that left later that night, which was shot down by both the gate agent and the 1K desk. Both times they offered a full refund if I wanted to cancel and book with DL.

What is the situation where UA would consider rebooking on another airline?