The fact that you get treated well in IRROPS and others do not, just shows how bad and inconsistent UA has become. Do they even have an official policy anymore? I've had agents tell me that it's not possible to put me on another carrier when no options are left on UA, and another poster here stated that they were told the same thing. Based on what you're saying, those statements are lies. It might be poorly trained agents or it might be cost-cutting. Either way, it's unacceptable.

Some above have said that AA probably didn't want the UA tickets endorsed to them because they were less than what AA could sell the seats for. But, I was just on a delayed UA flight where 4 pax were given $1,500- each to take a later flight in an oversold situation. It seems reasonable that UA could up the ante in a case where a family, in paid F, were trying to get home without having to fly on different flights. Is there no contingency plan for something like this?